Miss Marley's Tequila Bar

Has there been an influx of South Americans to Sydney lately? Or perhaps a large shipment of tequila dumped at our ports? South American bars are popping up everywhere and tequila is shaping up to be the spirit of the year. Styled on the popular street-corner boteco, these bars are small, casual, full of life and good for street-hawker-style tapas and tropical cocktails. First taking over the inner city (Boteco, Sol Sutra, Bodega), they're now moving further north and infiltrating the beachside bar haven of Manly.

MISS MARLEY'S IS NOT QUITE LATINO THROUGH AND THROUGH. The decor is more 1950s vintage crossed with elegant funk bar. Candlelit tables line one side of the room and velour stools the other. A sheer gold curtain protects the tiny space from the footpath traffic while all roads – and eyes – lead to the shrine-like, glistening gold bar at the end of the room. Bottles sparkle on the shelves and a good-looking Latino bartender shakes and stirs, much to the delight of groups of women coming and going.

TEQUILA IS THE SPIRIT DU JOUR, with a page of cocktails dedicated to the Central American tipple. The mexi-can't (cumquat marmalade, vanilla sugar, smashed lemongrass, el Jimador tequila and pressed lime, $17) has magnificent flavours. I've never had cumquat in a cocktail and I've really been missing out. The signature cocktail, I'm told, is the rattlesnake margarita (crushed ginger, honey water, Herradura Reposado tequila, Grand Marnier and pressed lime, $19), which again has some fabulous flavours. It's easy to taste the difference between a great tequila and the $10 stuff I seem to have been drinking most of my life. Unfortunately, the mai-teqi-tai (Cazadores Blanco and Anejo tequilas, orange and apricot brandies, orgeat and sugar syrups, $18) and the carlitos clover (homemade raspberry syrup, pressed lime juice, Fat Ass Blanco tequila, $17) don't quite compare with the first two. They've got nice froth on top but lack punch.

FROM THE KITCHEN COMES MORE LATINO FLAVOURS, from empanadas to Peruvian chicken curry, red bean quesadillas and Caribbean lamb shanks. The salted cod balls with lime and aoli ($10) – a must-have in authentic South American botecos – are fried just right. The chorizo with cornichons ($10) is nice but nothing different to every other bar, while the spice-baked squid stuffed with a jamon, kipfler potato and baby herb salad ($17) is. It's light and tangy with simple but intriguing flavours. Try it with a Chilean wine, such as the 2008 Valdivieso Reserva pinot grigio ($10) or the highlight, a 2006 Perez Cruz syrah ($14).

BOTECOS COULD BE A FAD but this one seems destined to stick around. The men behind Miss Marley's, Kieran Bailey and Adam Clarke, have come from nearby bar Henry Afrikas so they have the nous. And although the slick beer barns and shots in plastic cups don't seem to be leaving Manly any time soon, the area is enjoying an influx of quirky small bars. Should we thank the South Americans?