Firestorm Tacos and Bar

61 Cameron Street
firestormbar.com

Usually you wouldn’t find us within a tortilla-throw of a Mexican chain restaurant. We had no idea how good Mexican cuisine could be until we visited New York – it quickly became a staple of ours. We haven’t even been to Mexico, so we’re still talking out of our arses when it comes to reporting on Mexican themes, but we’ve all had enough experience to know that a Tex-Mex chain restaurant in Australia isn’t likely to blow anyone’s culinary socks off.

Luckily though, we found ourselves in the vicinity of Firestorm Tacos one day and stepped through the door

Chain it may be, but set as it is in the elegant ground-floor level of the old Northern Club building, it certainly doesn’t look like one. This small bar and restaurant is simple, comfortable, stylish and quiet.

You’re welcome to order at the bar but there’s also a cool web tool where you can order from your table. Simply scan the QR code and start ordering. You can’t order drinks with the app though, so for us the feature isn’t terrifically valuable as we still have to go to the bar to order drinks.

To date, I think Firestorm is our most-visited food venue in town. I concede that one good reason is that the value you get on Taco Tuesdays is phenomenal – $4 tacos and $10 margaritas – but even at twice the price this place is good value.

We’ve had a couple of non-taco dishes here, but really for a quick lunch it’s hard to deviate from the fantastic taco offerings. Fried fish, calamari, fried chicken, mushroom, cauliflower, pulled beef, lamb or pork, plus condiments, each creatively spiced and drizzled with a sharp aioli that rounds-out a complete meal you can fit in one hand. This is really exciting stuff, and certainly not what you’d expect from a ‘cheap’ Mexican joint.

Three tacos + margarita = good lunch.

We’ve written elsewhere that Pachinko is our all-round favourite restaurant in Lonny, and Feast takes the prize for best single dish, but when it comes to value for Money, Firestorm eclipses all the rest. Our usual order is three tacos each – plenty for me and a little too much for Jess, though she squeezes in every bite – for the pauperly sum of $12 each (plus another $10 each for a margarita, itself a bargain). Even on a non-Tuesday, $24 each for flavours equal to those you’ll get from a New York taco house? Forget abaaart it. (Yes, we can still see the irony in our not having visited Mexico.)

Hint for the hungry bloke: Yes, the pulled pork/beef/lamb tacos are hard to resist, but my favourite is the fish version. The chicken and the vegie ones are up there, too. As nice as the meaty options are, please try the other stuff first. The flavours and textures sing.

Go to Firestorm. Or Mexico and send us a postcard.