Restaurant Review: Brickhouse

What is it

In a dark alley of Lan Kwai Fong, is a hidden backyard with graffiti paintings and quirky stickers on the wall, and communal tables with bar chairs. As soon as we entered Brickhouse's down-to-earth bar with loud music thumping and lots of laughter, we could see why others would say that it is a hip and funky brick-and-mortar restaurant.

Brickhouse is a Mexican joint that offers broad-ranging cocktails and a handful of different Mexican dishes. Aside from the usual burrito and guacamole with chips, their menu includes vegetarian and other dietary-specified dishes made sinfully addicting with elevated flavors and presented on colourful plates that contrast with the dishes.

What we ate

One of the much-loved choices is the Mexican style street corn. Generously covered with shredded parmesan cheese, chili mayo and hot sauce, a squeeze of lime lightens the heaviness of the corn on the cob and makes it very sweet.

The beetroot fries are fried to perfection and reminded us of sweet potato fries, with natural sweetness coming through the crispy and piping hot coating.

Brickhouse, Mexican-Style Street Corn

Mexican-Style Street Corn
Sweet corn, sour cream, chili mayo, hot sauce, parmesan cheese

Brickhouse, Home Beet Fries

Home Beet Fries
Deep fried roasted beets, sweet chili aioli, green onion

Highlight of the night is the molcajete nachos served in a huge, heavy and warm stone mortar.

While mortars are typically used to grind fresh herbs and spices such as cloves or peppercorn, this dish contained mashed black beans and chili cheese sauce covered by corn chips that were further topped with creamy guacamole, sour cream, spicy tomato salsa and four skewers leading to an explosion of flavors in our mouths.

Brickhouse, Molcajete Nachos

Molcajete nachos
Tortilla chips, guacamole, tomato salsa, guacamole, sour cream, refried black beans, jalapeño con queso, chili shrimp, ribeye skewers

Following the nachos, we ordered watermelon and feta salad, which impressed us with its caramelized pumkin seeds, called pepitas. We then moved on to the taco platters that come with six batter-fried fish fillets, soft flour tortillas and thick cut avocado slices.

Brickhouse, Watermelon goat feta cheese salad

Watermelon and feta saladWatermelon, feta, lemon cucumber, chili syrup, mint and candied pepitas

Brickhouse, Spicy Nemo fish taco

Spicy Nemo
Fish, cabbage, avocado, chipotle aioli

The incredible feast ended with a rude chocolate fondant. The gluten-free molten cake had an oozy filling that was overflowing and was accompanied by their house-made vanilla ice cream, from which we could feel a hint of spice from the aftertaste of the chilli in the nachos.

Verdict

Thanks to its no fuss feel, friendly vibes and fantastic food, Brickhouse is the perfect venue for dinner or to unwind after a great night in the city.

Brickhouse, Chili-Spiked Chocolate Cake