Tequila Daisy is the newest restaurant located at Barangaroo from the team at Banksii. The colourfully signposted Mexican-inspired restaurant is currently open for takeaway. There are tacos, Mexican chilli crab in a bag and of course a range of margaritas!
Hamish Ingham the chef behind Tequila Daisy along with his wife Rebecca Lines has had the concept in mind for over 2 years, "For a while before COVID we thought Barangaroo was a perfect spot for a Mexican-inspired venue, but it wasn’t until we had the lull of the pandemic to have time to develop our concept. We really felt this sense of flatness during COVID, and after five years of Banksii we were due a refresh anyway, so we thought, why not make the most of it and go all out?".
The food here is more Mexican-inspired than traditional Mexican. "We have a great appreciation for how incredibly diverse Mexican cuisine is – we’re taking a fresh Australian twist and bringing our deep respect of quality Australian produce to both the drinks and the food menus. In the same way that Banksii was inspired by Mediterranean, we’re hopeful we can pay homage to the cuisine and offer guests an experience we ourselves would enjoy."
As for how the past two years have been, "Last year was really scary, no one knew what to expect or if we would make it through. This year, at least we had a slightly clearer picture of what to expect. The closure of Banksii wasn’t related to COVID, but we certainly wanted to make the most of a challenging situation. Banksii was in good shape from a business perspective, so for us it was purely about re-invigorating ourselves and how we felt through that year. Creativity is really enjoyable for us, especially when we can do it together, and let’s face it I think everyone needed to find some fun as 2021 comes to an end," explains Hamish.
It's a gorgeous sunny day when I go to pick up my takeaway from Barangaroo (we just make it into the 5kms zone). It's busy with people waiting outside for their takeaway. Tequila Daisy is located a block south to where Banksii sat.
What is a weekend night without margs? There are a few different types offered here and I have the classic Margarita with Patron Silver, orange liqueur, agave syrup and lime juice. It comes in a 200ml bottle for $35 that serves two and it was damn good with the tacos and crab.
To start there's corn chips sprinkled with lime chilli salt and to accompany this is a guacamole as well as a smooth white bean dip with roasted bullhorn peppers. This and the guacamole go well with the white corn chips.
There are two ways you can order tacos: you can buy one of these cook at home kits or from Friday to Sunday 12pm to 2pm you can buy them already made and assembled to grab and go. I tried the pulled pork taco kit with pork that is cooked overnight with with orange and ancho chilli then braised with pork jus. It comes with 8 corn tortillas and a tangy pineapple salsa made with brown sugar roasted pineapple, pickled jalapeño, coriander, lime and Spanish onion. There's also some fresh herbs and chilli sauce. You just need to heat up the tacos in a dry frying pan and then add the toppings and eat. The other types of tacos are lamb, chicken, wagyu beef and vegan.
Onto the main event: the Mexican chilli crab. Hamish explains how Mexican chilli crab is made, "We use a whole spanner crab with a roja sauce made from Roma tomatoes garlic, Mexican oregano, guajillio chilli and onion all roasted together and cooked long and slow. Then we mix the crab with sauce, sautéed Spanish onion, red chilli and cook it in the bag." The crab is plentiful, enough for 2-3 people and this is a generously meaty spanner crab where spanner crab isn't typically the meatiest crab (I've found a big difference with spanner crab that you buy as a consumer and the spanner crab that restaurants get). It's perfectly cooked so that the flesh is soft and luscious. It comes with an abundance of fresh herbs (so many herbs that you probably won't need them all). Preparing this is the easiest thing ever-just bring a pot of water to boil and then simmer the bag of crab very gently for 10 minutes and then cut open the bag. When the restaurant opens this will be pre-order only but for now you can get this takeaway.
And just after this, we made a booking for the restaurant's outdoor terrace!
So tell me Dear Reader, do you have your first meal once lockdown lifts already booked? Are you excited to eat out again?
NQN was given some food to try but all opinions remain her own.
Tequila Daisy
Shop 11/33 Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo NSW 2000
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