If you've lived in Southern California or Mexico and have acquired a taste for Baja (pronounced BaHa) cuisine, it can be disappointing when you step over the state line to discover that authentic Baja flavours are almost impossible to find even in nearby Texas.

The absence of good Baja cuisine may be one good reason to forgo a move to New York City from Los Angeles. The same used to be said about Hong Kong, but not since the arrival of Taco Loco in 2002, writes an appreciative Bill Leigh.

So how does Taco Loco do it? Who has managed to recreate the cuisine that usually will not migrate beyond the sound of the surf breaking on the Baja peninsula? The answer lies in its origins.

Taco Loco evolved from the cravings of South Californian refugee, Tammy Levin. Her highly qualified chef husband Adam helped her set up shop after she couldn't find a decent taco in town. Because they both knew what a good fish taco should taste like, and because they both loved carne asada, they knew exactly what they had to do to succeed.

Baja cuisine is generally spicy - sometimes mild, sometimes fiery - featuring a variety of chicken, shrimp and lobster dishes. Taco Loco serves all the staples: tacos (including fish tacos), burritos, quesadillas. Then there's chorizo - Mexican oh-so-flavorful sausage; carnitas - shredded pork; and machaca - shredded beef with a hint of scrambled egg. But the dish that really reveals a Baja restaurant's credentials is carne asada - bite sized slices of lean, flank steak, marinated and charcoal grilled. It's with the carne asada that Taco Loco meets and exceeds my expectations.

All of the entrée dishes can be served upright (in a crisp or soft taco shell), flat (in a quesadilla) or, for the heftier appetite, in a log roll or burrito. Also recommended are side orders of guacamole (an avocado-based dip), rice and beans and pickled jalapenos accompanied by thin slices of carrot and onion.

Like the rest of the Baja ingredients featured at Taco Loco, the jalapeno, carrot and onion mix is flown in from Southern California. Be warned, this treat may be complimentary but it's loaded with capsicum, the incendiary common ingredient of Tabasco sauce and pepper spray, and may also blow your socks off. The uninitiated who dare pop a jalapeno are advised to pre-purchase their preferred chilled capsicum-extinguishing beverage.

The Taco Loco menu is authentic and excellent, though simply presented. The service is quick, helpful, unpretentious and professional. The place is so genuinely Mexican, even the kitchen staff are starting to look like they're illegal aliens from Tijuana.

Remember, real Mexican food, real good Mexican food and even great, real Mexican food is usually inexpensive. But price is only one of the reasons I would rank Taco Loco above all other "Mexican" restaurants in Hong Kong. Not only are Taco Loco's entrée items more realistically and reasonably priced, the quality is much better too.

Even the beers, kept frigid in a serve-yourself ice chest and including Corona, Dos XX and Tecate, are consistently half the price charged at other "Mexicans" after their happy hour turns grim.

It goes without saying that Taco Loco has a selection of tequilas and, like a neighbourhood Baja style café, it serves its cocktails in plastic cups. I've never been a margarita snob, so this doesn't bother me a bit. Who needs to pay double the price just to rent a glass anyway?

While not exactly a secret dining spot (the Levins have had their restaurants favorably reviewed in Time magazine) Taco Loco is tucked away in SoHo, far from the MTR but conveniently positioned beside the Mid-Levels escalator, just off Shelley Street.

And, Californians can now rest a little easier in Hong Kong, once they find their way up the escalator to the homey little taqueria.

Contact information in our resource directory: Taco Loco