Hffousa Taco Serves Moreish Mexican Food in Indigo, Despite the Unpronounceable Name
Hffousa Taco (say it with me: "Her-foo-sa") on the second floor of Indigo Mall is composed of 13 tables, seating 60 people. A year and a half on from its inception in 2015, this Mexican restaurant still churns out bursting burritos and tacos in a brightly lit corner of the mall, so it's about time we did the rounds.
According to their Marketing Manager Alvin Pan, Hffousa “stands for healthy and fashionable food,” which is what half of the Beijing food scene apparently now encompasses, as opposed to shitty and dirty food. The menu features four salads: "Mexican," grilled salmon, avocado shrimp, and corn noodle, as well as various burritos, nachos, tacos, paninis, and various burrito bowls. All of items will look familiar to anyone that has been to the famous Chipotle Mexican Grill chain, but surprisingly, it’s not a crappy copycat (even given the hard-to-pronounced name), but a decent place to grab a taco, or 10.
All the fillings pass for vegetarian, aside added beef, chicken, and pork. We tried several of the signature dishes: roasted beef tortilla (RMB 48); shrimp soft tacos (RMB 88); and sea bream hard lom tacos (RMB 78); and a corn noodle salad (RMB 48) with arugula, corn noodles, and sesame dressing.
We especially enjoyed the fish tacos (pictured at top), the thick fillet of fish was seared to give the skin a nice crispy finish. Imported chili sauce gave it that extra pop, while trimmings of pepper and purple cabbage, and a dash of mayonnaise balanced out the heat.
The avocado shrimp salad (RMB 68), with avocado, tiger shrimps, lettuce, corn, and vinaigrette, was also a winner, the sourness from the grapefruit and orange working well with the rich creamy avocado, the olives, and a smattering of black pepper and sea salt.
Hffousa's logo is half an avocado, which implies that they're generous when it comes to slices of fresh avocado, which we're happy to report is true – nearly every dish we had featured avocado in one form or another.
The dark chocolate cake (RMB 36) comes with a side of vanilla ice cream. One touch with the spoon caused the cake to rupture, molten chocolate flowing out to be mingled with the cold and creamy ice cream. Nothing to complain about here.
We were concerned this last one might tip us over the edge into a state of comatose but luckily the dishes here are neither particularly heavy or greasy, so you're safe to have a big lunch without the usual post-gorge guilt.
One selfish wish is that Hffousa would open a second outlet in Sanlitun, which would undoubtedly go down well with the masses of daily shoppers. Saying that, it's Indigo Mall location gives us a reason to head to northeast of Beijing, and gives us a good lunch option near the 798.
Hffousa Taco
Daily 10am-10pm. 2-273 Indigo Mall, 18 Jiuxianqiao, Chaoyang District (6184 1878)
美式墨西哥餐厅: 朝阳区酒仙桥18号颐堤港商场2楼273号
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Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos: Tracy Wang
