New Mexican Restaurant Sagrado Cantina Has The Best Margaritas In Auckland
Jesse samples a “disgusting” drink that’s perfect for Auckland’s steamy summer.
Auckland in February is a sauna but don’t worry, I’m going to introduce you to the world’s most refreshing drink. It unfortunately will also sound to some of you like the world’s most disgusting drink, but you must close your eyes and trust me when I tell you that beer mixed with tomato juice is the future.
It’s called a michelada, technically, and though I first tried one at an on-trend Melbourne joint called Mamasita 15 years ago, I’ve experienced this unlikely concoction with a salted rim on just one other Auckland menu (the slightly more upscale De Nada in Mt Eden). Now it is available at Sagrado Cantina and just in time for the long tropical nights we’ve all been sweating our way through. A bottle of Corona is too dull; a glass of tomato juice too much like a hotel breakfast. But put the two together and you get a deliciously drinkable, low-alcohol “cocktail” that nicely fills the gap when you’ve had your first margarita and aren’t in the mood to tie one on.
News of this new taco house in St Kevin’s Arcade spread as quickly as you’d expect for a kitchen serving affordable, flavour-max dishes in a high foot-traffic location. As at Otto (TAFKA Cotto) down the road, all you need is thirty bucks and an Instagram account to show your online friends you’re an early adopter. For that amount of money at this new place you could get a taco, a loaded tostada and a happy hour margarita. As usual I ate and drank substantially more than that and was only on the hook for $135. I’m used to paying more than twice that for a review meal and I assumed there’d been some sort of mistake but no, they hadn’t forgotten anything on the bill.
“Have a guess how much that was?” I said to my wife as we wandered out onto K Rd.
“Um … eighty bucks?” she said, ignoring the biblical commandment that as a guesser you must always choose a number most likely to glorify the actual answer.
“No, a bit more than that,” I admitted, and sulked for the rest of the walk home.
Sagrado Cantina is casual in the best sort of way. It is all about the food but has lots of little touches (cute tablecloths, foliage in a vase, sombrero-shaped salt shakers) that show it has put thought and care, if not millions of dollars, into the fit-out. Auckland already has authentic taco shops in Te Atatu (it’s, um, next to the dump), and City Works Depot, but this new one fits somewhere nicely between the two - a place you can go for Oaxaca-quality food and drink without having to dress up. I just loved it, and I’m convinced you will too.
As with the real Mexico, you won’t go there for the wine list but there are a few good beers on offer and you really should try the margaritas, which are the best I’ve found in Auckland (okay, maybe first equal with Tacoteca - I might arrange a tequila-soaked knock-out tournament so I can officially hand out the gold medal). We had them spiced but you can also choose a classic and pimp the rim with something colourful.
You will have probably come here for the tacos and the menu is rightly based around them - with eight filling options including a brilliant vegetarian option: mushroom with cheese, onion, coriander and an unfamiliar Mexican herb called epazote (it must have been subtle because I will admit I didn’t pick it up at the time, but after googling the strange word later I’m looking forward to going back and focusing on it a little more deeply). The brisket is lovely too - they must cook it for a day to break it down to this almost spoonable level - and with all the dishes you can ask for a side of (exceptionally) spicy sauce.
They do a strong guacamole (tomatoes in), even if the dip-to-corn-chip ratio is a little lower than it could be. But the dish that sticks in my memory the most is the chicken mole, a full leg of the bird coated in an intense, dark sauce and lightly sprinkled with sesame seeds. Though many Auckland menus intersect and replicate each other, there is nothing in the city that is anything like this chocolate mole, which is just a little sweet, intensely fragrant, smooth and layered and woody-spiced and sticky. I was already so full but I couldn’t stop eating it with forkfuls of red rice - a lovely, plain, lightly-savoury accompaniment to the main event. They supplied pieces of baguette on the side too and I’m not sure why but can’t think why not.
If this is all sounding a bit stodgy for you, the chicken tostada looks fresh and good. We also had a sopa - another vegetarian delight made with green cactus, tomato and goat’s cheese.
Service is friendly and kind and the only thing you might watch out for is noise - mostly from the inevitably packed Gemmayze Street next door, where the arcade seating plan creates a level of sound roughly approximate to a metal gig at Whammy Bar. But you’ll manage. You wouldn’t tell the locals to keep the noise down in Mexico City - you’d just chow down and enjoy the party.
Sagrado Cantina
Cuisine: Mexican
Address: St Kevin’s Arcade, 183 Karangahape Rd, Auckland central
Contact: @sagradocantina on Instagram
Drinks: Fully licensed
Reservations: Accepted (via Instagram)
From the menu: mushroom taco, brisket taco, $15 for two, guacamole $15, poblano pirate $16, chicken mole $28, sope $12
Rating: 17/20
Score: 0-7 Steer clear. 8-12 Disappointing, give it a miss. 13-15 Good, give it a go. 16-18 Great, plan a visit. 19-20 Outstanding, don’t delay.
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