St Alma in Freshwater is one restaurant where you should not offer to be the designated driver. The booze list, kicking off with a good range of margaritas, is well chosen, well communicated and well-serviced across wine, beer, cocktails, and spirits. Arriving to a charming hand-written card offering the first round on the house, we got into the spirit of this funky, retro-styled room with a spicy mango margarita ($20) offering good ancho chilli bite and a zesty jalapeño margarita ($19). It was hard to pick a favourite from the pair. Later we got cosy with an Espadin mezcal flight ($45) showing off four exemplars of the most commonly sourced sky-high agave varietal for mezcal. Made in a copper still in the traditional way, the Siete Misterios Doba-Yej was my favourite, with a locally-brewed Freshwater Secrets hazy pale ($11) as a chaser.
As you walk into the former Bendigo Bank building, pause to admire whole fishes dry ageing in the window. Executive chef Tim Christensen and his Mexican kitchen compadres extract the best from Australian seafood across blue fin tuna crudo ($26) with flawless avocado and warrigal greens draped over wafer-thin plantain chips and their catch of the day ($46): a beautifully cooked double-layer of crisp skinned snapper. The seamless union of Aussie seafood with the flavours of coastal Mexico in dishes like the octopus with pickled turnip scales on fruity prune mole ($39), kicks St Alma into Sydney’s best Mexican-influenced restaurant I’ve visited.
The funky blend of aguachile and seaweed salad make the Sydney rock oysters ($7/each) here a must-try. Soft tacos are messy but impressive across both tenderly cooked prawns with coleslaw and peanut mocha aioli ($9/each) and carne asana tacos ($9) where pink-centred flank steak melds with guacamole and nicely spicy burnt chilli sauce. This kitchen doesn’t even fax in the sides with golden cubes of potato pavé ($18) dragged though jalapeño dressing. Combined with floor staff who defy their relaxed clothing and ooze both personality and expertise, St Alma will attract my business again, next time with a local AirBnB so I can really hit up the drinks!
