Lavi Taco Review: Hidden Mexican Restaurant With Loaded Birria Tacos In Chinatown

Lavi Taco is a hidden Mexican restaurant in Chinatown

Lavi Taco has a lot going for it. For one, the space it occupies is utterly unique. You’ll find it in the police-barracks-turned-arts-enclave that is Pearl’s Hill Terrace, where it exists alongside thrift stores, tattoo studios, and film labs. Its alfresco dining area, surrounded by murals and replicas of Renaissance sculptures, is a vibe unto itself.

More importantly, the Chinatown restaurant’s Mexican fare is widely regarded as top-notch—especially for its rendition of the quesabirria AKA birria taco, which you won’t find at many taco places in Singapore.

Food at Lavi Taco

For the uninitiated, a quesabirria typically features tender meat, usually beef or lamb, that is slow-cooked in a spiced stew and then nestled within a crispy quesadilla.

On our recent visit to the restaurant, we were served the Masala Lamb Birria ($25) and the simply-named Birria ($25). Both these dishes come with two pieces of quesabirria and a dipping sauce, which is the same broth used to cook the meat of the respective dishes.

We’ll start with the Birria, which has slow-cooked beef brisket and oxtail in a spicy broth within crispy tortilla shells that are layered with melted cheese.

This quesabirria was downright delicious. The combination of the brisket and oxtail gave this dish a rich, meaty flavour, and the meat itself was just so succulent and juicy. Also, the creamy cheese went really well with the spicy stew, making each bite both savoury and piquant. Leave it to the crunchy tortilla shell to tie all those elements together for what is an excellent dish.

The Masala Lamb Birria, meanwhile, centred on slow-cooked lamb braised with masala curry birria broth, joined by pickled red onions, cucumber, and cilantro, all of which were yet again housed in melted cheese and tortilla.

The masala curry added its characteristic aroma and spiciness to this dish, which helped undercut some of the lamb’s natural gaminess. The pickles, cucumber, and cilantro also added a refreshing dimension, balancing out the heavier flavours. However, the lamb itself wasn’t as juicy or succulent as I hoped it would be—this meant that texturally, this dish wasn’t as good as the previous one.

We also tried the Argentinian Prawn ($26), a taco that incorporated flame-grilled Argentinian garlic prawns, Thai mango salad, chipotle mayonnaise, red cabbage and more into a soft tortilla.

The many different components in this dish meant that it brimmed with all sorts of flavours—smoky, spicy, and tangy were the standout ones—but that made it hard to hone in on the prawns. Drowning out the ingredient that you’re naming the dish after is rarely a good thing, but in the moments when I could taste those pieces of prawn, I found them to be fresh, sweet, and garlicky.

If you’d like some sides to go with your tacos, we recommend getting the Loaded Nachos ($20), which are packed full of crunchy tortilla chips, topped with sour cream, cheese jalapeno pickles and more. You can choose to have either pulled beef brisket or pulled mushrooms as the cherry on top.

Lavi Taco shares its space with Kult Yard, a popular bar with craft beer and cocktails. If you’d like to elevate your dining experience, we recommend complementing your tacos and other Mexican dishes with some of the great drinks available there.

Ambience at Lavi Taco

As mentioned earlier, Lavi Taco’s alfresco concept, striking murals and other decorations, along with its compelling setting in Pearl’s Hill Terrace, give the restaurant an amazing ambience. It’s also reasonably accessible, being just a six-minute walk away from Chinatown MRT Station.

The verdict

Lavi Taco serves moreish Mexican food in a one-of-a-kind space. Admittedly, the fare is quite pricey, so do take that into account when deciding if you dine here.

For another Mexican restaurant to check out, read our Huevos review. For other eats in the area to check out, read our best Chinatown food guide.

Address: 195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace, #01-54, Singapore 168976
Opening hours: Tue-Wed 6pm to 9:30pm, Thurs-Fri 5pm to 9:30pm, Sat-Sun 4pm to 9:30pm
Tel: 9763 8931
Website
Lavi Taco is not a halal-certified eatery.

Photos taken by Maisie Chong.
This was a media tasting at Lavi Taco.