Review: Lavi Taco has good vibes and great birria tacos to boot

I’ve always been intrigued by Lavi Taco’s dimly lit, carefully curated party vibe — I’d notice it on my social media feed when friends visited, thanks to its distinct edgy neon lights. 

Even though I was sceptical of the hype surrounding the restaurant, I was naturally curious about what kept the crowds going to this steamy, open-air restaurant amidst the sweltering heat of Singapore. 

Though not halal-certified, Lavi Taco sources its items from halal suppliers and doesn’t use pork, lard or alcohol in its dishes. It also has a handful of vegan options, making it a great spot for gathering with friends of all dietary preferences. 

The backstory

It first opened in 2022 at the now-defunct Grandstand at Turf Club as Lavi Burger. Thereafter, the restaurant pivoted, branding itself as a taqueria that offers both traditional Mexican flavours as well as playful contemporary spins on traditional fare. 

Lavi Taco is perhaps best known for its take on the birria — the quesabirria, which features birria-style beef folded with melted cheese into a tortilla, served with a side of broth. Its popularity could also be — in part — due to the fact that it’s one of the few restaurants here that serves this dish. 

For the uninitiated, birria is a traditional Mexican dish, where lamb or beef is slow cooked with chillies, spices and other herbs to give it a savoury and hearty flavour. 

Aside from being known for its birria, the brand is also known as a community hub: It regularly hosts pop-ups and music-fueled events. 

Lavi’s dishes also used to be available at Santai, a chill bistro with tunes and tacos, in Siglap. However this collaboration ended in late-September, so its slightly out-of-the-way spot at Pearl’s Hill Terrace is the only place you can enjoy these tacos for now.

Our verdict

Lavi Taco shares an outdoor seating area with Kult Yard, a casual bar concept. After placing your order for food at Lavi Taco’s kiosk, you can just take a few steps to the right and get yourself a Kuktails (what the bar affectionately refers to its cocktails as), craft beers or other non-alcoholic drinks. 

If you want to enjoy more drinks as the night progresses, you can also order your drinks through its friendly wait staff from your table, though it comes with a service charge (as compared to the nosh at Lavi, which is nett-priced).  

With its graffiti-laden murals and edgy street style, it’s unsurprising that Lavi Taco is a point of obsession for food fanatics seeking an under-the-radar, unique dining experience. 

It’s arguably the cool hangout spot, where laidback vibes meet the edgy aesthetic — while it sounds intimidating, the warm and inviting staff here immediately make you feel right at home. Lavi Taco is like that effortlessly cool friend who never needs to try too hard.

In fact, we’d say the atmosphere and service alone almost justified our visit here, especially if you’ve made the sweaty hike up to Pearl’s Hill Terrace to grab drinks with your friends.

Perhaps the hype online set our expectations too high, but not every dish on our first visit hit the mark for me. However, a second visit, especially with new menu items, restored our faith in its offerings, mostly.

What it’s good for 

For a first visit, the popular birria (S$25 for two pieces) was an obvious choice. We opted for the traditional Mexican version, with beef, over the masala lamb birria to get a feel of how well Lavi Taco does its authentic Mexican flavours.

As we dug in, it was clear that the crisp tortilla complemented the savoury, slow-cooked oxtail and beef brisket well. Even though the dish was left out for a while to feed the cameras, the tortilla held up well against the juicy brisket, creating an interesting textural play.

The brisket was savoury and hearty. It felt substantial enough to stand on its own, though it lacked the spicy kick you’d typically expect of Mexican food. 

If you’re in need of more sauce, you have the option of dipping it into the birria broth served on the side, though I felt this didn’t add any more depth of complexity to the dish, only a slight heat.

On a second visit earlier this month, we also got to try its newer tacos, which we understood were introduced after its collaboration with Santai ended. 

The crispy Thai fish (S$18 for two pieces) tacos came with fresh som tam salad, a crispy fish fillet and the usual taco fillings, such as mayo and pico de gallo.

We made the mistake of having the crispy Thai fish second — but even so, the breaded fish was still lightly crisp with the refreshing som tam salad adding a mild spice and acidity to the whole dish. 

For sides, there’s its loaded nachos (S$20) which delivered on both quantity and quality — it’s packed with nachos and brisket (or rendang mushrooms, if you’re getting a vegan option, at S$19) alongside the usual ingredients such as pico de gallo, sour cream and more.  

The tang of the pickled jalapenos here cut through the richness of the pulled brisket well, making each forkful bright and balanced. 

If you’re looking for a side with a little oomph, we also recommend the Balinese buffalo wings (S$15) — crispy wings coated with a “house sedap hot sauce” (their words not ours).

What is could improve on

The sweet-savoury sauce was sedap (delicious in Malay) for sure, but we personally felt the wings could do with a light basting than a heavy-handed dousing so you don’t get too overwhelmed by the sweetness. 

We actually also had the wings on another instance at Santai before Lavi ended its run there and the sauce-to-wing ratio then was perfect — maybe just request for less sauce and you’ll be good to go. 

Keen on exploring its vegan options, we ordered the rendang mushroom (S$18 for two pieces) which features pulled mushroom slow-cooked in a rendang rempah, red cabbage, cheese, pico de gallo, salsa verde and cilantro.

While the texture, which is made to resemble pulled brisket, was plenty convincing, the taste was less so.

We could pick up slight hints of the aromatic rendang rempah, but most of our time on the taco was spent gulping down drinks to quell its excessive spice — a spice warning on the menu would have been ideal. 

The food also arrived unusually quickly across our visits — we barely had time to grab our drinks before we were buzzed to collect our food. 

We appreciated the quick service, but the mostly lukewarm state of the dishes left much to be desired — we suppose it makes it easier for you to dig into it immediately, but we wouldn’t have minded a slightly longer wait for warmer food. 

Our quick takes 

Is it conducive to conversation? Yes, but the space can get quite noisy so you’d have to raise your voice quite a bit to be heard — we’d not recommend a heart-to-heart talk here, unless you’re seated in the quieter corridors. 

Is a reservation necessary? No, you should be able to walk right in, though we’d recommend doing so for larger groups or if you’re headed there on weekends.

How to get there? To get to the Pearl’s Hill outlet, exit from Outram Park MRT’s exit C and take the stairs behind Pearl’s Hill Complex to reach Pearl’s Hill Terrace. After entering the compound, you’ll see the signs to Lavi Taco easily.

Sarah Chua contributed to this review.

HungryGoWhere paid for its meals at this restaurant for this review. 

If you’re having the munchies, check out our latest compilation on the places you ought to check out in Tampines, as well as Homm Dessert, the Melbourne dessert spot that’s finally in Singapore. 

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You can also book a ride to try Lavi Taco at Chinatown for yourself.