Lavi Tapas Bar: New sister brand of Lavi Taco shines with its unique Mex-fusion plates

If you’ve been to the trendy Kada building at Maxwell recently, you would’ve probably noticed Lavi Tapas Bar located on the building’s exterior, right next to vibey coffeehouse Echo. 

The Mexican tapas spot opened its doors in the first week of January, serving up Mexican small plates with its own unique contemporary take. 

This newly minted spot is a sister brand of Lavi Taco, which is currently housed at Pearl’s Hill in Chinatown, though you may have also spotted it in pop-ups around our island. (We visited its Pearls Hill outlet recently to check what all the hype was about, too.) 

Helmed by Edmund Goh, Lavi Tapas has a relatively small menu for now — there’s a tapas section, tacos (as it goes without saying), big plates and two desserts — but its got ambitious flavours that go beyond your usual offerings at a Mexican spot in Singapore.

Edmund tells us that Lavi Tapas is “an extension of my love for Mexican cuisine, and my love for travel, and international and fusion food.”

Sneak a peek at this budding social media savant’s feed and you’ll also notice that he’s chronicled the birth of Lavi Tapas. He adds that he’s pumped a good six-figure sum into starting his first restaurant. 

He’s optimistic about the concept: “It’s experimental, new in the market — no one has really done Mexican tapas in Singapore.”

Having bought into the hype when Lavi Tacos burst onto our social feeds, we were brimming with excitement to find out if the food at Lavi Tapas would live up to its well-earned reputation so far.

Trying Lavi Tapas’ menu 

Edmund describes the menu at Lavi Tapas as having “Mexican foundations, but with international flair” and it’s clear what he means — there’s tacos, birria ribs, nachos, carne asada, and even tamales. 

But look closely and you’ll also spot a photogenic tomato stracciatella (S$21) dish that tastes as good as it looks, as well as Spanish-leaning fare such as gambas (S$28), churros ($12), and croquetas (S$12). 

A tomato stracciatella might seem out of place in a Mexican tapas bar, but the dish, which features creamy hand-stretched stracciatella cheese within a lightly poached tomato, isn’t without its Mexican influences. It is accompanied by a sweet, tangy and somewhat savoury salsa verde sauce with guacamole.

Even as a non-tomato lover, I lapped the whole dish up — it had all the right elements to whet your appetite and to keep you going. 

And don’t say we didn’t warn you: The few slices of charcoal-grilled sourdough it comes with is not enough to mop up all of that delicious green saucy goodness — you should get more. Way more.

Because the next dish that we had — the gambas — was another saucy delight. It features three thick and juicy lightly grilled Argentinian prawns, atop a concoction of kombu butter, prawn oil and mango salsa. 

The prawns were downright delicious with its fresh, sweet flesh, but what stole our hearts was the sauce once again. This time even more so, with the crustacean sweetness imbued within.

At this point we didn’t even care if its dishes were Mexican, Spanish or Italian — just continue to give us flavours as good as this and we’re good to go.

Lavi’s churros was another fascinating take.The folks at Lavi Tapas wanted to shake things up for this item — one that’s more commonly seen as a dessert — by doing something savoury instead.

There’s even a light parmesan foam dip to have your savoury churros with. 

On first bite, its churros reminded us of a dense biscuit (the sort you’d have fried chicken with), but persevere and you’ll find that it grows on you, especially when paired with the airy foam. 

When it came to its tacos, we wanted to give the other proteins (aside from its viral birria) a shot — after all, this was a new spot. 

Notably, the grilled snapper (S$23 for two pieces) stood out — the fish was impeccably grilled, firm to bite and so well-seasoned I nearly forgot about the tasty Columbian creole sauce and pico de gallo it came with. 

The chicken & mole (S$20 for two pieces), similarly, featured a very good charcoal-roasted chicken that was tender and juicy, but I couldn’t help but wish for a punchier kick from the fusion satay mole sauce. 

And while we did say we would try to veer from its birria tacos, we knew we had to try it in its unadulterated protein form — the 72hrs birria sticky beef ribs (S$49).

The stewed beef ribs were nearly fall-off-the-bone tender and well-coated in the sticky birria marinade, while the jalapeno celeriac slaw helped cut through any semblance of heaviness on the palate. 

The price tag may be a tad steep for two hunks of ribs, but it’s a must-order for any Lavi Taco or birria fans. 

At the time of our visit in mid-January, the tapas bar, which has both indoor seats and an al fresco area, had yet to get its full cocktail and drinks programme up, but we were plenty impressed with its current wine choices.

If you’re planning to swing by, it’s a small space, so remember to get your reservations in, or you might have to end up dining elsewhere at Kada instead.

This was an invited tasting.

For more eats around Tanjong Pagar, visit Muyun Cafe, a new glamping-themed spot, or Seoul Noodle, a popular Korean knife-cut noodle place. 

Enjoy up to 50% off when you dine with GrabFood Dine Out.

You can also book a ride to Lavi Tapas at Kada.