Birria ramen is the fusion dish you didn’t know you needed (and Braddon’s Taco Boi can hook you up)

When Braddon’s Taco Boi opened its doors in 2024, owner and chef Yokas Wu wanted to combine his years of culinary experience with some cool, casual vibes. Upon taking over the lease after Burger Hero’s departure, Wu had always envisioned tacos as the hero of his own establishment.

Now embedded in the Braddon food scene, Wu has expanded his menu to incorporate a global food trend: Mexican birria, a rich stew originating in the state of Jalisco, often eaten at family gatherings and celebrations.

Why the internet chooses to embrace some foods, and not others, is a mystery to me, and birria, far from the internet’s everyday darling, pretty desserts, is not a viral trend I saw coming.

While many trends that rise from TikTok are nothing more than aesthetics, birria has a lot more substance, and it’s a dish that couldn’t be more suited to a Canberra winter, and that’s enough to draw me out of the house to check it out.

The vibes at Taco Boi are pretty lo-fi, as if the rear of the Mantra on Northbourne, where they’re located, has swallowed a food truck. Neon signs light the way from Mort Street to the door, and the pretty outdoor dining area is strung with fairy lights, making me think it’s a cracking place to sit with a beer in the warmer months.

Taco Boi has always sat in a fusion space with its popular Tex-Mex-style tacos, and the birria menu is no different, with its three levels of fusion.

Level one starts with a Tex-Mex-style taco served with birria consommé for dipping. You then move through to a birria burger with Taco Boi’s classic smashed patty inspired by the premises’ former iteration, Burger Hero. And at the final level of ascension, you land at the birria ramen, which brings Japanese and Mexican cuisines together at last. Although I don’t think there is a cuisine in the world that hasn’t already been fused with Mexican, it’s just that good.

I’d like to say I tried all three dishes, but sadly I have the limitation of being human and could only consume two, and even then I needed a little assistance. If the two dishes I tried are anything to go by, all three are worthy of your consideration.

The birria tacos take tacos to a whole new place, and if you want to see this dish created, head to their Instagram account, where you can witness the glory of a pile of cheese being melted directly onto a griddle and a small tortilla being stuck to the top of it and melted until they bond into a unified creation.

This cheesy tortilla is then stuffed with Chef Wu’s brisket, slow-cooked for over 40 hours. Topped with more cheese, some coriander and a side bowl of the birria broth, you have a dunker that will leave you dripping in your newfound love for birria.

The birria ramen is a little less hands-on but just as hearty as the tacos. Below the opaque surface of a deep bowl of birria broth you’ll find the slow-cooked beef brisket mingling with instant ramen noodles. Melted cheese binds the two together, and a topping of onion, coriander and lime goes a small way to cut through the intensity of the flavours. This is likely the richest thing you’ll eat all year.

There’s one thing missing here for me, and that’s something crunchy. I reckon a cheese-smothered toasted tortilla would do just the trick as an accompanying dunker (maybe I should lobby Chef Wu to put it on the menu).

So that leaves one thing left on the birria menu to try: the birria burger. I’ve done my part for the cause, so I guess I leave the burger up to you.

Taco Boi is located at 31 Mort Street, Braddon, and is open for lunch and dinner Tuesday to Saturday, and for dinner only on Sundays and Mondays. You can see more of their birria menu in action on Instagram.

Original Article published by Tenele Conway on Region Canberra.

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