The Mouth: This Mexican dish is the  taco  the  town

A bunch of meat, braised with chillies and put into tacos, which are then fried and dipped in the braising liquid. This is the sheer joy of the birria taco. It’s here. But how good is it?

What makes birria queso tacos unique is how you eat them. The novelty of dipping the tacos into the broth and eating them in one bite. Picture: Chololo/Instagram

Whenever we think of Mexican food, three questions come to mind. Why don’t we have more of it here? How has Old El Paso taco night not fallen to the forces of political correctness? And, finally, why has no one here figured out the sheer joy that is the birria taco?

The answer to the first question is easy: According to the ABS, there are fewer than 15,000 people of Mexican descent living in Australia at any given time, students included.

The second is similarly simple: No one wants to be the killjoy to end this great domestic tradition.

As for the third question? Well, there’s some light at the end of the burrito.

Vegetarian birria tacos features a blend three different types of mushrooms and a meat-free consommé to dip the tacos in. Picture: Chololo/Instagram

There has been quiet talk of a south-of-the-border renaissance in Sydney of late – shops specialising in dried chillies, and chefs bringing high art and Michelin star refinement to the cuisine being described as the greatest thing to come out of Mexico since painter Frida Kahlo.

And that’s great, but we will never stop thinking of Mexican as one of the great street cuisines, one which extends far beyond its borders.

The Birria Ramen Pack from Chololo. Picture @halinaho

Chololo have brought bring a little bit of Mexican/LA street food to Sydney with their OG Birria Tacos. Picture: Chololo/Instagram

We were in California earlier this year when we discovered the joys of what are known as birria tacos – a heart-stoppingly good creation from the western Mexican state of Jalisco. Basically, it’s a bunch of meat (often goat) braised with chillies and put into tacos.

But here’s the rub: The tacos are then fried in the fat from the braising dish and dipped in the braising liquid (the “consome”, like the French “consommé”).

A new mini chain of restaurants called Chololo has popped up all over town (and our Instagram), with outlets from Chatswood to Canterbury promising all the delights of birria with none of the jet lag.

Do they live up to what we’ve had in the northern hemisphere? Well, sort of. Their birria pack is the best introduction to the concept, and it is a fair reproduction, but somehow doesn’t quite miss the mark.

Filled with beef and melted cheese, somehow the consome lacks the sort of depth we were hoping for, while the tacos just didn’t quite get there in terms of the glorious grease factor.

Don’t get us wrong: This is still a marvellous concept, and with some tweaks this could be the “it” convenience food of 2023. They also mix it up by trying to create a Japanese ramen out of the soup.

— The Mouth is an anonymous critic and bon vivant who pays his own way around Sydney and beyond.