Cheap & Cheerful: Papi's Birria Tacos

Papi's Birria Tacos is a popular food truck in Sydney's Carlton and Haberfield that sells birria tacos, quesadillas and ramen all generously topped with soft birria beef meat. Find out what is a must order and why people are flocking to Papi's!

"I want to be in and out in less than an hour," I told Mr NQN as we pulled up to Papi's Birria Tacos in Carlton on Jubilee Avenue. Dear Reader, the only aim this winter is to be in bed at a decent hour next to the heater with Mr NQN and Milo and Teddy sound asleep next to me.

That is why Mr NQN and I pull up to Papi's Birria Tacos just after 5 pm when they open. In fact we are their second customer. The first customer is a man that’s just ordering a pot of their consome cooking broth to take away. I get the feeling he’s a regular. It's quiet at this time, probably also because it's a Tuesday night. On other nights there are two other food trucks here but Papi's Birria Tacos trades six days a week. I asked them what they recommend and the most popular items are the 3 taco pack, quesadilla and ramen. When I inquire about the burrito, if they admit that it’s good but it’s not different from the other burritos.

There are also a range of soft drinks and water available to drink. We take a number and then take a seat at one of their picnic tables. They’re around half a dozen picnic tables for all three food trucks at this location although none are undercover.

The food is cooked fresh so we wait for our number to be called while sipping a Mexican coke. The trio taco set is the first thing that we try. The classic quesabirria tacos are made with ossobuco, rib and chuck beef cooked for 16 hours in a enormous pot with around 30 ingredients including a load of seasonings and spices. They use flour tortillas rather than corn although you can order corn if you are gluten-free eater. We also had the choice between spicy and regular and we went with spicy with all of these. It's a nice level of spice and not overwhelming so that you can taste all the other flavours as well. The meat is so soft and luscious and the consome is a kaleidoscope of flavours punctuated by chilli, lime, coriander and onion.

As for the quesadilla, it is very similar to the taco except this has more melted cheese in it and I think for most this would be perhaps the number one pick this two comes with a pot of consome and lime wedges. It’s hard to pick a favourite but the quesadilla wins both of our hearts just for sheer cheesiness.

The third item we ordered was the ramen that comes absolutely laden with birria beef. It’s the same flavour profile obviously because it's the same beef but here it is served with ramen noodles in the consome with plenty of chopped white onion and coriander. Make you squeeze the lime to lighten this up. I actually really enjoyed this with some avocado . It reminds me of when we were in Los Angeles and these two lovely Mexican women next to us were eating Chinese soups and adding lime and avocado. They offered us some of the lime and avocado and honestly it really makes everything including the ramen.

The only notes I'd give is to bring some wet wipes because when you’re dunking the tacos or quesadilla into that consome things can get messy even with napkins.

"Ooh look at the time, it's only been 35 minutes!" I say excitedly, doing up my coat buttons and getting ready to go home to bed.

So tell me Dear Reader, do you like to "hibernate" during winter? Have you ever tried quesabirria tacos?

This meal was independently paid for.

Papi's Birria Tacos

71 Jubilee Ave, Carlton NSW 2218

Monday to Friday 5-10pm

Saturday 12pm-10pm

Sunday 12pm-9pm

Closed Mondays