Don Birria review: April Ooi visits viral food truck’s new Mount Lawley store to sample famous quesabirria

The honorific “Don” is used in many languages. In Spanish, it’s used to address nobility. In Latin America, it’s for distinguished community members. And as for Italy, I mean we’ve all seen The Godfather but for clarity’s sake, it means boss. For Don Birria in Mt Lawley, the name is fitting as owner Luc Huynh is on a mission to be Perth’s boss of birria. Or rather, “quesabirria” — a fusion of cheese and stewed beef (birria) in a taco that has garnered a loyal following among Perth foodies and racked up thousands of views online as Huynh shows off every angle of the gloriously beefy, cheesy dish. Huynh started Don Birria in 2020 as a pop-up after seeing a quesabirria-shaped hole in the Perth market. “There (were) not many options for me and my mate to go,” says Huynh, who “learned everything from YouTube”. He now draws lines every week at both the physical store in Mt Lawley, and his Scarborough market pop-up. Huynh has chosen minimal decoration for the Walcott Street space, opting for neon hues and geometric lines to embellish the otherwise simple concrete box. The store only sits about 20 people both inside and out, so be prepared to wait for a seat if you’re planning to go during peak times. We, of course, ordered the famous quesabirria ($15) and for an extra dollar we nabbed the equally famous consomme. Dipping the taco in the oily meat broth softened its skin but didn’t do much in terms of flavour, despite its aggressively crimson colour. We also got the soft tacos ($14) and large loaded fries ($18) with lengua (beef tongue). The tongue laid languidly on the small soft tacos, the meat plush but unseasoned. I recommend dousing the tacos in Huynh’s complimentary house-made sauce to get the full fiesta experience — something I wish I was told before I devoured what amounted to a measly two fists of food. The creamy jalapeno sauce revived the party with its spicy moves, moving and grooving with my tastebuds. The loaded fries were pre-sauced, with the nacho cheese drizzle being such a standout we had to order an additional pot ($2) for dipping. The quesadilla with chicken al pastor ($16) was chunkier than that of its fast-food contemporaries, but that was its only point of difference and was overshadowed by my utter adoration for the agua frescas ($5). We got both watermelon and mango, adding the free chamoy and Tajin on the rim for a mouth-puckering twist. In terms of service, the food came out faster than Speedy Gonzales. However, the use of disposable crockery and plates for both dine-in and takeaway, disturbed the Greenpeace subscriber in me. Don Birria 3/80 Walcott Street, Mt Lawley OPEN 11am-2.30pm, 5-8.30pm Thursday; 11am-2.30pm, 5-9pm Friday-Sunday (but check Instagram for sudden changes) CONTACT donbirria.square.site BOOKINGS No THE VERDICT Don Birria is a meat maniac’s dream. The birria has a strong beefy essence that’ll ooze out of your breath and seep out of your pores for the rest of the day. You won’t find a place in Perth like Don Birria — give it a go! 14/20