It's open. Lankan Filling Station is now trading at its new home in Darlinghurst. Expect lacy crisp hoppers, spicy curries and cooling coconut sambols at this narrow and buzzy eatery. It's a long overdue opening for O Tama Carey, who left her head chef role at
Berta in 2014. Fans were first teased with Lankan Filling Station at its
Brickfields pop-up in July 2016. Two years (and one drawn-out gas connection) later - with intermittent appearances at Carriageworks Farmers Market - Lankan Filling Station has a permanent abode. And I couldn't be happier.
Lankan Filling Station
The dining room is long and skinny, bookended by a bar and the open kitchen. On the day we dined we spied Carey, Jemma Whiteman and Pasi Petanen on the pans. Shelves stacked with gigantic jars filled with spices provide both colour and an easily accessible pantry.
Hot butter cuttlefish $18
The Short Eats section of the menu is where you'll find all the snacks, everything from crunchy
murukku chickpea chips to
crab cutlets (crab balls) to
pan rolls, potato or beef fillings wrapped in a crepe and fried like a giant spring roll.
Whatever you do, make sure you order the
hot butter cuttlefish, a Sri Lankan Chinese dish that's like salt and pepper squid on crack. Tender cuttlefish. Crisp batter. And a mouth tingling hit of chilli and spices. It's all jumbled together with onion, shallots and long chillies then bathed in butter. This is the kind of dish you could eat with a bowl of plain rice and be deliriously happy.
Egg hopper set (1 plain and 1 egg) with pol sambol and seeni sambol $18
But here, it's the hopper that reigns supreme.
String hoppers, a kind of pancake made from steamed rice noodles, are a Sri Lankan breakfast staple but we skip these in favour of the appam
hoppers, bowl-shaped crepes available individually or as a set with sambol sides.
Egg hopper set (1 plain and 1 egg) with green pol sambol and kata sambol $18
We find the hoppers here are a little thicker in consistency compared to say, X Dream or Amma's Modern Kitchen in Toongabbie, but it means the lacy frill around the edges is louder in crunch, and stays crisp for longer.
You can use cutlery to eat these but the traditional way is to use your hands, tearing them apart and using the fermented batter crepe to scoop up curry, sauce and sambol.
The sambols are all terrific. I'm keenest on the
green chilli pol sambol but there's much to like about the dried chilli
kata sambol, sweet onion relish
seeni sambol and the red chilli
pol sambol too. The faint saltiness of the shredded Maldive fish against the freshly grated coconut is what makes pol sambol so addictive.
Goat in a black and dry curry with sweet spices $18
We order the
black and dry curry with goat - the kitchen alternates cooking this curry with goat and mutton - and are rewarded with a deeply aromatic curry heavy with black pepper and cardamom.
Prawn in a fiery red curry soured with tamarind $20
The
prawn curry isn't half as fiery as we expect, nor particularly sour with tamarind, but it's terrifically tasty, balancing sweet and tangy savouriness with just-cooked prawns.
Eggplant with tomato and tamarind $12
We devour the
eggplant too, caramelly to the point of sticky. These are fried with tomatoes, onions, curry leaves and a heap of mustard seeds that add another dimension of crunch. Our table is loaded with so many dishes it feels like we're having a banquet.
Strawberries with rose syrup, long black pepper and whipped coconut cream $10
While we're still deciding on dessert, the kitchen sneakily sends out two sweets on the house. The
strawberries with rose syrup is a daily special, and what looks like a simple dessert at first glance grows on me with each spoonful. The rose syrup sauce is mellow, spiked with the intriguing complex flavour profile of long black pepper. Add fresh sweet strawberries and a cloud of whipped coconut cream and it's hard to resist going back for more.
Watalappam baked jaggery custard $12
I'd been about to order the
watalappam when it lands on our table too.
Watalappam baked jaggery custard with cashews and sesame seeds
The baked jaggery custard is smothered in a thick blanket of crushed cashews, toffee shards and sesame seeds. With your first spoonful you'll notice a comforting hit of cardamom. It's a combination that reminds me of the flaky Indian dessert,
soan papdi (if you haven't tried it, get a packet from your local Indian grocer. It's amazing).
King coconut sorbet $6
The sorbets and gelatos aren't made inhouse but they are produced in arrangement with RivaReno Gelato. I'm outvoted on the
spiced jaggery gelato that's said to taste like chai, and settle on the
king coconut sorbet instead. It's almost floral in taste and not overly sweet, made from what we expect is king coconut water. There's a
ginger and turmeric gelato too.
Buffalo curd with kithul palm treacle $8
We order the
dahi, a fermented curd made with buffalo milk. There's a marked sourness to the curd, not unlike natural yoghurt, tempered by the subtle sweetness of kithul palm treacle. A sprinkle of toasted buckwheat lends nuttiness and crunch.
Milk hopper with jaggery and coconut milk $8
And of course we had to order a
milk hopper. Or two. Milk hoppers are delicious not just for the inclusion of jaggery cane sugar but the generous dollop of coconut cream as well. Heaven.
There are still so many more dishes we've yet to try. We need to make our way through the
fish curry, the
potato white curry and the
dhal. If the staggering choice is all too much, you can order the $60 banquet that includes dessert as well as unlimited plain hoppers. Stop by and fill up soon.
Lankan Filling Station
58 Riley Street, East Sydney
Tel: +61 (02) 8542 9936
Opening hours
Tuesday to Friday 12pm-10pm
Saturday 10am-10pm
Sunday 10am-4pmLabels: Darlinghurst, Sri Lankan, Sydney inner east
