(Click play on the video above to see the restaurant and all the food we ordered up close.)
A while back I made a video guide on Filipino food in Sydney and after it was out, a lot of people said I missed a vital Filipino food establishment in the city – Lazza in Marrickville.
Lazza is a favourite among the local Filipino community for its ability to host and serve groups large quantities of authentic style Filipino food. They’re famous for their Bilao feast – a social gathering centred around an array of food served on a banana leaf.
But this time I was dining with just one other so the feast will have to wait for another time.
Lazza
- ADDRESS
246 Marrickville Road Marrickville 2204
The dimly lit interior gives it a homey cozy vibe, but the chatter of other diners still makes Lazza a lively place perfect for a group catchup after work or a weekend group gathering.
We started dinner with Sinigang, a tamarind soup made with pork or beef. It’s really flavourful but light at the same time. Soups are something I normally stay away from in summer, but Sinigang was appetising with the sourness from the tamarind that doesn’t make the meat too heavy or overly rich.
The next thing we had was pork sisig, a medley of pork cheek and liver, garnished with onion and a runny egg. The pork cheek is cooked three times to give it a nice crisp texture and the liver gives a rich creaminess. When you mix it together it becomes a bite full of porky flavours with fun textures.
I also tried another iconic Filipino food dish for the first time – Kare Kare. Kare kare is a super rich peanut-ty saucy Ox tail dish. It’s rich, aromatic and satisfying, but my friend Raff told me to eat it with rice and bagoong, Filipino shrimp paste. Oh boy, it elevated the whole dish to a new level. That rich overload of peanut goodness is now balanced off by the slight salty umami flavours of the shrimp paste and then mellowed out with rice. Love it.
We finished dinner off with halo halo – a mixture of textures to create a sweet dessert. Typically you will find a mix of corn, beans, jelly and ice cream. But every place will have its own variation of it.
I’ve been trying more and more Filipino food since he first video I did a few years back and I’ve loved the savoury, tart flavours Filipino cuisine has. I’ll definitely come to Lazza again.
