Panlasang Pinoy ~ Filipino, Kogarah

The most fun way to get into some Pinoy food is at one of Sydney's big handful of little Filipino shops that are varying parts grocery store, takeway, restaurant, community hub and caterer, in varying order.

While there seems to be a similar rotation of dishes amongst these mini-restos, the cooking styles do vary so we are keen to find and try them all. What doesn't vary between the stores is how freaking friendly people are, and they just love it when anybody non-Filipino eats anything Filipino.

Panlasang Pinoy's selling feature is that they have a comparatively large dining area in the back of what looks like a 1970's pizza shop. Many places only have a couple tables and chairs if you are lucky, some have none at all.

We waddle in for a Saturday lunch and the place is packed with young and old. It's buffet day. There's a few minutes wait for a table, then we are free to frolic in the bainmarie-of-love.  Fifteen bucks for all you can eat, or ten bucks for two dishes on rice.

Lovely lardy pork stew, bittermelon, and fish in coconut.

Beef stew and some eggplant and pork, we thinks. Sorry we were too lazy to look up the Pinoy names.

We're about to go on a big walk on one of those stupidly humidly hot Sydney summer days, so we try to keep the servings small. The boss lady's face drops when we leave without going back for seconds. Oh how we wanted seconds, but any more protein would have sent us home for nanna naps.

Panlasang Pinoy is at 26 Regent Street, Kogarah, See them on Friendface. We we'll back soon for breakfast, nothing like a tapsilog to start the day. While you're there, Sydney's best old school iced cupcakes are just down the road at Pies Plus. Go the pink ones.

From Kogarah it's an easy fifteen minute walk down  President Avenue to Botany Bay, turn left and you can basically follow the bay and Cook's River to head back to the safety of the inner west.