10 Best Filipino Restaurants in Sydney: Where to Get Pinoy Food (2024)

Nothing provides warmth the same as Filipino food that tastes like it’s come straight out of a Filipino family kitchen. If you want to dine out but still chase that home-cooked experience, here’s where you’ll find delicious, authentic Filipino food in Sydney.

Here are VICE’s picks for the best Filipino food in Sydney

1. Mama Lor Restaurant & Bakery - Rooty Hill

Mama Lor prides itself on inviting customers into “the warmth of a Filipino home”, and that’s exactly what you get when you walk in. Cosy greetings and the smell of BBQ pork in the air. Try the lechon kawali with rice, snack on a bowl of chicken skin in between and wash it all down with calamansi juice.Check out their front-of-house bakery if you’re on the go. The Spanish bread is a staple.

2. Smoky Cravings - Parramatta, Tempe & Campsie

BBQ meat combo at Smoky Cravings [Photo: Instagram]

Smoky Cravings is the cheap, authentic Filipino eatery of your dreams.You can get pork, chicken or lamb BBQ skewers for $4 each, or in a combo with chips or adobo rice, plain soup and a drink for $21. They also have an authentic Filipino street food menu, where you can try dishes like atay (bbq pork liver), bituka (BBQ pork intestine) or balut (fertilised duck egg) for $4 each.The menu tells you that their food is “addictive” and they’ve never i gopt itbeen more right.Parramatta: Shop 1/20 Victoria Rd, Parramatta NSW 2150
Tempe: 884 Princes Hwy, Tempe NSW 2044
Campsie: 325 Beamish St, Campsie NSW 2194

3. Sydney Cebu Lechon - Blacktown

Sydney Cebu Lechon carries that restaurant name for a reason. Operating for around 30 years, this family-owned Pinoy restaurant prides itself on a Filipino delicacy: whole roasted suckling pig. Paired with rice and mang tomas sauce, you’ll 100% be leaving with one or two buttons undone on your pants.4 Kerry Rd, Blacktown NSW 2148

4. Mrs Ube Cakes - Marayong

It’s not a Pinoy food list without hitting a sweet spot. And nothing says sweet more than ube.Mrs Ube Cakes is the one-stop shop for sugary and indulgent Filipino desserts, including pandan, ube, mango, yema (sweet custard)- flavoured cakes, and leche flan donuts. It’s almost criminal how good this place is.If a bite-sized takeaway piece isn’t enough to satiate your cravings, they take orders for bigger cakes and might even deliver to you (at an added cost).Shop 1/44 Railway Road, Marayong 2148

5. Starlight Bakery, Doonside

You know how random towns always have a bakery that declares itself as the “world’s best”? Well, here’s a Filipino bakery that actually deserves that title.The Starlight Bakery’s speciality is pandesal, a soft and fluffy Filipino bread roll that can be used in sweet or savoury dishes. You’ll also find rows of ensaymada, both traditional and ube-infused, Spanish bread, bicho-bicho (Filipino donuts), egg pie, mud cakes, and so much more.Trust us when we say you won’t find a Filipino bakery like this anywhere in Sydney.15 Hill End Rd, Doonside NSW 2767

6. Sizzling Fillo - Lidcombe

Just an arms-length away from Lidcombe Station, you can be treated to one of many Filipino restaurants offering boodle fights and karaoke in the same place.

7. Mate Burger - Mount Druitt

The Double Ensaymada Burger. That’s all I will say. Succulent beef patty, sriracha maple bacon, rocket and kraft cheese are all sandwiched between a Filipino cheese bun and topped with even more grated cheese. It’s the real f*cking deal.If loaded fries are more your speed, the Chicken Adobo loaded fries are insane. Finish your meal with some biscoff halo-halo, and you’ll probably be ready for a nap.1 Mount Druitt Rd, Mount Druitt NSW 2770

8. Kasalo Filipino Cuisine - Lidcombe

Kasalo’s restaurant slogan is “paradise on your plate”, and for very, very good reason.This Filipino eatery is another option for your boodle fight-karaoke experience. But, if you’re after a hearty feed, the classic crispy pata (pork leg), deep-fried pork knuckle, or chicken adobo are delicious staples to gravitate towards.

9. Fiesta Avenue - Blacktown

If you’re after the best bowl of kare kare in the city, trust and believe it exists within the four walls of the Fiesta Avenue kitchen.

The oxtail and peanut sauce mix feels like a warm hug. It’s hot, full of flavour, and perfectly balances sweet and savoury. Get in when they have live music for the authentic Filipino eatery experience.

10. Tita’s Cakes - Rooty Hill

Tita’s Cakes describes their varied collection of Filipino desserts as “sweet pillows of delight”, which couldn’t be more accurate.The list of decadent Filipino goodies on offer here seems almost endless – you’re definitely going to struggle to pick just one. But if you’re too indecisive, and would rather try them all, you actually can. Get yourself a variety box and pick from an assortment of flan, cheesecakes, floats, and cupcakes.The Banana Turon Cupcake, Halo Halo Cheesecake and Mango Float are a must-try.6/2 Rooty Hill Rd S, Rooty Hill NSW 2766