Lankan Filling Station

Fill, we did! I can only define their food as a refined version of authentic Lankan experience. I can recommend their fish and cashew curry with string hoppers. The staff were very attentive and helpful which is becoming a bit of a rarity these days. Five stars from me and I will be back for more...

First time having Sri Lankan food and it was pretty good. The food is very filling, and despite being told we ordered very little food, I was thoroughly full on the hopper, cashew curry, and cuttlefish! The cuttlefish is absolutely delicious and I could have a plate of just that - although it really wasn’t that spicy. But so yum! The cashew curry is (as the name says) full of cashews with rich coconut curry base. And hoppers were interesting, but I would opt for roti or bread next time. The drinks are also pretty good.

This was one of the best restaurants I’ve been to in Sydney! Starting with the food, the menu is so creative, well priced, and full of flavor. We wanted more of everything even when we were full! The depth of flavor and spices used were unlike anything else I’ve had. All of the mains were phenomenal and we loved the desert as well (even as a non dessert person)! One of my favorite parts of sitting down initially was seeing that their menu is nearly all gluten free and if it’s not, it’s marked (not gluten free). Nice for a change, but amazing options for any dietary restriction. The service is truly something notable. Sydney isn’t known for the best restaurant service, however the servers here set the bar so high! Our drinks never fell below half way full, they were so friendly and attentive, we had such a great time. Truly wouldn’t miss this spot if you’re in Sydney or you’re visiting and looking for unique, high quality and flavorful food with a great atmosphere. 10/10 in my book!

Eaten here 3 times; discovering & loving it more each time. We’ve been over the fine dining scene for years & I’m always on the lookout for well run, easy going comfort food restaurants, but it’s hard to find them. I loved Lankan Filling Station both previous visits but never thought it would be somewhere I’d go regularly because Wayne can’t eat spicy food, nor can he tolerate paper (reflux inducing). We gave this a go because we wanted somewhere different & it appealed having holidayed in Sri Lanka recently. As soon as we sat, I asked for recommendations with Wayne’s needs in mind. Instantly the kitchen was consulted & we were then presented with the restaurant menu that you order from (similar to Yumcha) - it had been marked to show which dishes were no go options ❌ Super helpful & there were plenty to choose from, which we suspected. The ordering process is lots of fun, superbly assisted by the restaurant owner who is an understated gem of a front of house. The other stand out about this place is their non alcoholic drinks offering. WOW! I wanted all of them - that is unheard of! Very few restaurants do this well. I love any Shrub & this Mandarin Shrub was so good. The dishes we ordered were awesome - Wayne even said to me he thought the food was better than in Sri Lanka!! I think that’s partly because we were so well assisted here 😉 The food is SERIOUSLY outstanding!

Have been wanting to try both Sri Lankan food and this restaraunt for a while and a birthday was the excuse to come for the mud crab special. And the mud crab us special, we must of had a huge one because it was only just finished while we left everything else pretty untouched. The crab was delish and the sauce was perfectly spiced. All the side dishes were a compliment to the meal and lovely on their own. Will definstely be back trying a larger portion of the menu. Thx for a great night.

Absolutely delicious food. Love it. Fantastic service. Can’t think of anywhere better. Really enjoyed it

I really like this place! The Sri Lankan curries are authentic and delicious. When I was there, everyone else eating were foreigners, and they all loved the food too. All my friends, who are also foreigners, really enjoyed their meals. I even talked to the people next to me, and they were having a great time as well. The waiter and waitress were very friendly. Although the shop officially closes at 9:30 PM, they kindly waited for us to finish eating, and we left at 10:30 PM. They didn’t rush us at all, which we appreciated. We will definitely be coming again!

The cosy restaurant serves excellent Srilankan food. Went with friends for dinner. They didn't disappoint. Chef Bhagya has some magic in her hand. All the food we tried was excellent. I've never had such soft Pork before, it just melted in the mouth. Service was responsive. Outdoor and indoor seating are available. The portions were a bit small for the price charged for the food.

We've never had Sri Lankan food, so I made a reservation because why come halfway across the world and not try something you can't have at home? Only problem was that my mom has severe acid reflux and cannot have anything spicy (Scoville kind of spicy). I made sure to email the restaurant months in advance and when we arrived, the person helping us remembered the email! He made sure to point out again what wasn't spicy and we were able to feed her well. This restaurant is small and intimate so you definitely need a reservation. It seems to be a great date place because it's dark and there is some cool mood lighting going on. You'll be sitting very close to whoever you're with as well. The food is something I've never experienced before and I actually can't wait to try more. The hoppers were interesting. It felt hard to pick up stuff with but I noticed a lot of people just spooning curry into it. I'll try that next time. The roti was all really good, including the gluten free one. We didn't take home leftovers but my mom made sure to take those with her. Drinks were very unique and refreshing. I loved the play on classic cocktails but made with Sri Lankan flair and ingredients. So why not 5 stars? Some things rubbed me the wrong way service wise. My drink was forgotten and it kind of felt like it was my fault (t wasn't) even though I did get an apology. Also, my mom is very much a rice person so we wanted rice with her cashew curry. But the person helping us was like no, you're getting the dhal and replaced it. Yes, the dahl was good but my mom would have liked the rice.

I have never had this type of food before but it was excellent very spicy. The waiter gave us excellent suggestions and told us how to swish smoosh our foods with the bread. This is a small restaurant so make a reservation Service was excellent

Sri Lankan cuisine in Darlinghurst. Order spicy. * * * We did okay here at the Lankan Filling Station which is a good place. But we could have done better. Without paying much attention to the presence or absence of pepper markers, we ordered some of the blandest dishes on the menu. Huge mistake. Our cashew appetizer (think superspicy beer nuts) was outstanding. The dried chickpea and spice mix appetizer was milder and okay (think milder superspicy beer nuts.) Our cashew curry was like enchiladas suiza. Creamy and sleepy. The salad was a salad. We got (without thinking about what we were doing) the plainest hopper on the menu. (Hoppers are the enjera of Lankan cuisine. They are a thin lacey crispy bread bowl. You break off pieces of your bowl and eat your food with it - using your hands.) The hopper was light and pretty to look at but didn't add much interest. The coconut coriander and lime sambal was an utterly essential condiment for our meal. With the sambal things were good. Otherwise, we had ho hum with a fun bread bowl to eat. * * * It turns out we drew our food almost exclusively from the mildest 5 percent of the menu. Almost anything else we would have ordered would have had more fire and soul. The other Yelp reviewers and the other patrons in the restaurant were ordering the blast-your-mouth-off items. That would have been totally the way to go. Regardless of how you order mains, be sure to get at least one sambal. One option is to get a full range of six. When you eat in the bread bowl, all of the flavors of everything you ordered run together. Sambals add significantly to the interest. And if you ordered pure molten lava for your main dish, they have cooling raitas to calm you down. * * * I suspect this is a five star place that we just misplayed. Next time, we will know.

I can't believe I'm the first person to post a review bc this place is hopping. What I love about this place is that the spice they add is the spice they add. You can't handle it. That's on you. You should have ordered wisely. Tasted the cuttlefish - it's what they are known for - and it's very good and very spicy. No ways around it. Had their dhal - which tasted great. A bit under salted but in the context of the other dishes it worked perfectly. Has the green mallung which was like one of those ong choys - bok choys cousins- that had onions and spice which was a much needed add. Glad it wasn't sweet. Get this veggie!!! Had the crab balls. They taste like really good falafel with crab. Use the lime. Thank me later. The only thing that didn't work for me was the plain hopper. There is a sourness to the coconut flavor that was just not what I am looking for to serve up the dishes I ordered. Also the fruit flies were annoying. In this female lead restaurant - everyone seemed very very nice. Helpful when explaining everything and their shirts are cool. I'm totally coming back and wish they had something like this in the US.

We were visiting Sydney and was craving some Sri Lankan food. Found this place on yelp and I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in. Great concept and ambiance. All the employees were non Sri Lankan but was very knowledgeable of the menu and knew how to describe items well. Great service and even the owner stopped by to say Hello!! If visiting Sydney highly recommend visiting this restaurant. However please don't walk in expecting traditional SL foods. It is authentic but has a fusion flare to it in a good way.

I spent 5 amazing years of my life living with Sri Lankan twins and learned the better part of my cooking repertoire from them so Sri Lankan cuisine brings back so many feels. Lankan Filling Station is Sri Lankan cuisine at it's finest. Absolutely loved the string hoppers with kiri hodi which pair excellently with a nice white curry like the potato curry. The sambols were also fantastic and perfect to spice up and pair with all the various dishes. My absolute favorite was the eggplant dish which brought was quite spicy but with a sweetness from the tamarind that really hit the spot. The servers were really helpful to figure out the size of the dishes and come up with a meal appropriate from the size of our party. An absolute gem of a restaurant.

High quality Sri Lankan food with black beef curry to die for and melt-in-your-mouth hoppers. Just what Sydney needed.