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Hopper heaven at Lankan Filling Station, East Sydney

Scott Bolles
Scott Bolles

Iris Rees, Gemma Whiteman and O Tama Carey of Lankan Filling Station.
Iris Rees, Gemma Whiteman and O Tama Carey of Lankan Filling Station.James Brickwood

When Lankan Filling Station opens in East Sydney this week, chef O Tama Carey will finally be able to fully express her Sri Lankan food lineage. "Even when I was head chef at Berta I was putting curry leaves in the Italian food," she says.

Lankan Filling Station is a casual eatery, hopper heaven for lovers of the bowl-shaped pancakes made with a fermented batter of rice flour and coconut milk. You rip, dip or fold the hoppers and eat them with sambols​ and curries.

Carey has filled up on some serious talent, drafting Pinbone's Jemma Whiteman as head chef. Together they've created a menu with plenty to tempt beyond the hopper. Turmeric-battered cuttlefish is stir-fried with shallots, red onion and chilli, deep-fried crab balls are dusted with a hint of curry powder, and a slightly roasted curry powder is used in a fish curry. "Sri Lankan cooking is all about the spices, and we have a giant spice shelf about 2.6 metres wide and high," Carey says.

Curry and sambol ingredients at Lankan Filling Station.
Curry and sambol ingredients at Lankan Filling Station.Benito Martin Photography
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There's also a trace of the Chinese-influenced wok cooking from the capital Colombo. Difficult-to-find pan rolls – which Carey describes as in the spring roll family – are filled with potato or beef.

She has tapped Sri Lanka for the design cues. "They use a lot of polished concrete there, and we've also used some metal finishes."

Carey is using some recipes from her Sri Lankan grandmother, but it's a bit of a family joke how closely they have been guarded. "We were all given slightly different versions. Even when you cooked with her you'd spot her throwing a little something extra in."

Open Tue-Fri noon-10pm; Sat 10am-10pm; Sun 10am-4pm

Ground floor, 58 Riley Street, East Sydney, 02 8542 9936, lankanfillingstation.com.au

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Scott BollesScott Bolles writes the weekly Short Black column in Good Food.

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