We dropped by Sizzling Fillo in Lidcombe for some Filipino food. It’s been a while — almost four years — since our last foray into Filipino food, and it recently piqued our interest again in time for my birthday.

This is the Lechon Kawali ($14.00), consisting of ‘simmered with spices, air-dried and deep-fried crispy fried rack of pork belly with a side of liver sauce’.

As fans of pork belly, D and I were most excited to try this dish, and it did not disappoint. The pork belly was very audibly crunchy on all surfaces without being oily and paired well with the liver sauce, which surprised us by having a tanginess that cut through the fried food but without adding any of the grittiness of liver.

We start with the Sizzling Sisig ($16.00), consisting of ‘chopped pork cheek served with raw egg, garnished with crushed chicharon (crispy pork rind) served in a hot sizzling plate’.

We enjoyed the meaty and crispy flavours of the dish, and D and I were pleasantly surprised by the onion and shallots, which went some way to cutting through the heaviness of the dish. That said, even with the lemon, we would’ve liked something fresher to lighten the mouthfeel. As it is, it’s not something we can eat too many spoonfuls at once.

This is the Kare-kare ($18.00), consisting of ‘braised tender oxtail. Eggplant, beans, bok choi in peanut sauce served with shrimp paste to taste’.

The peanut sauce surprised us in an unpleasant sort of way with its thick, goopy and gritty texture while being without any heat of its own (separate from the shrimp paste). Beyond the soup base, the vegetables were tender but didn’t improve on the dish, while the oxtail was all bone and lacked meat.

And to go with our main dishes we had Garlic Fried Rice ($13.00, large). The fragrant garlic elevated this rice, and we made plans to prepare it at home even as we were eating it.

And finally, this is the Calamansi juice ($3.50). It was the perfect fragrant, tangy and refreshing beverage to finish the meal. The menu said the juice was seasonal, so it may be that it’s freshly made. It had the right colour for a freshly squeezed calamansi juice, after all.

Overall, Sizzling Fillo was an enjoyable second introduction to the world of Filipino food. We weren’t particularly impressed by the restaurant itself, but our experience did pique our interest to try Filipino again.

Sizzling Fillo is located at 36 Railway St, Lidcombe NSW 2141.