Lolo and Lola

I am a hopeless sweet tooth, and having heard so much about the cakes at Lolo and Lola, I had to try one. I went for the mango sans rival (mango without rival, $7), which is something I’ve never tried before. The cake portion comes with two slices, and it becomes clear quickly that this is a particularly amazing cake. Layered with buttercream, meringue and chopped cashews, the combination of crunchy, soft and creamy textures is amazing, creating a real adventure in sensations. The flavour of the buttercream is almost savoury, so that the sweetness of the meringue, flavoured by the cashews, complements rather than clashes. I found that I enjoyed the layers of meringue that were slightly firmer, with an almost crunchy outside (swoon). In between these layers are soft drizzles of mango, which add a beautiful flavour that stops the whole thing from being sickly but add a luscious, fruity richness. I devoured this dessert, and think the double-serve makes it great value too. Given that the menu changes daily, I can’t wait to go back and try more of their cake range. I think it’s love.

Lolo and Lola, Westside Acton, 3 Barrine Drive, Acton ACT, no website

Lolo and Lola

Canberra is entirely to blame for my love of Filipino food – luckily, Lolo and Lola can help me feed the habit started by Kusina! The latest shipping container store to open at Westside, Lolo and Lola (formerly Waterhouse Bakery) offer fresh Filipino dishes and cakes with a menu that changes daily. I went on a Friday and ordered the Grilled Pork Tocino ($12) – cured sweet pork slices served with rice and a tomato salad – to takeaway. The portion size is fantastic – exactly the right amount of food for lunch, and I was impressed by the amount of pork in the serve. The meat was amazingly delicious – sweet as the menu says, but also very tender. The spring onion sprinkled on top helped to lift the flavour and I loved the way some of the sweet coating from the pork oozed onto the rice, which I’m sure was infused with garlic (yum). The tomato salad had wedges of fresh tomato, slices of red onion and cucumber  it was really refreshing to contrast the heavier pork and rice, but I’ll save this dish for weekends as the raw onion was strong and not ideal for going back to work! I’d very happily order this dish again and can’t wait to try more from the exciting menu!

Lolo and Lola, Westside Acton, 3 Barrine Drive, Acton ACT, no website

Kusina

I’d never tried Filipino food before my friend booked a group of us in for Kusina’s Boodle Feast. The Feast happens on the last Sunday of the month and the menu changes every time, so regulars get to try new things. The exciting part is that there are no plates or cutlery – you have banana leaves as plates and go back to basics eating only with your hands. We had a group of seven, so had two platters (they’re designed for four) jam packed with garlic rice, salmon, potato salad, pork belly, curry, deep-fried prawns, salted eggs, corn and fried chicken. Yep. That’s a lot of delicious food! My favourite was undoubtedly the pork belly -tender, fatty and with a delicious soy dipping sauce, it vanished quickly from our platter. The salmon had a cheesy-baked topping that was really perfect for the fish, and I liked the cold potatoes for some vegetable content. The prawns were lovely and spicy, and the chicken was so crisp I had to go back for more. The rice was completely addictive – I would have happily just had that for dinner – and the portions were well-judged for the number of people. I think I’ve found a new favourite.

Kusina, Cooleman Court, Weston ACT http://www.kusina.com.au/