After a hefty delay in its opening thanks to a problematic build, much hype surrounded the launch of Lankan Filling Station. Thankfully for its founder O Tama Carey, the petite East Sydney haunt lived up to the high expectations perhaps prematurely placed on the venture and has fast become one of Sydney’s favourite new restaurants.

Small and surprisingly affordable, Lankan Filling Station is a foray through Sri Lankan cuisine. The menu, overrun with hoppers, sambals and curries, continues to attract both industry heavyweights and local residents alike. It’s packed noon through night and it’s only a few weeks into its launch. Speaking to Carey, she remains coy about the future, but expansion already seems inevitable; “maybe” she comments on a possible new venture down the track.

It would be no shock to Sydney foodies if another Lankan Filling Station launched. It is already a stand-out thanks to its Sri Lankan fare, on which Carey comments, “we are the only Sri Lankan restaurant in the area makes a clear difference.” The fact that Sydney had few venues focused purely on the regional cuisine was the key reason to Lankan’s launch. “[It was] partly greed,” Carey explains of her inspiration, “hoppers are one of my favourite things to eat and they are hard to come by. I also feel that Sri Lankan food is decidedly unrepresented in the inner city.”

And Sydneysiders are responding well to it, even if the chilli factor has been knocked down a notch. “I have tried not to [turn down the heat factor], but at the same time I think the food in Sri Lanka is hotter than what we do here,” Carey admits. “[but] I am of the belief that as long as you put things on the menu that you want to eat and that you love, then all should be well.”