MELBOURNE | Lanka Imiyaarachchige has always enjoyed cooking. Growing up in Sri Lanka, she would cook for her extended Tamil-Sinhalese family. When she moved to Australia in the 1990s, she imagined that one day she’d own her own restaurant, introducing Australians to the taste of home. Life did what it does and got in the way, including having to turn down an offer to appear as a contestant on MasterChef.
Lanka kept persevering, actually qualifying as a chef while working an unrelated day job and taking care of her young family. Last year, she achieved her dream of opening a restaurant. It’s called Loku, and I was recently invited in by Lanka to take a look.
Loku means “eldest” in Sinhalese. It’s the nickname that Lanka was given as the eldest child in her family. Family is at the heart of the restaurant – Lanka is the sole chef in the kitchen, and her children help out with front of house and other things. Dishes include all of the things that Lanka cooks for her family, with a refined touch, and experimental creations.
To start, its classics like roast paan (flat bread), crispy vegetable or fish pan rolls, and ulundu wade. The latter are crispy and spongy urad dal fritters served with a grated coconut sambal sauce. Be sure to try the betel leaf “taco”. Based on the Sinhalese curry goda hodda, it features fried oyster mushrooms, topped with shallots and red chillies, served on a betel leaf and dressed with sesame oil, lime and soy sauce.
An extensive list of curries make up around half of the menu. All of the curries are gluten-free, and there’s plenty of meat, vegetarian, and vegan options. I’m a big fan of the black pork curry. It contains generous chunks of rich, dark, pork, cooked with Lanka’s dark roasted curry powder, curry leaves, and pandan leaves. The lighter mutton curry is also a great choice.
A good option is the lamprais. It’s a flavourful fusion of Sri Lankan, Dutch, and Portuguese influences, featuring your choice of curry, served with eggplant, green banana, Seeni (caramelised onion) sambal (caramelised onion), blachan, a fish cutlet, and boiled egg.
Desserts are no slouch at Loku, either. Falooda (basil seeds, rose syrup, strawberry
jelly, soy milk, and ice-cream), is a must try. To drink, it’s a small selection of local wine and spirits, plus Sri Lankan sodas. There’s also beers from Melbourne craft brewery Two Rupees, another local Sri Lankan immigrant success story.
Loku
298 High Street
Northcote
Victoria 3070
Australia
Telephone: 0461 308 007
E-mail: n/a
Website
Open
Tue – Fri: 5:30pm to 10:30pm
Sat: 12:00pm to 3:00pm, 5:30pm to 10:30pm
Sun: 6:00pm to 9:00pm