Kusina 21 September 2016

The rich colonial history of the Philippines is reflected in its food, a unique fusion of Chinese, Spanish, Indian and Malaysian cuisines. The restaurant Kusina in Weston Creek show cases this mixture very well. There were 5 of us for dinner (Megan, Kim, Ron, Jim and Karen) and we started our meal with 2 entrees – CamaranRebosado (deep fried battered prawns with a tasty mayo sauce) and deep fried soft shell crab. The prawns were the better choice.  They were fresh and well-cooked and the sweet Western style mayo sauce worked well with the saltiness of the Chinese style battered prawns.  The deep fried soft shell crab was less interesting - similar to the more standard Chinese/Malaysian dish, the batter was a little greasy and the crab chewy.

For our main meals, we ordered Baked salmon with 3 cheeses, KareKare (Filipino beef stew) and Inihawnaliembo (grilled pork belly) accompanied by Java rice (garlic and turmeric style fried rice) and green papaya salad.  The baked salmon was particularly well cooked. The light and salty blend of cheeses complemented the fish and the dish was brought together with a mild (sweet style) chilli sauce. 

With the KareKare, we were expecting a rich slow-cooked meat stew especially with the addition of beans, eggplant and coconut sauce. However while the meat was incredibly tender, the stew on its own was quite bland. The dish was saved by a fermented shrimp paste sauce which was served separately. On its own, this sauce was a little strong (even bitter) but when added to the stew gave it much needed flavour and added a more interesting dimension to the dish.

The flavours of the grilled pork belly were lovely but the meat itself was chewy and overcooked. It was the least favourite of the dishes.  The papaya was a fresh and nice addition to the meal without being spectacular. The Java rice worked well with the other dishes and was a more interesting choice than plain steam rice.

Filipino cuisine generally excels in desserts and we enjoyed both our desserts immensely.  We had a mango cake where the mango flavour just melted in your mouth and a layered meringue layered dessert with cashews and a berry compote (Sans rival). The meringue was rich, buttery and very tasty and perfectly complemented by the tartness of the berry compote.