Much-loved Sydney restaurant announces shock closure after seven 'glorious' years: 'I'm devastated'
Lankan Filling Station, the award-winning Sri Lankan restaurant in Darlinghurst, is officially closing after a seven-year run.
Owner and chef O Tama Carey made the shock announcement this week, confirming the end of an era that's been filled with fiery curries, punchy sambols, crab curry Sundays, and 'so many hoppers'.
'At this stage, there is no exact end date, but it will be soon, perhaps the end of winter,' O Tama said in a statement.
The much-loved eatery first opened its doors on Riley Street in Sydney's East, in 2018 after two years of market stalls and pop-ups.
It quickly gained cult status for its lacy, bowl-shaped fermented rice pancakes - known as hoppers - which fans would tear apart and drag through rich black curry or slow-cooked coconut lentils.
But it wasn't just the food that made Lankan Filling Station a Sydney icon.
With its tiny, atmospheric space and ever-evolving menu, it became a go-to for diners craving something bold, hearty and resembled authentic Sri Lankan home cooking.
The venue earned a coveted hat in every edition of the Good Food Guide since its opening, with the most recent guide describing it as 'a celebration of spices' and praising the depth and complexity of every dish.
'We have changed, adapted and grown. We lived through COVID and the general chaos that comes with a restaurant,' said O Tama.
'We have dealt with superior suppliers, worked with many talented and lovely people, and served, fed and beveraged (sic) so many of you, our excellent customers.'
While no exact date has been confirmed for the final service, diners have been urged to head in over the coming weeks for a last taste of the restaurant's famous flavours.
'Hoppers will still be cooked, lunches and takeaway will continue, crab curry Sundays may make a reappearance, our curry powders will still be stocked and old favourite dishes will make a comeback,' O Tama added.
And while this marks the end of Lankan Filling Station as a physical space, Carey hinted it won't be goodbye forever.
'In Sri Lanka, one doesn't say goodbye,' she said. 'Instead, there is a beautiful phrase which translates to 'I will go now and come back later'. Saying goodbye is far too final and dramatic - which, in this instance, suits me perfectly.'
Adding to the bittersweet news is the announcement of Carey's second cookbook, Lankan Filling, which will be released on September 30.
The venue earned a coveted hat in every edition of the Good Food Guide since its opening, with the most recent guide describing it as 'a celebration of spices' and praising the depth and complexity of every dish
She's hinted that the book, and its launch events, will keep the spirit of the restaurant alive long after the final dish is served.
'There will be a launch party and book events and from there, who knows? So, you see, LFS will continue but in yet another form.'
Until then, there's still time for one more crab curry, another spoonful of sambol, and maybe just a few more hoppers, while you still can.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
25 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘Absolutely the best ship': Japan wins $10bn contract to grow Australia's war fleet
Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has beaten a German rival in the race to build Australia's new fleet of warships, with the federal government expecting the first to be ready for service by 2030. Australia will spend $10bn over a decade to buy three Mogami-class frigates, part of a wider deal to replace the ageing Anzac-class frigates and give the navy a bigger and more lethal surface combatant fleet. The first three will be built in Japan by 2034, before construction moves to the Henderson naval precinct in Western Australia. Sign up: AU Breaking News email The Mogami operates with about 90 crew, down from about 120 on the current generation of warships. It is currently in service for the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. The defence minister, Richard Marles, and defence industry minister, Pat Conroy, would not say what the estimated total cost of the program will be, citing upcoming commercial negotiations with Mitsubishi. Marles said geopolitical tensions with China did not play a role in the decision, which was signed off on Monday night by cabinet's national security committee. 'The Mogami is absolutely the best ship and that was very clear in all the advice that we received,' Marles said. 'It is a next-generation vessel. It is stealthy, it has 32 vertical launch cells capable of launching long-range missiles, it has a highly capable radar, it has a highly capable sonar.' German firm TKMS – previously branded as ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems – had been considered for the deal, but its Meko A-200 vessel was considered second best to the Japanese model, including over concerns about the timeline for delivery and putting the ships into service. Japan has not previously manufactured frigates for other nations, while TKMS has sold to navies around the world. Both bids included heavy lobbying of the federal government. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with his Japanese counterpart, Shigeru Ishiba, on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada in June, as well as with Germany's chancellor, Olaf Scholz. Defence is expected to enter into binding, commercial contracts for the deal by 2026. Marles said Japan beat out the German option based on capability of the new vessels. 'We do have a very close strategic alignment with Japan. There's no other country in the world that is quite as aligned with Australia as Japan.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The Mogami frigate has a range of up to 10,000 nautical miles, is fitted with surface-to-air missiles and anti-ship missiles and comes with sophisticated vertical launch capability. 'In terms of cost, capability and meeting our schedule of delivery, the Mogami-class frigate was the clear winner,' Conroy said. He said the US-made Lockheed Martin combat system and a Japanese-made radar system would be replaced with Australian systems, but no other changes would be permitted without approval of the Defence department boss and chief of the defence force, in consultation with the federal government. 'This is a lesson we've learnt from previous acquisitions and guarantees speed to capability,' Conroy said. This will help make good on our commitment to deliver four times as many warships in the next 10 years, compared to the Coalition's plan.' Marles and Conroy also announced plans for a new strategic shipbuilding agreement with a new arm of the government-controlled shipbuilding company, Austal Defence Shipbuilding Australia Pty Ltd. Based at Fremantle, Austal is the only major shipbuilder with operations in Australia. It will build 18 new medium landing crafts for Defence, as well as eight heavy vessels. That deal is currently being negotiated with the federal government.
Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
Asia thermal coal imports rise in July as Japan, South Korea buy
LAUNCESTON, Australia, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Asia's imports of seaborne thermal coal ticked up in July, but the increase was driven by the developed economies of North Asia and not heavyweights China and India. Total seaborne imports of the fuel used mainly to generate electricity rose to 70.66 million metric tons in July, up 12% from June's 63.02 million tons, according to data compiled by commodity analysts Kpler. The rise in July imports comes amid a weaker trend for Asia's seaborne thermal coal shipments, as top buyers China and India trimmed purchases amid plentiful domestic supplies and rising generation from renewables. July's arrivals were down 7.8% from the same month in 2024 and Asia's imports for the first seven months of the year were 8.4% lower at 479.54 million tons, according to Kpler data. The recovery in volumes in July from June was driven by higher imports in the developed economies of North Asia, namely Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Japan, the world's third-biggest coal importer, saw arrivals of 10.0 million tons of thermal coal in July, up from 6.16 million in June. However, it's worth noting that June was the lowest month for seaborne thermal coal imports for Japan in Kpler data going back to January 2017. South Korea, the fourth-biggest coal buyer, saw imports of 7.49 million tons in July, up from 5.49 million in June and the highest monthly total since August last year. Taiwan's imports were 3.91 million tons in July, up from 3.72 million in June and the most since November last year. The stronger imports in North Asia reflect higher demand for electricity during the northern summer, but also likely show the cost competitiveness of thermal coal compared to liquefied natural gas. Japan, South Korea and Taiwan predominantly buy higher-grade thermal coal benchmarked against the Newcastle Index in Australia. This weekly assessment by price reporting agency Argus has been rising in recent weeks, ending at $112.06 a ton in the seven days to August 1. It has rallied 22.4% since hitting a four-year low of $91.58 a ton on April 25, reflecting the stronger demand from North Asia. While higher-grade thermal coal prices have risen, they are still competitive against spot LNG , with cargoes for delivery to North Asia being assessed at $12.10 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) in the week to August 1. The LNG price is down from its recent four-month high of $14 per mmBtu, but even at its current level it is still above $11.20, which is the upper end of the range at which a Japanese utility would find it more economical to burn coal, according to LSEG data. In contrast to the robust gain in prices for higher-grade Australian thermal coal, the lower-energy fuel preferred by China and India has seen much more modest increases. Coal with an energy content of 5,500 kilocalories per kilogram (kcal/kg) ended last week $67.49 a ton, up slightly from the recent four-year low of $66.00 in the week to July 11. Indonesian coal with an energy content of 4,200 kcal/kg ended at $41.20 a ton in the week to August 1, also up slightly from its four-year low of $40.45 in the seven days to July 4. The relative weakness in the lower-quality coal from the world's two biggest exporters reflects soft demand from the top importers, China and India. China's imports of seaborne thermal coal rose to 22.78 million tons in July, up from 18.21 million in June, according to Kpler. But it's worth noting that June's imports were a three-year low and July's arrivals were also down from the 26.99 million tons from the same month in 2024. China's seaborne thermal coal imports have dropped 17.1% in the first seven months of 2025 from the same period last year, according to Kpler data. Rising domestic coal output, which was up 5% in the first half of 2025, and a greater share of electricity generation from renewables have trimmed China's demand for imported coal. Renewables are also behind some of the weakness in India's coal imports, with analysis of official data showing coal-fired generation dropped nearly 3% in the first half of 2025, while renewables surged 24.4%. India's seaborne imports of thermal coal dropped to 11.51 million tons in July, down from 13.93 million in June, making it the weakest month since November last year, according to Kpler. Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis of everything from swap rates to soybeans. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn, opens new tab and X, opens new tab. The views expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Australia selects Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for $6.5B warship deal
Australia said Tuesday it accepted a Japanese company's bid for a lucrative and hotly contested contract to build Australian warships, expected to be worth 10 billion Australian dollars ($6.5 billion). Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Mogami-class frigate won the deal over rival Germany's MEKO A-200 from Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems. Japan's government lobbied heavily for the deal after missing out on Australia's submarines contract to a French company in 2016. 'This is clearly the biggest defense industry agreement that will ever have been struck between Japan and Australia,' Defense Minister Richard Marles told reporters when he announced the deal Tuesday. 'In fact, it's really one of the biggest defense exports that Japan has ever engaged in.' The fleet of 11 naval vessels will replace Australia's ageing fleet of ANZAC-class ships. Three of the frigates will be built in Japan, with the first scheduled to be operational Australia in 2030, and the remaining eight due for construction in Australia. Australian news outlets reported that the German company's bid had emphasized their vessel's cheaper price and their greater experience building ships abroad. But Pat Conroy, Australia's Minister for Defense Industry, said the Mogami-class frigate was a 'clear winner' when assessed by 'cost, capability and meeting our schedule of delivery.' The vessels have a range of up to 10,000 nautical miles (18,520 kilometers) and 32 vertical launch cells capable of launching long-range missiles. The frigates can operate with a crew of 90, compared to the 170 needed to operate the ANZAC-class ships. Mitsubishi's win was a boon for Japan's defense industry, which has not built naval vessels abroad before. Japan, whose only treaty ally is the United States, considers Australia a semi-ally and has increasingly sought to deepen bilateral military cooperation amid ongoing regional tensions in the disputed South China Sea. 'We welcome the decision by the Australian government as a major step to further elevate Japan's national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,' Japan's Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Tuesday. Nakatani said co-developing the frigate will allow the two countries to train and operate with the same equipment and further improve operability and efficiency. Japan set up a joint taskforce of government and industry in an effort to win the bid. Australian officials said work on a binding commercial contract with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the government of Japan would now begin, with a finalized agreement expected in 2026. They did not say how much each ship would cost or confirm a total figure for the package, citing ongoing negotiations. But Conroy said the government had allowed AU$10 billion for the project over the next 10 years. It forms part of the AU$55 billion that Australia has budgeted for the navy's entire surface combatant fleet during the same period. —-
