Kumbira
Shaving artisan salt over a “mind-blowing” sticky tamarind pudding − a nod to a sweet-salty candy popular in the Philippines − is just one example of Kumbira’s creative rethinking of Filipino food for modern Melbourne. At the cheery, two-level restaurant, asin tibuok (“whole salt”) is often described as dinosaur-egg salt – a smooth, white orb appears to be bursting from a remnant clay pot at its base. It makes Saxa look pretty boring.
Chicken stars in inasal skewers, an upsized street snack basted with spiced chicken oil; and in adobo stew that’s given the French-bistro treatment; stuffed into pots like rillettes, topped with spiced butter and served with pandesal, the soft bread rolls that make Filipinos swoon.
In Cebu, kumbira means feast and suggests family togetherness. It’s apt: the warmth and generosity here is humbling. The overspilling hospitality is as precious as any object of cultural heritage, intangible only until you walk through these doors.
Must order: Lechon, pull-apart roast pork (with sublimely shatter-crisp crackling) that’s flavoured with lemongrass and ginger and served with liver sauce and vinegar.
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Last visited: April 2026
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