Images: Supplied
Filipino food is delicious. Defined by the irresistible savoury, sweet, sour, and salty flavour quadrfecta, the cuisine offers a unique take on everything from roast and sizzling pork to marinated meats, spring rolls and of course noodles.
And while Aussie capital cities are well-versed in adobo (meats braised in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and peppercorns) and sisig (sizzling pork), Adelaide feels like it’s only brushing the surface. It remains one of the city’s most under-represented food cultures.
That’s exactly where LAVA comes in. An offshoot of Budok’s Filipino Kitchen – the popular Chinatown stall led by well-known cook Chef Budok (Daryl Lumarda) – LAVA takes classic Filipino flavours and culinary traditions and folds them into Adelaide-friendly favourites. Burgers stacked with crispy roast pork, bao buns stuffed with sisig, adobo turned into a club-sandwich-style stack, and hot dogs finished with a molten Filipino cheese sauce are just some of the leading dishes.
“It’s a modernised version of the traditional Filipino kitchen that’s already existing in Chinatown,” says co-founder Wella Fuego Badilles, who first approached Budok back in 2020 after being a regular customer of his home-cooked lechon (Filipino traditional roast pork).
“We’re venturing into the Aussie palate… the traditional food will be put in a burger, in a bao bun, in a hot dog. That’s the niche.”
LAVA sits inside Chinatown Plaza on Moonta Street, just metres from the original Budok’s stall. But rather than repeating what’s already working, it’s designed as a more approachable entry point for Adelaide diners who might not know where to begin with Filipino cuisine.
“We want to entice the bigger Adelaide community to be more culturally aware of Filipino food,” Wella says. “There’s not a lot around. So LAVA is the place to start. Quick bites, more kid-friendly, burgers and chips, more Aussie influence, but using the core Filipino meats.”
Those meats are the heart of it all. Expect the crispy pork belly – Budok’s specialty, and what Wella calls “ultimately the best” – inside burgers. Expect sisig folded into bao. Expect adobo turned into wraps or sandwiches. And expect diners to customise almost anything.
“Whatever the customer wants… make it into a wrap, make it into a sandwich, put it in a bao bun or make it into a burger – we can make it happen,” Wella says.
One of LAVA’s standouts is its signature sauce – a molten, melty, slightly acidic cheese drizzle inspired by Filipino street-food toppings, but very much Western territory. It’s not traditional per se, but it’s the kind of fusion that makes everything “just next level”, Wella says. “It just melts in your mouth.” Pair it all with a refreshing Red Horse beer, and you’ll be transported straight to Cebu City.
LAVA was born from a late-night conversation between Wella, Chef Budok, and other partners Kristine Lumarda and Christopher Handley. The goal is bigger than a quick-service Filipino stall, it’s also designed to fuse the community. The team hopes to provide opportunities for newly arrived Filipinos to gain local work experience during their transition to Adelaide.
LAVA launches with soft-opening hours starting this Friday. If you’re curious about Filipino cuisine, already in the know, or like food with flavour, here’s your next stop for a quick and easy bite.
“We want Aussies to be able to say, ‘Hey, let’s grab Filipino tonight,’ the same way they say, ‘Let’s grab Chinese,’” Wella says. “We haven’t met anyone trying Filipino food for the first time who didn’t like it. It just needs to be discovered a little more… one bite at a time.”
LAVA Modern Filipino
When: From Friday 28 November – introductory opening hours, Friday 11am-9pm, Saturday 11am-3pm and 5-9pm, Sunday 11am-4pm
Where: Chinatown Plaza, 17 Moonta Street, Adelaide
For more info, click here.
@lava.modernfilipino
