I had never had Filipino food before. When Kusina opened up, a few of my Filipino friends and I decided to head over to Weston Creek and try it out for dinner. I left ordering the food in their capable hands as I wanted to be surprised. A pre-order was required for the group booking.
We shared the prawn fritters which were pretty average.
The pork belly in the pork belly and papaya salad was sweet and tender. I was expecting more for the ‘salad’ but it was simply papaya garnish. 
The fried shrimp came in a beautiful spicy creamy sauce. Great with rice!
The braised pork in coconut sauce (Bicol express) was DELICIOUS. A bit salty but I’d order it again.
We chose garlic rice to accompany the mains. Can i just say that I love garlic rice! I had it for the first time at Kusina and it won’t be the last time.
I think the rice noodles were a special order and not on the menu. It hard pork crackling tossed all the way through the noodles. Tasty!
When the leche flan came out, it looked like a slice of mango. It was nice and creamy, quite good.
Saved the best for the last. The cashew meringue cake (not sure what it’s called in Filipino) was absolute heaven. So light and fluffy with a kickass butter icing. It’s kind of like a mille-feuille but with layers of pastry, icing and meringue. Apparently it takes 2 days to make, and only one of the cooks is a pastry chef and is the only one that can make it. We were lucky that we pre-ordered our entire dinner a few days in advance. I don’t think this is available on the regular menu, but you can ask them to make it as long as you give them notice. I haven’t had this anywhere else in Canberra.
Kusina being a family-run business, the owner’s father would walk around and chat with us as well as other diners making sure we were comfortable and what we thought of the food. I’ve found the staff so friendly and polite.
I’ve been back to dine at Kusina a few times now, and their food is consistently good and enjoyable. They are also open for breakfast and I’ve put this on my list of breakfast spots to check out. They do traditional Filipino breakfasts (with garlic rice yum!) and Western breakfasts.
Kusina’s Facebook page also provides updates on the latest dish on their menu.
Foodgasm 9/10
