“We have ube running through our veins,” Albin Lawang tells Broadsheet, referencing the vibrant purple yam, a key ingredient in many Filipino desserts.

The co-owner of Pecks Road is a personal trainer who has worked in the kitchens of The Kettle Black and Higher Ground. He founded the venue with his brothers AJ and Arbi Lawang.

The Lawangs opened the first shop in Caroline Springs in January 2022. This week – with the help of builder and new co-owner Michael Mabuti (Askal, Kariton, Hot-Listed Toddy Shop) – they opened a second store neighbouring Elio’s Place on Flinders Lane.

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At the proudly Filipino cafe, ube is always on the menu – whether as a doughnut or a drink. “It’s our way of showcasing our being Filipino and all the days we spent with our lola before and after school,” says Albin.

The small CBD shop serves sandwiches, including the “Filipino banh mi” with chicharron (fried pork rinds) and pork marinated in Peck’s Pinoy barbeque sauce, and the longanisa Peck-muffin – a take on a McMuffin where baked egg, Filipino longanisa (sausage), American cheese, house-made Southwest and barbeque sauces are served on an English muffin. But the main attractions are the crullers and yeasted doughnuts.

The doughnuts are made in a production kitchen in the CBD before being delivered to the CBD and Caroline Springs stores each morning. The three-day process begins with kneading and resting the dough overnight. On day two, it’s rolled, cut and proofed again for flavour and aeration. By day three, they’re ready to fry – but timing depends on factors like weather and hydration. “I watch it like a hawk to know exactly when to fry,” says Albin. “Because of the lengthy process there’s a high risk of over-fermentation and three days of work could go to waste.”

There are glazed doughnuts, Caramilk crullers and turon bombolones, but the bestseller is the ube polvoron. The purple-on-purple creation sees a bombolone filled with whipped ube cream, coated in ube sugar and crowned with meringue shards and ube polvoron, a crumbly Filipino cookie made from flour, powdered milk, butter and sugar.

With Mabuti – who is behind Kariton’s expansion to Sydney and, later this year, the Philippines – now in the fold, the team is more ambitious about Pecks Road. “It is all about building brands,” says Mabuti. “We have plans to bring Pecks Road to the Philippines by establishing provenance in Melbourne. I’m not here for a flash in the pan, but to build a legacy.”

But the Lawangs say expanding is about more than just building a business. “We are proudly from the west side, with a working-class background with parents who migrated from the Philippines in search of a better life,” says Arbi.

Their parents risked it all to provide a better future for them, now the brothers are building Pecks for their family. “We want our children to be proud of us, the same way we are proud of our parents for leaving all they know to secure our future,” AJ says.

Pecks Road CBD
Shop 3, 234 Flinders Lane
No phone

Hours:
Daily 8am–3pm

pecksroadcheatmeals.com
@pecksroad