“For me, this isn’t a job, it’s my dream and has been in the making for the last 10 years,” Fhred Batalona tells Broadsheet.

The chef has just moved his Filipino pop-up Palay into the historic Fitzroy bluestone that once housed Hell of the North restaurant. And it’s here to stay, with ongoing support from business partners Lawrence Jasper Menor, Ralph Libo-on (Askal, Inuman, Takam) and Michael Mabuti (Askal, Inuman, Takam, Kariton and Pecks Road).

“My mum, Alma, is my inspiration,” Batalona says. “She was a chef, and I remember being in the kitchen with her at such a young age when she would make silogs for breakfast. The smell of garlic fried rice in the morning is a core memory.”

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At Palay he marries the food of his childhood with a decade’s experience cooking in Melbourne restaurants, most recently as head chef at both Orlo and Casa Chino. Palay means “unhusked rice”, a clever metaphor for being proud to showcase Filipino culture and cuisine in its entirety.

True to that core memory, days at Palay start with silog (fried egg and garlic fried rice) served with atchara (pickled green papaya) and a choice of beef tapa or pork tocino, both marinated for a minimum of 24 hours for max flavour. Twenty-four hours also go into the pandesal, a semi-sweet Filipino roll, here proved twice and covered in panko breadcrumbs prior to baking for extra crunch. They’re soft, rich and best torn apart by hand, still warm from the oven. Try one in the pandesal brekkie, alongside bacon, longganisa (sweet and garlicky pork sausage), cheddar cheese and house-made banana ketchup.

Coffee comes solely from farms in the Philippines and gets roasted in Melbourne by Akasya Kape or on the Gold Coast by First Harvest, both Filipino-run. There’s the usual espresso drinks, plus calamansi iced tea and lattes infused with pandan or ube.

Back to the banana ketchup, though. It’s something of a phenomenon itself. Created during World War II when tomatoes were scarce and expensive to import, it’s become one of the Philippines’s most beloved condiments. Batalona’s small-batch version, made from overripe bananas, developed a keen following during the first Palay pop-ups, with 200 people on the waitlist to acquire a bottle for home. It’s sweet, sharp, with just enough bite. (Ask to be put on the list when you visit.)

Likewise, the chef’s portobello, shiitake and brown mushroom “pâté”, a vegan ode to Filipino liver spread, is another condiment people can’t stop talking about. It’s served at dinner with pandesal. Other dishes on the dinner menu include the underrated chicken pyanggang, a grilled dish from Mindanao (southern Philippines) made with burnt coconut sauce for an earthy, nutty finish. There’s also sisig, a sizzling pork belly and ear hotplate with a perfectly soft onsen egg wobbling on top, just waiting to be broken. The salty, smoky aroma is pure Manila.

The restaurant is still waiting on a liquor licence, but in the meantime there’s a house-made guava-lychee-calamansi soda, Non’s outstanding wine alternatives and other soft drinks. The food is the main thing, though. After all, Filipinos don’t say hello, they say, “tara, kain tayo” (“come, let’s eat”).

Palay
135 Greeves Street, Fitzroy
(03) 9279 2867
Hours
Wed 5pm–10pm
Thu to Sat 10am–10pm
Sun 10am–5pm

palay.com.au/