Fuska House ~ Bangladeshi - Lakemba

There seems to be more Bangladeshi joints than Lebanese pizza places in Lakemba these days. Amongst the burgeoning biryani restos is Fuska House, a mix of street food snacks, curries and tandoori.

Wandering the wilds of Lakemba one sunny Sunday morning brings us the good fortune of finding Fuska House on Lakemba Street. With the tag line 'Taste of Deshi Street Food' our taste buds get all tingly with wonder.

What is deshi, and what is deshi street food? At first we thought 'deshi' might have been short for Bangladeshi, but it turn out desi or deshi is a name for expats from the southern asian continent. "What about the street food, tell us!" I hear you say. There are a few pictures on display on the front door and a menu posted on the window but that doesn't totally explain these food mysteries. The only way to find out is to venture in.

The restaurant isn't quite so busy so we can sit where we like. Although the resto isn't buzzing there's still a sense that there's some good food lurking around here. It also gives us some time to quiz our waiter on the menu, where she helpfully explained the best dishes and the fine bone density of hilsha fish.

The few decorations are as sparse as the customers, we loved these colourful three wheelers and cyclos on display.

The restaurant namesake is the first thing we tackle. Fuska ($7) turns out to be eight small puri like crisp shells stuffed with a curry pea mix.

The crunchy outer shell is cracked open and then filled with a mix of curried peas and potato and topped with shredded egg, chopped onion and minced coriander leaves. A side serve of tamarind water is used to drizzle over the lot, which is all promptly stuffed into your mouth and crunched down.

An alternative is to drizzle with yoghurt, something for next time.

Beef Chap with two paratha ($14) is a thinly bashed out slice of beef, coated in a little flour and spice and fried. The thinly sliced onions on top are slow cooked until almost caramelised, and the small salad adds some light relief. Quarters of dense paratha are used to make small mixed parcels of meat and salad and to help convey said mix to mouth.

After being warned about the hilsha fish and its multitude of fine bones, our fish order switches to the rahu special deal with daal, vorta and steamed rice ($16). The fish is a large white cutlet, still boney but large enough to find them easily. The curry sauce is wonderful, richly oily and tomato red.

The vorta (sometimes also spelled bhorta) is a seemingly innocent pile of mashed potato, but one bite unleashes a nostril clearing mustardy sting.

The daal is soup like, the consistency of pea and ham soup and is a comforting and homely touch.

Masala tea ($3.50), a spicy not so sweet chai like drink, finishes everything off, with only just enough room left for a wee rice custard with sultanas ($2).

Fuska House Menu.

Fuska House Menu.

Fuska House Menu.

Fuska House is at 197 Lakemba Street, Lakemba. Also at 102 Railway Street, Rockdale. Phone 0415 752 345. It is next to the soon to be demolished Lakemba Squash Courts, there's an apartment boom on around here. Looks like Lakemba is getting ready for its next big change.