Restaurant Review: Mama Lor (Werribee)

Mama Lor is a Filipino restaurant in Werribee that offers a variety of traditional Filipino dishes as well as their unique Spanish styled bread, cakes and treats.

Mama Lor is located on the Watton high street and is a nice modern, open and bright restaurant. I guess you could say it is bamboo inspired (at least colour wise). While brownish tones generally remind you of the 1970's and early 1980's the design really works for Mama Lor and it actually looks quite contemporary. Thumbs up for their interior design as this is quite an attractive restaurant.

Mama Lor has lots of unique dishes if you are not of Filipino descent or don't have Fiipino friends. This is one of the big selling points of Mama Lor as Filipino food just isn't that common. We have been to Mama Lor multiple times and it is always nice to have food that isn't so familiar.

The Mama Lor menu is very extensive and has an array of starters including Lumpiang Shanghai and Lumpiang Gulay (different types of spring rolls), eggplant salad (ensaladang talong), deep fried tofu and pork belly (tokwa't Baboy), Filipino fried chicken. They also have a number of vegetable dishes including pinakbet (mixed vegetables sauteed with shrimp paste), ampalaya, tortang talong (grilled eggplant salad) and more.

Mama Lor also has lots of great authentic Filipino mains including inihaw na liempo (charcoal grilled pork belly), bbq grilled pork skewers, lechon kawali (a classic pork belly dish deep fried until perfectly golden), kare kare, and cispy pata (pork hock bolied until tender then deep-fried until golden crisp). If you love pork then Mama Lor should be on the top of your list!

Mama Lor doesn't rest on its pork laurels and has plenty of seafood, chicken, soups, noodles, sizzling dishes and even a few seeming oddities like spaghetti pasta!. The Mama Lor menu really is very extensive and one of the best going around. We have only touched the surface here.

Mama Lor also has a huge and great range of freshly baked Spanish inpired cakes and breads you can buy takeaway. We've bought quite a few and it makes it a bit special buying that something on the way out or just by themselves. Hopia ube flaky pastry with purple yam is a classic as is hopia monggo (flaky pastry with mung beans). They also have torta cebuana (a sweet and tangy butter cake), ube pandesal and lots more).

In a nutshell

Mama Lor is one of the best restaurants in Werribee. From great modern distinctive interior design, an extensive selection of unique and great tasting Filipino cuisine, to freshly baked cakes and breads and a great vibe as they continue to be one of the busiest restaurants in Werribee, Mama Lor is definitely recommended.