Crispy pigface isa hard thing to get right.Since I first tasted the dishin the back of an empty Filipino market, I knew there was something magical about the street foodknown assisig. But I'dyet to findperfection.
Back then Iremember awoman reaching into a buffet tray andscooping out a plastic sample cup of the finely chopped bits, and saying, "Try this." It was very saltybut the texture was incredible. The deep-friedpork just melted away into mymouth, with a littlecrackle and a light, savory diminuendo.
It set me on a path to find the ultimateplatter. That gave mea small window into the world of the Philippines, a vast network of more than 7,600 islands and a mélangeof Southeast Asian flavors touched by Spanish and American colonization.
Thecuisine is just beginningto sizzle here, despite the fact thatFilipinos follow Chinese Americans asthe second largest largest Asian American groupin the country. Our nations have a shared history. ThePhilippineswascolonized by the United States for nearly50 years, andFilipinoseven fought with the U.S.in World War II.
But until very recently in metro Phoenix,it's beenmuch easier to find an egg roll than a fried lumpia. And ifyou could, it was probably at a cafeteria-style jointlike Nanay's in Chandler, which serves a variety of dishes at a low cost, but doesn't cook to order. That's why I was so pumped to find At My Place Cafe, which is the Filipino restaurant we all need to have in our lives.
Pinoy food is proliferating in metro Phoenix
Filipino food began to take hold in 2019when theJollibeechain opened in the Filipino enclave of Chandler,introducingthe Valleyto hot dog spaghetti, palabok noodles and buckets of fried "chickenjoy."
At My Place Cafe had already beenin its original Mesa locationfor three yearsat this point,but Jollibeesignaled a new kind of momentum forthe Southeast Asiancuisine.
Today, ube purple yam is a fixture of East Valley boba shops. You'll find pizza-stuffed lumpia rollsat the neon dance club Disco Dragon downtown and the nutty vanilla-tasting pandan leafonthe co*cktail menus at Khla and Garden Bar. People lineup for juicy charcoal meat skewers atToduken,astand at the Pemberton that becamea must-try for fans ofFilipinobarbecue.
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These developmentsare all exciting. Butif you want to immerse yourself in thecountry's cuisine and understand what it's about, you need tohit up At My Place Cafe'sairy new spacethat opened in Chandler in December 2021. The expandeddining room features a homey decorating scheme complete withinspirationalquotes in the entrancewayand a projector playing kookyaerobicsvideos of people exercising in tie-dye shirts.
The unique cooking from Manila-bornandScottsdale Culinary Institute-trained chef Flordeliza Obregon filled me with that samesense of wonderfromyears earlier.
In addition to its flawlesscast iron pan ofsisig,the little gem across the street from the Chandler Fashion Center serves an excitingarray ofFilipino dishes made family style and fresh to order.
At My Place Cafe, it pays to start with breakfast
Ifirst tasted Obregon's food at her original restaurant in Mesaandwas blown away by herall daybreakfast silog. I tried it again at her new spot in Chandler, and loved it just as much.
The straightforward platters are like the Denny's Grand Slams of the Philippines. They consist of a dome of garlic fried rice toppedwithafried egg and your choice of meat.
Highlightswere theSpamsilogmade with fried Spamandcorned beef silog made withsalty hash scattered with green onions. Other Asian countries might servesoy sauce as the condiment of choice, but these plates come with the classic Filipino side— aplastic tub of Datu Putiwhite canevinegar,because sour flavors reignsupreme on the islands. The vinegar cuts through the rich egg and meat and makes your lips pucker, which is especially fun at breakfast time.
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Iloved thetapsilog,served with peppery strips of wok friedbeef.My co-worker,who grew up inthe Filipino province of Pampanga,thought it should have been sweeter. But that's no surprise. The geography of the individual islands has contributed to more than120 dialects and just as many regional variations on the cuisine, which isa product of centuries of international influence from Muslim traders, Japan,the U.S. military and other colonizers.With its deeply savory snap, thelonganiza garlic sausage, my favorite of the silog dishes,is abittersweet remnant of Spain's three centuriesof occupation.
My Placehasa large bakery case with Filipino pastries like puto and pandesal. This isa plus forbread freaks like myself and my brother, whom the staffcalls Pandesal Guy.He's never been able to leavewithout buyinga box of the buns, whose nameliterally translates tosalt bread.
The yeasty bread tasteslike a better, saltier version of sweet Hawaiian rollsand isfilled withqueso de bolaor purple yam paste. I like to eat them along with mylomi, the decked out Filipino version of egg drop soup thatfeatures athick yellow broth witha medley of tofuand fishballs and cakes. It'shearty for being so bright, in addition to the proteins, your spooncatches puffy noodles with each bite.
While it doesn't look like the others, lomi is grouped together on the menuwith the noodle dishes, which are a world unto themselves.
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Pancit for president
Aside from the banana ketchup hot dog spaghetti, all the noodle dishesgo by thename pancit, despite being made with very different noodles.
The pancit Canton is made with Chinese egg noodles, while the pancit malabonhas thick rice noodles.I'dgo back for thepancit bihon, sprightly thin vermicellitopped with pork and deep fried, butterfliedshrimp.
The noodle dishes highlight mycoworker's biggest qualmwith the restaurant, that its family style portions can be too big and heavy for maximum enjoyment. Like many ofher Filipino friends, she loves going to the budget-friendly carinderia restaurants for smaller portions and the ability to order alittle bit of everything. Filipino food can be rather oily and rich, sothe idea isto eat a little bit and move on to a different item.
On the flip side, Obregon prepares food made-to-orderto reducewaste and ensure fresher food, in portions designedtoshareas if you were a guest in her house.
A simple solution,besides bringing a large group to dine with you,is to balance yourorderwithabright vegetable dish.You absolutely must orderthe kare kare, an oxtail stew withlush peanut sauce that's studded with eggplantand green beans.
There's also the sinigang soup with whole shrimp and green beans, intensely sour as the clearbroth isflavored with tamarind. It'sgood, butI actually preferred amore vibrant version I triedat the Filipino barbecue skewer spotFlaming Pig, where theveggie flavorsreally popped.
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A celebration of swine
And of course, there'spork. No greatFilipino restaurant would be complete without it.
Go for the pata.Thisshowstopping platter hasa generously friedpork knuckleso bigitcovers theplate. Iripped off pieces of the glutinous flesh, watching steam pourfrom the crevices, and dipped thegnarledbits in dark vinegar. The viscous dark meatisn'tfor the faint of heart, or anyone with heart problems for that matter, but it's about as pretty as pigfoot can get.
But most of uswill stick to thesisig, the preciouspork faceI'd been searching for all these years.
Here, it practically roared as the sizzling plate was hurriedto the table. A plume of smoke waftedaround the castiron,revealing a torrent ofpork cubes sprinkled with choppedonions and Thai chile pepper. As the smoke dispersed, Ipierced the raw eggwith my fork andspread the yolk around so it cookedlike scrambled eggs.
Before I ate it, Isqueezed a lemon on top. The result was a dish that wasperfectly well rounded and even faintly spicy.
Sisig is actually a verb, stemming from an old Tagalog word that means "to make it sour." But the contemporarydish is, onceagain, a story of adaptation. Food historians point to theAmerican occupation, when personnel atClark Base in Angeles City, Pampangawere eating lots of pig but throwing awaythe heads. Locals came across the wasteful leftoversand put them to use, incorporatingthe parts into a smoky, grilled sisig.
Obregonchangesthe recipe to suit her own tastes. Sheditches the head meat, as well as thecustomary addition of chicken livers and makes it withporkbelly, which she prefers because it tastescleaner. I can't complain. What's not to love about a citrusy plate of juicydeep fried pork?
Someday maybe I'll find the "traditional" version, whatever that means in a country of relentless adaptation. But for right now, I feel just fine right here At My Place, eating the heck out of crispy pork while the steampours onto my face.
At My Place Cafe
Where:3450 W. Chandler Blvd., Suite #9, Chandler.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday;10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday;9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; closed Tuesday and Wednesday.
Price: Breakfast plates $10 to $15; appetizers $3 to $10; house specials and chef's choice plates $12 to $28; noodles $12 to $15.
Sound: They've experiment withsome bold music choices, but conversation is relatively easy as the music is kept to a quiet hum.
Vegetarian/vegan options: Most dishes contain some variety of pork or seafood, with not many vegetarian options. That being said, the noodle dishes can be made vegetarian.
Recommended dishes: Pork sisig,oxtail kare kare andlomi noodle soup.
Details:480-838-1008,facebook.com/atmyplacecafeaz.
Stars: 4(out of 5)
Should you go?
5— Drop everything
4— Yes, and soon
3— When you get a chance
2— Maybe, if it’s close
1— You can do better
0— Not worth your time
Reach reporter Andi Berlinatamberlin@azcentral.com. Follow her on Facebook @andiberlin, Instagram @andiberlin or Twitter @andiberlin.
