Crispy House

My mom and I were invited by our Filipino foodie friends to a Filipino restaurant yesterday. It was not close to any of us; we all had to travel a good 30 miles to get there. I was warned that the restaurant did not have a sign Crispy House which is the name of the restaurant. It was located behind a Del Taco in a strip mall in Artesia.

The occasion was celebrating April and May birthdays. I looked at the extensive menu but I was not interested in ordering. I put my faith on these foodie guys that discovered this hole in the wall. There were 18 of us. Ante, took this very seriously. He meticulously prepared the pepper by slicing them into slivers then again slicing it more. When he was done, it looked like the work of a Cuisinart! All that to be put into a sauce he concocted.

Ramon whipped out a list of what was to be ordered. I was impressed on how organized everything was. I imagined he had already consulted with Edna on what to order. Our first dish, a frequent Filipino appetizer was some Shanghai Lumpia which are eggrolls usually stuffed with pork and shrimps. These were very light and crispy ones which came with the sweet and sour sauce. A lot of restaurants make these but it is not easy to get them right. They could be too greasy or the stuffing not good enough. They are time consuming to make.   Then came the Pancit Bihon; rice noodles with vegetables, again, almost all Filipino restaurants make pancit but these were the best and tastiest I've ever had.

The rice finally came, this was not your everyday fried rice.  Binagoongan Fried Rice; rice made with bagoong. Bagoong is a condiment made from fermented shrimp or fish mixed with salt. It also had the usual eggs and onions. This was totally delicious. It was not too salty, it just had enough excitement.   Another dish they ordered was Sisig.  The skin of  a pork belly or sometimes the face (snout) of the pig is used in making sisig. It is roasted till super crisp then chopped into small pieces. After my first spoonful with rice, I thought I died and went to heaven. It was so delicious. Then the star of the show, the main event arrived.....the Crispy Pata which this restaurant is famous for.  The whole pork leg is deep fried. After one bite, I went into a coma. Unbelievably deeelicious.  There was also a Kare-Kare which is a stew of oxtails cooked with green beans, eggplant in a sauce thickened with peanut butter. This is especially good with white rice. In order to be healthy, they ordered a Chop Suey. I had a tablespoon of that for my maximum daily allowance of veggies.

We did not get to order any dessert since there were 2 cakes for all the birthday celebrants. Both cakes were light and good. It was a perfect ending to our wonderful meal. My mom who is from the Philippines thought this was the best crispy pata she's ever had....it beat the ones she has had back home. She was equally impressed with the pancit (noodles) and the lumpia (egg rolls).

Crispy House is located at 11860 Artesia Blvd. in the city of Artesia, California.