The house that Crispy Pata built

CEBU, Philippines - And that house is now called Alejandro'sCrispy Pata. It all began in 1991 when Alejandro and Lourdes Yap opened a restaurant that served steak and seafood in Don Jose Avila St., Capitol Site. Much later, they began to serve Filipino dishes because that was the preference of their clients.

The search began on what particular dishes best would satisfy their customers' palate because this is Cebu and Cebuanos demand that the food must be tasty (lami), with generous servings (daghan), inexpensive (barato) and with extras (dunay pakapin) like unlimited rice and bottomless ice teas are greatly appreciated.And crispy pata evolvedas the speciality of this restaurant and the best selling item in Alejandro's.

The roots of the crispy pata can be traced to the home of Sixta Evangelista Ongpauco or Mama Chit in Caloocan City where she loves to cook for her friends. She had a special way in preparing the pork knuckles and her son Rodolfo had invented the perfect way of frying the crispy pata. In 1958, their residence was called Barrio Fiesta and it became a pioneer as a fine dining restaurant with Crispy Pata and Kare-kare as their specialties. Today, there are variants of the dish like the Crispy Patita Gitna, Crispy Patita Kuko and boneless Crispy Pata.

Back to Cebu, Alejandro's Crispy Pata moved to its new location at #6 Island Area, Century Plaza Commercial Complex, Juana Osmeña St.(Mango Avenue, phone 253-7921) and your favorite food columnist was invited to the opening by my good friend, Alexis who is now managing the business with his sister, MaureenYap.

Appetizers were Chicken Strips and Cheese Sticks and the soup served was my favorite, Sinigang na Pasayan. I seem to have a preference for shrimps sourced from the sea rather than prawns raised in fish ponds since the former has that peculiar "sweetness" when used in soups. However, for deep frying, prawnsseem to taste better but the back side has to be slit open to remove the entrails. This procedure is a must in both Chinese and Japanese cuisine.

The main dishes were the regular restaurant specialities like the  Tortang Talong, Sizzling Squid in Spicy Coco Cream Sauce, Fried Native Spring Chicken and the Pièce de résistance of Alejandro, the Crispy Pata. The skin is very crispy, the meat tender enough to cut with a teaspoon and utterly delicious. It is definitely this dish,excuse me, that built this restaurant.                There are exciting new dishes offered and I have already decided, despite my hectic schedule, to revisit Alejandro and taste their version of the Pochero Tagalog and the Crispy Sisig. I wonder how the latter would compare to thesisig served in Aling Lucing'srestaurant in Angeles City.Many of my beloved readers know that the sisig was invented by Lucing Cunanan in Pampanga.

An added advantage to the new location is better accessibility, more secure environment and more parking spaces for its patrons. The latter requirement has to be satisfied because many of the restaurant patrons do own cars. They will also open on Sundays to accommodate families and friends who come from church, while live acoustic music and singing is scheduled from Thursdays to Saturdays, from 10 pm onwards.