Head to a suburban shopping centre for this pork dish with ‘outrageous crispiness’

Previous SlideNext Slide

First, an apology to the customers behind me. I stood at the counter at Mrs Parks Kitchen for way too long, puzzling over the menu, in absolute anguish about which pork dish to order. Would it be the sisig, a sizzling pork platter, or the crispy pata, a fried pork hock? Both sounded so good, but each is a meal in themselves. You probably know how this ends? I got both, knowing I couldn’t finish them, but also noticing that most people leave here with leftovers.

Simple but polished, decorated with pink neon and botanical illustrations, this two-year-old, family-friendly restaurant is on the perimeter of the western suburban Caroline Springs Square Shopping Centre, where weekend excursions begin with laps of the car park and queues at places like halal deli Roger Roger spill down the footpath. There are plenty of franchises nearby, so it’s great to see indie Mrs Parks drawing customers from a broader community of food-lovers as well as the sizeable local Filipino population.

There’s no “Mrs Parks”, as such. The place is named for chef and owner Linwood Rubenio, nicknamed “Parks” because he resembles Bobby Parks, a famous Filipino-American basketball player. The “Mrs” is Rubenio’s wife, Maribel, a full-time palliative care nurse who also works at the restaurant. In fact, she’s the one who steered me through my ordering crisis.

The Rubenios are from Pampanga, a province north of Manila that’s widely regarded as the culinary capital of the Philippines, but they were match-made in London, where Linwood courted Maribel by cooking for her and her five nurse roommates. “All my friends said, ‘Go with him, his food is good, he will always cook for you,’” Maribel tells me. The couple moved to Australia and did catering between Linwood’s work as a chef in restaurants, hotels and an aged-care home where, famously, the residents put on weight during his tenure.

I’m not surprised. There’s a beautiful touch to his food, a repertoire of Filipino classics rendered from scratch with care. The sisig is cooked Pampanga-style: pig’s head bubbles away for hours, then is roasted, chopped and sizzled with chicken liver. It’s succulent and flavourful, brightened with a squeeze of calamansi, a ubiquitous Filipino citrus. If you have reservations about odd porky bits, don’t worry, you’ll never know they’re there.

“Pata” is hock, also slow-simmered before deep-frying to an outrageous crispiness. Served with raw onion and a vinegar dipping sauce that does its best to cut through the richness, it’s a burnished, sticky, crunchy delight. People in the know give this dish as a Christmas gift.

Kare-kare is a beef and peanut stew, made here with ossobuco which enriches the nutty gravy. It comes with green beans, eggplant and a house-made shrimp paste that brings a dimensional saltiness to the dish. Eat the kare-kare with rice or, perhaps, a bouncy, stir-fried noodle dish that’s wokked with prowess.

Rubenio trained as a pastry chef and his desserts are refined. The leche pie is a spin on the famous Filipino flan, which resembles creme caramel. Set in a perfect, delicate pastry case and drizzled with maple syrup and cream, it finds the crossover between indulgence and elegance.

Pride is often a secret ingredient in Filipino food – and rightly so: this is a cuisine that’s varied and subtle, even as it wallops you with fatty pork or evaporated milk. Mrs Parks is an expression of culture, welcoming and sincere, showcasing skill in every dish. No wonder it’s hard to make decisions here.

This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.