LAReview
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Ma'am Sir
This spot is Permanently Closed.
If you’re lucky enough to live near a great neighborhood restaurant, you immediately claim it as your own. It’s not your roommate’s or your boyfriend’s or your neighbor’s who waxes his back on the front stoop. It’s yours and anyone who steps foot inside is a declared threat to its very existence.
We’re probably being a little dramatic right now, but the fact is that people like keeping their local spots to themselves. On rare occasions, however, a neighborhood restaurant opens up that’s so exciting and different, you want to show it off. It simply makes you cooler because you live nearby. On a stretch of Sunset Blvd that people from both Silver Lake and Los Feliz claim as their own, Ma’am Sir is that kind of neighborhood spot.
Green vines hang from the open rafters and leafy wallpaper makes you feel like you’re on vacation at a resort in Miami. It’s crowded, you’ll have multiple waiters, and there’s a ribeye on the menu. All of these details can make Ma’am Sir feel like a big-deal restaurant - but unlike most big-deal restaurants, a meal here is never a chore.
photo credit: Jakob Layman
What is a big deal at Ma’am Sir is the food. The menu is broken into three sections - starters, ulam (main dishes), and pica pica (small plates) - and is full of Filipino classics. But each of those classics has a creative twist that makes it completely unique. Like the shrimp lumpia (deep-fried spring rolls), which is topped with big dollops of uni, and the sweet longganisa, on a Hawaiian bun with grilled pickled papaya, and the pork sisig, served in a skillet with sweetbread. These dishes feel like straight-up comfort, but they also give you the opportunity to taste something new. Which is even more reason to bring your friends - you’re going to want to try everything.
You can hide your dimly-lit coffee shop or family-run cinnamon store from as many people as you want. Ma’am Sir, on the other hand, is ready for the show.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Lumpia
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Albacore Tuna Sinuglaw
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Longganisa Sandwich
Pork Sisig
photo credit: Jakob Layman
Milkfish Inihaw
photo credit: Jakob Layman