When I was taking my Master's Degree at one of the prominent universities in the U-Belt, my classmates and I are always having a food trip at Ma Mon Luk. It is one of the oldest Chinese restaurants located in the busy streets of Quiapo, Manila. This is not just a typical restaurant but it has an interesting history.
There was a Chinese chef and entrepreneur named Ma Mon Luk, who went to the Philippines in order to marry a Chinese girl from a rich family. As a hardworking peddler, he sold Chinese noodles (locally known as mami) in the streets of Manila. He is very known for gupit noodles, where he used a pair of scissors for cutting the noodles and chicken strips teemed up with hot and savory broth.
Ma Mon Luk established his small restaurant in the 1920 after he achieved prosperity from hard work. There are ideas that the term mami came from Ma, the first syllable of his name and mi from mi-ki or egg noodles. In addition, siopao, a white steamed bun enhanced with meat chunks and secret sauce. is also popular delicacy in the restaurant.
Today, Ma Mon Luk has two operating stores, the one being in Quiapo (the oldest branch) and in Quezon Avenue (the main restaurant). They offered mami with chicken strips, beef chunks and savory broth worth P100.00. It is perfectly matched with siopao with different varieties. The first one is asado (worth P45.00) and a combination of asado, chicken and salted eggs (worth P65.00). The food is definitely delicious that can matched with fruity beverages or even mineral water. Definitely, you can taste the raw Chinese cuisine in this restaurant.
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| Chicken Noodles |
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| Beef Noodles |
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| Asado Siopao |
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| Beef Noodles and Siopao |
If I come back again to my graduate studies soon, I will never forget to have a foodtrip at Ma Mon Luk even once a month. Although it is an old restaurant located in the busy sidewalks of Quiapo, it is such an exciting foodtrip. It is for the reason that I appreciated the real Chinoy cuisine made by the legendary Chinese chef and entrepreneur who became a household name among the residents of Manila.
Date: July 13, 2013
Date: July 13, 2013
