Ma Mon Luk - the Original Mami

Mami - the Chinese comfort food made up of noodles, broth, and meat (chicken or beef) has been a welcome addition to the Filipino palate. Probably the most familiar ones are those found in the fast food chains.

BUt google it and you'll probably stumble across the name Ma Mon Luk as the original who brought mami to the Philippines. That's Ma Mon Luk in the picture below.

Not many people probably know that Ma Mon Luk is just around the corner. I know they have a brach in Cubao and in Quiapo. My first encounter with Ma Mon Luk was when I was in high school way back in the '90s. My high school friends and I were in Cubao for some reason and decided to eat here. With my student allowance then, it was quite pricey but I distinctly remember the savory and delicious broth and siopao.

Fast forwarded to the present, most of the mamis I have tried are from Chowking or from roadside stands, so when a good friend asked me to accompany him to Quiapo Church, I decided to visit the original mami house.

Ma Mon Luk is located along Quezon Blvd. in between stores selling uniforms, old books. If you are coming from Quiapo Church, just go to the direction of Isetann. Walk along the sidewalk so you wouldn't miss it.

I am quite sad to see how old and dilapidated the mami house looks like. Once inside, it's so hot as the steam from the kitchen wafts to the dining. There's no aircon and the fans are so old you can barely feel the breeze. The walls are festooned with framed news articles about the store, but effort could have been made to better preserve these.

But I don't want the store's physical attributes affect my nostalgia of the best mami I tasted in the 90's. So I order their biggest bowl (the special mami at Php120.00) plus siopao and sadly, my nostalgia was brought to reality.

The brought is greasy and tasteless, and I have to add crushed pepper, calamansi, soy sauce and fish sauce to add flavor.

The serving is indeed big and filling. I may have high expectations as I was trying to match my adolescent mami to the present one, but disappointingly, it wasn't what I expected.

I couldn't say that the quality has deteriorated or I just remember the taste wrong, but if the state of the store would be my basis, I sincerely hope that the current management of Ma Mon Luk should do something to bring back the pride of being the original.It is not enough to put a slogan that it is the house of the original mami nor putting up framed news articles.

Only some few foodies may recognize the historical value of Ma Mon Luk, but for me, I hope on my next visit, things would have improved.

Hirayamanawari,

Rob