Ma Mon Luk is probably the grand daddy of the local fast food restaurants. Established in 1920, the restaurant practically introduced beef and chicken noodle soup (mami, "ma" meaning meat and "mi" meaning noodles in Chinese) and steamed pork buns (asado siopao) to the Manila gentry. You enter their restaurant along Quezon Boulevard (near the corner of Banawe St.) and it seems that you step back in time to the mid-fifties. A portrait of the restaurant's founding father adorns the walls; and the furniture seems to be the original furniture used when the store opened. There is no air-conditioning; it was 2:30 in the afternoon (a very hot and humid afternoon, I must add) when Monique and I entered and it was amazing to see that the seats were 60% occupied. Old habits die hard.
The siopao dough is tough on the outside, and most people peel off the outer layer. The texture of the asado filling is chopped fine, a bit mushy, I used to remember that I could see bigger chunks of meat as the filling. The regular size siopao goes for P45, while the special siopao is bigger, has chicken meat and ground pork, and is priced slightly higher at P60. The noodle soups are priced for about P110 to P125 for the large sized bowl, and I was happy that the meats were soft and tender.
While stepping back in time is an interesting part of the experience, I must be objective enough to say that the place needs a good makeover to keep up with the 21st century. Prices are reasonable and the food quality is still okay, but it would probably be some time before I visit the place again.
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