Post-Bataan trip, we picked dad up at Monumento. Sunday lunch.
We did that thing where we decide where to eat for lunch, and dad and I were both thinking of eating in Masuki [his family calls it Ma Kong, I will never know why], which is this place we’ve just been going to for years.
Masuki is this Mami place in Binondo/Chinatown, and it’s been there since the 1930′s.
My grandpa took my dad and his brothers there, dad takes us there, and this is where I take Alvin when I feel like I want to just binge on real Chinese food. It’s not that I’m anti-fancy restaurants or anything, but there are some days when I just want to sit in an open-air place, and get enormous servings of noodles that needs to be eaten in a special way.
We do our typical order. [We've grown accustomed to telling the waiter 'apat na malaki [four big ones],’ because back in the nineties they had but a few items in the menu.]
This is what we get. This is just mine, by the way.
If you think it looks sinfully huge, you’re right.
Almost everything they serve in Masuki, when they say it’s big, it’s honest-to-goodness big.
…and you get to mix everything in the menu with their sauce. I will never know what’s in it, and I’d rather keep it that way. It’s pretty much the equivalent of keeping the magic in this place alive, I tell you.
And yes, when I say everything, I mean you mix that with the mami, the siomai, the siopao… every single goddamn thing.
I typically make use of the trips to Masuki as an excuse to pig out and try to be healthy at the same time.
This is also the only place I would gladly put some greens in my food. And then I attack.
The best part about being in Masuki is, it’s like being in a great part of history, being there. It’s right at the very heart of Manila–the real, raw, dirty side of it, really. Not a lot would probably want to go there [if you are the kind of person who's accustomed to staying in Ayala malls every weekend, then don't go within five kilometers of this awesome place], but if you wanted to, you would feel that’s the place is fucking alive. Alive, breathing, like everything has an underlying heartbeat.
Like a boss, I say.
Apart from this, the food is also good, and they do everything the old school way.
They also serve it fucking fast. They simply pour the broth on the noodles and it’s good to go down any rumbling stomach on a rainy day.
My family has various takes on how to eat mami.
My take is I use two spoons, and I eat the mami first and the sauce rightafter, and it all blends in my mouth like a goddamn romantic marriage between husband and wife.
[Unfortunately, I can't take a photo of myself eating it, and everyone else is busy with their own food, so...]
Masuki’s located in Benavidez Street, in Chinatown, in Manila. It’s easier to get there on foot, you just have to keep walking til you see the Anson Emporium, make a left, and then make a right on the first street. After that, you can ask people where Masuki is, everyone knows it like the back of their hand, trust me.
Food is awesome, and also cheap. If you have Php100-150 on you, you’ll get by pretty fine, trust me on this one. :)
I my memory serves me right, Ma Kong was the original name of Masuki :) I used to pass by Masuki very often and remember it was named Ma Kong before it got changed to Masuki