Manila Chinatown

Thursday, April 23, 2015

MASUKI: Bad Ass Siomai and Great Tasting Noodles that SMELL

Warning: If you believe that delicious food also smell good, be prepared for a paradigm shift. As one blogger writes on his site:

Masuki Mami House
931 Benavidez St., Binondo Manila
Tel: (02) 2432674

Other branches:

2nd floor Sekai Center, Ortigas corner Madison Street, San Juan City
Tel: 744-2720

Mall of Asia, Main Mall North Wing

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Masuki is one of those classic restaurants in Binondo which already existed before my parents (Right now, my parents are senior citizens) Yet Masuki seems to attract customers both old and young.

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Here's their menu:

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Although the price of some of their noodles are more expensive, it only means you’ll be getting a lot more meat on your noodles. The prices of their siopao and siomai are also more expensive than your usual dimsum but wait until you see the size of their servings.

My friends and I ordered the following:

Original Mami (Special) – Php 130

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Asado Mami (Special) – Php 130

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Wonton Mami (Special) – Php 170 (more expensive than the above two but look how many the wontons are.)

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2 orders of 2 pieces Siomai – Php 35 per piece total of 140.

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Their siomai might be one of the biggest you'll ever see. As one guy wrote in a review:

And instead of the usual soy sauce plus calamansi, you can try what my friend Aimee usually does: Their special asado sauce (free for every order of their noodles) + calamansi. Since their sauce is thick, you’ll really taste the calamansi flavor wrapped around their siomai. Yum!

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Every order of their noodles comes with their famous special asado sauce. Eating Masuki noodles without this is like eating spaghetti without tomato sauce.

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What we usually do is put some sauce on the noodles before we eat it. Some might like to mix it directly into the soup, but we think this approach will lessen the flavor of the sauce. Anyways, it's up to your liking.

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The aftermath:

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Overall, Masuki is one of the place you will really enjoy here at Binondo. It’s one of the oldest and yet still one of the most famous restaurants in Binondo. Delicious food, huge servings and maybe the exotic smell of the soup all at the right price is I believe some of the reasons that makes this restaurant stand the test of time.

Here are also some of the many reviews you can find circulating the internet:

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Lan Zhou La Mien: Big Bowl Noodles at Affordable Prices

Lan Zhou La Mien is one of the most famous noodle restaurants in Binondo. Known for its hand pulled noodles and huge serving of dumplings, this is one of the restaurants in Binondo you definitely have to try.

Lan Zhou La Mien
Locations:
1354 Benavidez St, Binondo, Manila (infront of Citibank)
499 San Fernando Street, Binondo, Manila
1354 Masangkay St, Sta. Cruz, Manila (directly infront of Metropolitan Hospital)
Tel: 559 9466

Lan Zhou La Mien - Benavidez Branch

Here is their menu, you can notice that all their foods are below 200 pesos.

What's more, their servings are huge. One order of their noodles is often enough for anyone. I ordered Chicken Kan Pan Mien. Basically it's chicken noodles with special sauce but with the soup served separately.

Chicken Kan Pan Mien

For those who want additional flavor in their noodles.

Condiments - I usually put a lot of spring onion into my soup.

16 pcs Dumplings

All these dumplings for just 160 pesos (as of 4/16/2015).

Overall, it's hard to be disappointed to eat at Lan Zhou La Mien especially if it's your first time. With their huge servings at affordable price, you'll leave their restaurant feeling satisfied. Personally, I really like their Kan Pan Mien, Beef Lamien, Steam Dumplings and Lamien Guisado.

Lan Zhou La Mien
Locations:
1354 Benavidez St, Binondo, Manila (infront of Citibank)
499 San Fernando Street, Binondo, Manila
1354 Masangkay St, Sta. Cruz, Manila (directly infront of Metropolitan Hospital)
Tel: 559 9466

Friday, April 10, 2015

Pasig Ferry, the coolest way to Binondo

Update: Regarding the smell, There is unfortunately a smell at Escolta terminal (not in Guadalupe Terminal) which you'll most likely notice if you stay there while waiting. My advise is to only stay there a few minutes before the ferry leaves or use the Guadalupe to Boni Route for a stench free experience.

One of the most common complaints of those who are going to Binondo is the constant heavy traffic. No matter which way you go using land transportation, it really takes a while just to get to the main streets of Binondo such as Ongpin and Juan Luna. Base from my experiences (year 2013-2015), it usually takes me on average 1-2 hours to reach the end of Jones Bridge by car or by public transportation. But what if there was a better way to get to Binondo with less hassle and more fun? The answer came to me while I was returning home from Guadalupe EDSA and saw a little ferry that came from terminal for the Pasig Ferry.

MMDA Pasig Ferry
Schedule: Monday - Saturday, Departure time differs per terminal but has 1 hour interval.

View from Gateway Condo, Guadalupe

I would like give thanks to my friends Jersey and Sharon for letting me take a picture from their unit.

I was curious if the people in the ferry were tourists so I decided to take a look.

Pasig Ferry Guadalupe Terminal Fares

I was surprised to find out that there was something like this, a ferry that can take you to different places along Pasig River and one of the destination was ESCOLTA (near the famous Savory Chicken Restaurant, and also the end of Jones Bridge). There is a ferry that departs every hour starting from 6:30am in the morning until 4:30pm in the afternoon, Mondays to Fridays. I actually arrived just after the ferry left but I decided to wait and take the next trip.

My Ticket

Inside the terminal

The inside of the terminal is actually pretty hot and with little ventilation, so I suggest coming here around 15 minutes before the scheduled departure if you want to avoid the heat especially during afternoons (Note: My experience here is at Guadalupe Terminal).

A few minutes before 2:30pm, we were called to board the ferry.

Here we go!!

Guadalupe Bridge

Tivoli Gardens

Swimming Kids

2nd Stop: Sta. Ana Terminal

Lambingan Terminal: Couple's Destination

3rd Stop: PUP Terminal

Federal Land Condominiums

Binondo Skyline?

Manila Post Office

FEATI University

Final Destination: Escolta Terminal

Escolta Terminal

After you exit the Escolta Terminal, turn left and go up the bridge and you'll see this:

Welcome to Manila Chinatown!

The traffic you won't need to experience, thanks to Pasig River

Overall, the trip was really fun, somewhat relaxing and FAST. The entire trip only took around 40 mins instead of the usual 1-2 hour trip (We left Guadalupe Terminal around 2 30 pm and reached Escolta around 3:10pm). I saw a lot of new view of places such as Binondo, Malate and Mandaluyong. You can even see a complete view of Malacañang Palace, the only sad thing is that you can’t take a picture while in the area, not unless you want to be questioned by the accompanying coast guard haha.
~~In terms of smell of the river, I wasn’t able to notice any but if ever my nose let me down during the trip, please do let me know to help inform the others.~~

The Pasig Ferry is open during Mondays to
~~Fridays~~ Saturdays. The ferry from Guadalupe Terminal leaves every hour starting 6:30am in the morning until 4:30pm in the afternoon, this is going to Escolta. As for the Escolta Terminal, the ferry leaves every hour starting 6:30am in the morning until
~~4:15~~5:30pm in the afternoon. This is as of April 4, 2015. They might change their prices and schedule without prior notice, but I will do my best to keep the information as updated as possible. Too bad they aren't open until the evening and weekends to cater those who have work during the weekdays.

MMDA Pasig Ferry
Schedule: Monday - Saturday, Departure time differs per terminal but has 1 hour interval.
Stations:

#	Station	Location
1	Plaza Mexico	Intramuros, Manila
2	Escolta	Binondo, Manila
3	PUP (Polytechnic University of the Philippines)	Santa Mesa, Manila
4	Santa Ana	Santa Ana, Manila
5	Guadalupe	Barangay Guadalupe Nuevo, Makati City
6	San Joaquin	Barangay San Joaquin, Pasig City
7	Pinagbuhatan - Acasia	Barangay Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City

Apologies for some blurry pictures, the sun was too strong that it affected the lighting. I will also update this in the future once I obtain more information like the contact numbers of each terminal.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

New Toho Food Center: One of the oldest in Binondo

Started in the lucky year of 1888, Toho Food Center was originally called Toho Panciteria Antigua before it was burnt in 1984 and was rebuilt and named "New" Toho Food Center. Located along Tomas Pin Pin St., New Toho Food Center is considered as one of the oldest restaurants not only in Binondo but also in the Philippines. This restaurant already existed at the time of Jose Rizal and he sometimes ate here while studying at Intramuros.

Here is their menu (as of 2/28/2015):

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Menu Front[/caption]

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Menu Back[/caption]

We ordered the following dishes:

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Corn Soup (medium) - 290 pesos[/caption]

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Toho Beef (medium) - 390 pesos[/caption]

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Chop Seuy (medium) - 290 pesos[/caption]

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Lumpiang Shanghai (medium) - 320 pesos[/caption]

Nothing special about the taste of their food but their servings are quite large. Finishing these 4 dishes (plus plain rice) was quite a challenge for me and my friends (4 hungry people).

New Toho Food Center
422-424 T. Pinpin Street, Binondo, Manila Philippines
Tel: 241-4208, 242-0294
Operating hours: 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m.; closed on Sundays

Reviews from other bloggers (opens in a new tab):

Eatsnowornever.com

theultimatefoodaddict.com

firingyourimagination

kontedstories

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Fortune Wok: Binondo's Hidden Gem

(There is a promo for our readers at the end of this post.)

Never judge a book by its cover. This is one rule that doesn't usually apply to restaurants,

except for this one.

Located at 347 San Vicente St. corner T. Pin Pin, Binondo Manila, Fortune Wok, I believe is one of the friendliest restaurants you can find in Binondo. The feeling of skepticism you will feel before you enter the place will most likely be replaced by satisfaction and connection with the place and its owner by the time you leave it. I know that is a heavy statement but this is what we have experienced in this place located at the middle of (almost) nowhere.

Although the location of the store is not that well known, the place is quite easy to find since it is just a few streets away from Sta. Cruz Church and the restaurant has a huge billboard above its entrance. It is quite easy to notice especially at night.

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Entrance of Fortune Wok at night[/caption]

Once you enter the restaurant, you'll notice that the appearance is almost the same as every other traditional Chinese restaurant in Binondo, basic table and chairs as you can see in the picture. Although this one has a huge round table that can accomodate around 12 people.

Upon entering, we were greeted by the owner of the store Mr. Chow, though at first we didn't know he was the owner. We only found out while we were choosing what food to eat. He's the one you can see on the picture below. We were able to chat with him the entire time we were in his restaurant and found out that he's an international food expert and was featured on ChinoyTV.

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Mr. Chow (on the left)[/caption]

At first, we only expected the usual service in a typical restaurant: we ask what their specialties are, find out if it's delicious, and decide. But our experience at Fortune Wok was different, we asked them if they can introduce us their dishes and unexpectedly Mr. Chow gave us an offer: He will choose what he will serve us and if we didn't like any of his dishes, we need not pay for that certain dish, but if we did like it, he just wants us to spread the word to our friends. In short, we accepted his offer. In total, he served us 5 kinds of dishes: Soup, rice, pork, squid and fish.

Soup: Seafood Soup (serves 6-7)

The first dish they served us was Seafood soup. The soup was tasty and quite meaty, although it can't be seen in the picture above it has shrimp and oysters in it. My friends and enjoyed it and some of us ate 2 bowls. Thumbs up!

Rice: Yang Chow Fried Rice (serves 5-6)

Their Yang Chow fried rice is good, and what's different about theirs is their big shrimps and big serving. How big is one order of this? Big enough for 6 people or 3 very hungry people.

Pork: Kowloon Pata (285 pesos)

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Picture of the dish "Kowloon Pata" in their menu[/caption]

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"Kowloon Pata" actual serving[/caption]

Next in line was the Kowloon pata, and if you like eating pata, I believe you will really like this dish. The pata here is bite sized and really soft and tasty. I don't usually eat pata especially the large one but I liked this one.

Squid: Sky Squid

The dish that I liked most was their sky squid. At first look it reminded me of the pigeon dish usually served at wedding banquets. Basically its fried squid served with kropek (shrimp cracker). Highly recommended but might be too salty for some like one of my friends.

Fish: Lapu hot plate

Fortune Wok Lapu Hot Plate

The last dish (or so we thought) was the Lapu Hot Star, sizzling lapu lapu with sweet and spicy sauce on top. The dish was just OK. We finished the entire thing but felt that the sauce was too strong that we weren't able to appreciate the fish.

While we were almost done eating, Mr. Chow approached us and mentioned he will be treating us their special dessert after which if we liked it he will be telling us the story behind the dish (the story is quite long but interesting so I won't be sharing it in this post).

Dessert: Banana flamb'e (48 pesos/piece)

The name of this dessert is Banana Flamb'e (pronounced as Flambey). It looks simple but it tastes really good. Basically, it's a banana with a crunchy coating covered with sweet syrup. The banana is really soft that it almost melts in your mouth. My friend even bought 2 orders to bring home.

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Banana Flamb'e take out[/caption]

Overall, we really liked the experience we had eating at Fortune Wok. Good food and Great Service despite the not so good ambiance. They even have wifi here. We noticed that the owner Mr. Chow is really hands on in terms of their food and even provides us brief explanation of the dishes. If you are confused on what to order, you can ask Mr. Chow which by the way only speaks a little Tagalog but knows English and Mandarin.

Fortune Wok: Authentic Hong Kong Style Cuisine
347 San Vicente St. corner T. Pin Pin, Binondo Manila
Tel: 5238626
Cel: 09369513821

EXCLUSIVE for our readers: Just say the password "The only authentic Chinese food in town" upon ordering and you will be given a random gift personally chosen by Mr. Chow.

If you have already eaten at this restuarant, share your comments below.

***The owner, Mr. Chow was made aware halfway when we are eating that I am a blogger, therefore the service given to us might be bias.

Here are other pictures of their dishes (provided by Mr. Chow):