Pancit Bihon LIke No Other

For pancit lovers, not to be missed is the pancit bihon (thin white rice noodle dish) at Lam Restaurant at the Pacific Place along Quentin Paredes St. in Binondo, Manila.

This noodle dish has a garlicky taste to it and is made even more flavorful with its mix of pork, squid, fish ball, shrimps, and vegetables. One serving cost P110 (US$2.50) which can be shared if you are ordering other dishes.

Lam Restaurant is owned by the same family that used to run Marquina Restaurant at the back of the what used to be the Head Office of Philippine National Bank in Escolta. The restaurant is also famous for its crab rice and crab dishes. But my favorite is their pancit bihon, which is truly appetizing like no other bihon dish I have tasted before!

Masuki: Original Mami and Siopao Place

Masuki Restaurant in Benavidez St. Binondo is the original place to go for the mami (Chinese noodle soup) and siopao (steamed bun with meat filling) that the Mamonluk chain of restaurant made famous. I am not certain why but the mami and siopao at Masuki taste better than the ones served at Mamonluk.

The original mami with pork is best taken with liberal sprinkling of finely chopped onion leaves and mixed with a brown sauce which has a light sweetness to it. The brown sauce also makes the siopao more tasty. Small serving of this mami cost P100 (US $2.32) and the siopao P50 (US$1.16). The prices are at par with the other noodle restaurants but appear not reasonable if you consider the no frills and non airconditioned premises of the restaurant. Nonetheless the flavorful taste of the mami and siopao makes a trip to Binondo worthwile.

For people who do not want to go all the way to Binondo, Masuki has a branch in Greenhills along Ortigas Avenue.

A Different Take on Maki Noodle Dish

I got curious about the Maki Place in Binondo because it was always a full house during lunch time whenever I passed by this restaurant along Benavidez St. in Manila's Chinatown. True enough, it serves really good maki which is a Chinese noodle dish in sweet and often sticky sauce.

What makes their maki different from the maki of other Chinese restaurants is that the sauce of the maki is lighter in texture and less sweet. They also offer Fish Maki which comes with fish fillet and white sauce instead of usual brownish sauce. Of course they offer the traditional beef and pork maki. The noodle dish goes well with a serving of kiampong, chinese fried rice. Servings come in small and large portions and are reasonably priced from P85 to P100 (US$2) for the former and for the latter P100 - P115 (US $2.44) depending on whether it is fish, pork or beef.