ma mon luk... best dimsum this side of town!!!

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i've always loved travelling to quiapo just to eat at this fabled restaurant. i don't mind the commute and traffic as i live down south just so i can feast on the siopao (bread with meat, egg, and sausages for fillings), noodles, and siomai (steamed ground pork or beef with vegetables wrapped in a thin egg wrapper). i remember when i was younger my grandfather would take me to quiapo church every friday and we would eat after hearing mass at ma mon luk. just a backgrounder, the restaurant was established by ma mon luk (1896-1961), a pioneering chinese filipino chef and entrepreneur. born in guangdong, china, he was a grade school teacher in guangzhou when he decided to emigrate to the philippines in 1918. according to stories, he migrated to the philippines in order to earn his fortune and win the hand of a girl whose wealthy cantonese family looked none too kindly on his poverty. arriving penniless in manila, ma mon luk decided to peddle chicken noodle soup, utilizing egg noodles. he soon became a familiar sight on the streets of manila, plodding down with a long bamboo pole slung on his shoulders with two metal containers on each end. one vat contained his especially concocted noodles and strips of chicken meat, while the other stored chicken broth heated by live coals underneath. with a pair of scissors, he would cut the noodles and meat to serve to his customers. among his frequent customers were students from the various schools and universities in manila, whom he would regale with tales about China. ma mon luk himself called his concoction "gupit", after the tagalog word for "cut with scissors". a popular theory of the origin of the word "mami" is that "ma" came from his name and "mi" came from the chinese word for "recipe"; thus "mami" stands for "the recipe of mr. ma. ma mon luk soon opened his first restaurant in binondo, where he introduced his equally famous siopao, a steamed pork dumpling enhanced by a secret sauce. ma mon luk nonetheless continued to peddle his wares on the streets, advertising his restaurant by giving away free samples. by the 1950s, ma mon luk and his 'mami' were nationally known, and ma mon luk became the iconic chinese restaurant, sprouting many imitators who failed to equal its success. at one point, in the mid 1990s, there were at least six ma mon luk restaurants in metro manila, but as of 2006, only the branches in quezon avenue and quezon boulevard in quiapo remain open. the branch in quezon avenue is the cleaner between the two but i prefer to go to the quiapo branch since i share a lot of happy memories here with my departed grandfather. anyway, aside from ma mon luk whereelse can you find great tasting dimsum here in manila? one restaurant that comes to mind is kowloon but my experiences with their siopao deserves a different post. lol! have you had any similar experiences eating in ma mon luk? please share them and i'll gladly read them while eating a bowl of hot piping mami with siopao and siomai. cheers!!!