“What’s your order?” My wife asked as we sat down on one of the wooden benches at Mami Madz in Cabangan. It was almost evening and we’ve just been to the San Isidro Beach—our clothes still wet from the sea.

“Uhm. I’ll have a bowl of mami and goto each, please.” I replied.

“What?! Are you sure?” My wife incredulously asked.

“Alright, two bowls of mami and one goto, then.”

THE BEACH NEAR MAMI MADZ

Mami Madz Goto & Mami has always been our go-to place after our daily afternoon visits to the beach. It’s a minute walk from the sea and the beach it fronts, along with numerous resorts in Cabangan, actually has one of the shallower waters in the area—perfect for our toddler, Akira.

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MAMI MADZ’S SIMPLE SET UP

We’re usually here after having our Cabangan Beach sunset, ordering the usual pair of mami and goto. Well, those two are all they serve, really. Uhm, okay, they also serve variations of the latter—goto with egg only (no innards) and goto plain.

AGOHO TREES SURROUNDING MAMI MADZ

This mamihan is as basic as it gets; DIY wooden tables and benches, simple shed type roof supported by bamboo columns and beams. There are no walls to separate the dining area with the nearby pine-like agoho trees surrounding the property. This is as rustic legit as it can get.

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DOUBLE ORDER OF MAMI FOR ME

And the food? Their mami (₱40.00), is pretty good. Swimming along its hot beef broth are chopped onion leeks, cabbage strips, chicharon chunks, extremely tender shredded beef, and two halves of hardboiled egg. You have the option of squeezing a helping of calamansi, but I prefer mine without. What I do like to mix it with are a few drops of chili garlic oil and a dash of pepper. My mouth waters just writing about this.

►MAMI ORIGINS: MA MON LUK

GOTO AND MAMI COMBI

Their goto (₱35.00) on the other hand is filled with turmeric infused lugaw, crunchy pork innards, onion leeks, the ubiquitous egg, and a heavy dose of crisply fried garlic toppings. Delicious. The only thing missing, really, are fried lumpia and tokwa.

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STREET FOOD WEEKENDS AT MAMI MADZ

But fret not, lumpia and tokwa lovers. If you time you visit during Fridays and Saturdays, they do serve these as part of their street food weekends. And along with it, tukneneng, hotdogs, pork siomai, chicken isaw, and chicken proben—all in their crisply fried glory.

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GUT-BUSTINGLY FULL AFTER OUR AFTERNOON FEAST AT MAMI MADZ

To be honest, I’m more of a lugaw person, but surprisingly, I’m digging their mami better than their goto. I guess, their joint wouldn’t be named Mami Madz for nothing, yeah? But really, why choose, when you can order and have both.

Mami Madz Goto & Mami
Address: Coastal Road, Sitio Agoho, Brgy. San Isidro, Cabangan, Zambales  
Opening Hours: 6:30AM to 12:00NN | 4:00PM to 8:30PM, Daily
Contact Number: (0909) 460-1392 | Facebook
GPS Coordinates Map: 15.169402, 120.035833

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