Where can you find pleasure?
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On the land or on the sea
The Village People ~ Songwriters: Jacques Morali / Henri Belolo / Victor Edward Willis
My choice of quote to open this post may seem strange but all will be revealed later.
When we travel, we love to try the food of our destinations. Pasta in Italy (of course!), curry in India, kimchi in North Korea, even grasshoppers in Oaxaca. And on our latest trip to the Philippines we naturally enjoyed many local dishes, and like the Filipinos themselves ate rice with almost every meal.
But on our very first night in Manila, we were lured instead by the intriguing presence of a very non-Filipino restaurant just a block from our hotel in Makati. The Filling Station is a 1950s US-style diner that was started by a former Navy chef back 1989. It is known for its retro memorabilia, an Instagrammer’s delight.
With our shared affection for old TV shows like Happy Days and films such as Diner and That’ll be the Day, we have always looked out for traditional diners in the US, so why not visit one in Manila?!
And it certainly lived up to its reputation for memorabilia. The décor was totally over the top and we loved spotting the old movie posters as well as taking photos of iconic figures such as Elvis and Marilyn, and film characters from the Pink Panther to Darth Vadar!
We also enjoyed the burgers, the beers and a shared ice cream sundae. And we had great fun watching the wait staff, dressed in a variety of costumes that we at first failed to make the links between, when they paused their regular duties to give an animated rendition of a medley of Village People favourites! Which explains my opening quote …
I’m linking this to Dan’s CFFC theme, suggesting lunch or dinner.
48 Comments
grandmisadventures
Hands down the greatest station I’ve ever seen- its sensory overload at its finest 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Meg 😀 I reckon ‘sensory overload’ describes it perfectly!
equinoxio21
Lovely. Thanks for the -much needed- smile… 😀
Sarah Wilkie
Very glad to give you that smile 😀
Teresa
Hey, thanks for sharing. I haven’t been to that place. So….did you join the dance? Haha I would’ve
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Teresa 🙂 No, there wasn’t really enough room for the wait staff to dance, never mind anyone joining in! But of course we all sang along 😀
Wetravelhappy
Oh wow I never knew this exists! I’ll tell my hubby about it so that he can check it out on his next business trip to Makati. Thank you Sarah for sharing. 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you – I’m happy to have introduced you to a new place. I hope your husband enjoys it too!
Rose
Holy my goodness that’s a lotta fun memorabilia! It must be a 1950’s historian’s dream to eat there! I couldn’t help but smile through all of your photos and video. 😊
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, someone has had a lot of fun sourcing and acquiring all that memorabilia, and I assume is still adding to it 😀 Glad to have given you a smile Rose!
the eternal traveller
That looks like fun.
Sarah Wilkie
It was 😀
thehungrytravellers.blog
Ah yes, you told us about this place. Bits of Peggy Sue’s on Route 66 with a hundred other themes thrown in. Worth a visit for sure, even though we didn’t venture that way. Nothing about the Filling Station would scare me…..apart from the ice cream sundae, now THAT is scary……
Sarah Wilkie
Definitely in the same vein as all the Route 66 nostalgia stuff (and that’s another trip I’d like to take some day). Sorry to frighten you with so much ice cream though Phil 😂
Anna
Not sure I could eat there without getting a headache and wanting to throw up. It’s a bit too bright for my liking! 🤣
Sarah Wilkie
It honestly didn’t seem too much when we were there, but I know it wouldn’t be for everyone 😀
Graham Stephen
colour overload!
⬻𓂀✧ ✬ღ☆ ∞ ♡ ∞ ☆ღ✬ ✧𓂀⤖
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, and noise at times, but great fun 😀
Graham Stephen
💯👌👍🌟✨💫
Rebecca
A piece of the US in the Philippines; how fascinating! As the US had colonized the Philippines in the past, I figured there would be some influence remaining in the country. The all-American meal sounds yummy! Thanks for sharing, Sarah 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
You’re right, there’s quite a US influence in the country, or at least in Manila 🙂 Glad you enjoyed this!
Heyjude
I’m with Brian here. This would give me a headache! I did like a much more restrained diner on Vancouver Island with Betty Boop. And there is nothing wrong with a good beer and burger, though I’ll pass on that ice-cream sundae!
Sarah Wilkie
The sundae was the least good part of the meal tbh, but it made for an impressive image!
Anabel @ The Glasgow Gallivanter
I think I would have to wear shades!
Sarah Wilkie
Haha, maybe they would help 😂
Monkey's Tale
I’d visit it once to see it, but I think it would be stimulation overload😊 I couldn’t place which song the lyrics were from until I started the video. Hilarious! Maggie
Sarah Wilkie
I wouldn’t want to eat there every night but we were glad we’d gone to enjoy the atmosphere this once as well as for the photo ops!
Amy
Wow… over the top, indeed! What a fun place.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you May, it was great fun 🙂
Easymalc
Worth popping in there just for the photo opprtunities alone I reckon Sarah.
Sarah Wilkie
Ah, but then we’d have missed the Village People act and the great burgers!
Easymalc
That’s true!
Jim Earlam
Well done with the grasshoppers!
Sarah Wilkie
Oh those? They were very good actually – too small and crispy to be very conscious of what you were eating and dusted with salt and chilli for flavour 🙂 Unlike the larger crickets we ate in Phnom Penh, which were horribly papery, and the silkworm cocoons in Pyongyang, which were even more so!
Jim Earlam
Far more adventurous than I!
Dan Antion
What a fun place. I’m glad you stopped, and I’m really glad you shared this. I think I’d be looking around so much, I might forget to eat.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Dan 😄 It was certainly quite easy to get distracted there!
margaret21
Haha, I’d have had to have peeked inside, but a whole meal there would have been way out of my comfort zone. Country Mouse, you see.
Sarah Wilkie
I guess it’s not really a Country Mouse sort of place and I’m not sure we’d want to eat there regularly, but for one evening it was good fun!
margaret21
😉
Sue
Have to say, I’m with Brian on this one!
Sarah Wilkie
It was a bit over-the-top, no, VERY over-the-top, but we enjoyed it!
Sue
Fair enough!
Anne Sandler
What fun Sarah! When we were in Israel the first time in 1987, we saw a Mexican restaurant in Jerusalem. Of course we had to try it. The cheese is different there. The owners were from Thousand Oaks, CA!!
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, we had a fun evening, thank you Anne 🙂 And of course you had to try Mexican in Israel, just to see …!
Sylvia
What a really fun-looking place! I’m sure I’d have enjoyed the food too! I’m sure it was very entertaining too!
While I can very much appreciate fine dining in a refined setting, I like this kind of restaurant occasionally as well. I’m way too young-at-heart to pass up a place like this for a place where you have to check people’s pulses to make sure they’re still breathing!
bushboy
It is quite garish, enough to do my head in I think. Glad you had a great time Sarah 😀
Sarah Wilkie
Very garish but that’s sort of the point 😉 We enjoyed the over-the-top vibes!