Believe it or not, there are less tawdry reasons for staying in a motel in Manila. Like when you’re traveling and waiting for the next bus. Or you just came from abroad. Or someone’s having a stag party/ bridal shower.
But since it’s Valentine’s Day, thoughts turn to The Carnal. Despite some motels’ attempt at change of image, most of them exist for just one thing: the three-letter word called sex. Whether it’s paid, illicit, legal, wild, or constrained coupling, one can just presume what happens behind its thin walls and closed doors. After all, it’s only PHP395 (or less) for a short time, baby!
A lesser known fact: majority of motels are good for another thing, and that is food. We don’t know how it’s happened but motel cooks really know how to prepare delicious grub that will surely fill you up, after you’re tired from all the acrobatics.
Whether you’re hankering for Japanese food, a Caesar’s salad,or room service at 2:30am, most of the time the motel would have it — something which isn’t really possible when you’re cooped up in your condo or hiding your boyfriend in your auntie’s place.
Mahal Kita Drive Inn in EDSA Rotonda, Pasay City is kinda unique since aside from being known as a motel, it also does brisk business as a restaurant. No kidding. I actually tried doing a “walk-in” here with the husband but instead of entering the secret hallway (which girls sometimes do with hankies covering their face, lol) we made a left towards the “resto” which had an easy-on-the-eye mint green color and wooden tables.
There was an old box type TV to entertain us while we waited for our order. Highly-recommended dishes are the Crispy Pata (PHP345) and “Pancit Canton House Special” (PHP185) which are good to share already. There’s something about the pancit canton which can compete with good Chinese restos : a very savory sauce covering the noodles, then topped with a piece or two of fried chicken and hard-boiled egg.
Last week, I tried to dial Mahal Kita to order for lunch in the office and even had to wait on the line for a few minutes. The woman on the other phone was apologetic, she was taking too many take-out orders. Their delivery service is efficient and will put some fastfood chains to shame. Their guy arrived at 12pm on the dot with my food and loose change.
So how does a motel menu look like? Tapsilog will not be missing anytime soon from the list, along with Filipino favorites like bistek, sinigang, chopsuey, fried boneless bangus, fried chicken, lumpiang shanghai and of course, adobo.
There are appetizers, steaks, sandwiches, omelets and even sizzling dishes. Pricing is reasonable and servings are ample. One can have a sandwich for P100 or less, a hot bowl of mami is around PHP120.
The Mahal Kita menu, for instance, is quite extensive – a total of 118 dishes total with options to order pancit in different sizes of bilao.It makes you think if they’re operating a motel or a full-service restaurant. One of life’s mysterious questions: are people supposed to eat a lot before or after sex? Or are they trying to morph as an alternate venue for a ‘discreet’ wedding reception?
Anyway, bet on our word that motels are synonymous to good comfort food. An informal survey of Coconuts Manila on Facebook yielded these answers:
“Pansit bihon, crispy pata, tilapia of Victoria Court!”
“The pancit in Orchids Hotel Pasig. They even deliver.”
“Eurotel has a breakfast buffet and free newspaper.”
“The sinigang in Town & Country Sta. Mesa.
