The Hobbit House

Those of you reading this know very well that I am somewhat of a dork. Dungeons and Dragons, yup. Star Wars, certainly. Lord of the Rings, hell yes. So imagine my surprise upon arriving in Manila, when I discovered a Lord of the Rings themed bar called the Hobbit House. The main entrance is a human-sized replica of a circular door found in most of the houses in Bags End. The similarity to a hobbit abode ends after passing through the door, however, the establishment does pay homage to LOTR in other ways. The walls are covered with various paintings, weapons, plaques, and gear mentioned throughout Tolkien’s trilogy. The décor is mostly old school as it stems from the books rather than from any of the more recent movies. This makes sense given that the bar’s doors opened in 1973. My favorite pictures are of Gandalf the Green obviously about to do nasty wizard stuff to some poor bastard, and a rather large painting that hangs above the performance stage of the hobbits drinking and dancing on a table in a bar in Bree. However, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the bar is the size of the waiters. Like the name of the bar implies, the waiters look remarkably similar to hobbits themselves being that they are midgets (excuse the politically incorrect term). While many people might think the idea of little people working in a hobbit bar in poor taste, they don’t seem to mind too much. In fact while the bar is actually the little person hang out of Manila. On some nights half the patrons at the bar are little people.



Besides these characteristics the other appealing aspect of the bar is the drink selection. Most bars in Manila, serve the same bad Filipino beer, which I have previously mentioned as being far from my favorite. This bar has approximately 150 beers from which to choose that originate from all over the world. Though pricey by Manila standards the beers are still good value. And if you drink five beers you can get a free t-shirt with the bar’s emblem emblazoned on the chest. I have already earned two t-shirts in this manner and I have set myself a personal goal of getting several more for each of my friends who I think would appreciate one. I know, the cross I bare.