Mixing It Up

I've never been a big fan of halo-halo; I've always thought of myself as a mais-con-yelo type of gal, but I've found halo-halo that I actually enjoy eating: Razon's.

For those who aren't in the know, halo-halo is a Filipino dessert or merienda (snack)--"halo" means "mix," and the repetition makes the name even more Pinoy (think "anu-ano," "libo-libo," and names like "Jing-jing" and "Jun-jun"). It normally has sweet preserved beans, macapuno, langka, pinipig, ube, sweetened saba, and leche flan, all mixed with crushed ice and milk. "Special" versions come with a scoop of ice cream on top.

I had tried the Razon's halo-halo before (there's one in City Golf along Julia Vargas, one at the food court in Galleria, and I'm sure a bunch of others in other malls all over the metropolis), but it seemed like the thing to do in Pampanga--to visit the place where it all started. So on our way back to Manila from Bataan, the barkada stopped over at Razon's in Gua-gua where, according to Claud, the halo-halo is P15 cheaper than in Manila.

Strictly speaking, the Razon's version isn't really halo-halo. It's stripped down to the bare minimum--the good stuff, in my opinion--and doesn't have that festive mix of color, seen through the tall clear glass. All it's got are the macapuno, sweetened saba, and two slices of leche flan on top of all that crushed ice and milk. (It was too late when I learned that you could actually order extra leche flan.) A lot of people rave about this version and, although I'm not obsessed with it like some are ("Oooh! Razon's!"), I could understand why--I guess many others like me prefer not to confuse their tastebuds with an overload of flavors and textures. So while I usually politely decline offers of halo-halo, I wouldn't say no to a serving of Razon's.