Pinoy Food & Other Cuisine :: Food PhotoBlog and Events |

The air conditioning on the bus we took back to Manila wasn’t working so well, and I found myself craving for a nice, cold halo-halo as I wrestled with the vents. For some time now, my boyfriend has been raving about this place called Razon’s and their unique Pampanga halo-halo. The halo-halo served in most restaurants is made up of all sorts of colorful ingredients – beans, nata de coco, banana, sago, and pinipig, to name a few. At Razon’s, however, their halo-halo is completely different. My boyfriend was really surprised when I said I have never heard of Razon’s, so when I let him know about my food craving, he said he’d pop my Razon’s halo-halo cherry the moment we reach Manila.

It took us an entire afternoon to reach Manila from La Union, and we were starving by the time we reached Razon’s at Greenhills. We both ordered a hearty bowl of arroz caldo (P70 each) to calm the hunger pangs before we dug into our icy desserts.

The perks of eating arroz caldo without my family around: I can put patis on my food! (My mom gets really pissed off at me when I put patis on my arroz caldo, as though kidney stones will start crystalizing in my system the moment patis makes contact with my food.)

Once we were done devouring our meal, we had our ice-cold desserts brought to our table. According to my boyfriend, every region has their own variation of halo-halo. For instance, the halo-halo in Sagada contains macaroni, and the tradition of putting a scoop of ice cream on top of the shredded ice began in Manila.

The halo-halo of Guagua, Pampanga is perhaps the most simple of them all. It’s made out of two layers of ingredients: saba (banana) and shredded macapuno (buko) covered in condensada then buried in ice, which is topped by two creamy slices of leche flan. Razon’s is apparently well-known for their halo-halo de Guagua; I saw at least two different groups of diners with nothing but halo-halo on their tables. While the halo-halo may not look like much in pictures, don’t let its lack of color deceive you. Each ingredient is very rich in flavor – especially the creamy macapuno – and the finely shredded ice made the whole thing a delight to eat.

Although I actually prefer my halo-halo overflowing with other ingredients, the simplicity of halo-halo de Guagua was definitely a refreshing change.

“I knew you’d love it!” said the boyfriend.

Razon’s of Guagua can be found at the Greenhills Shopping Center, Market! Market!, Robinson’s Galeria, SM Mall of Asia, Jupiter St. Makati, Greenbelt, and Robinson’s Place Manila.