The search for the ultimate Halo-Halo =)

When we moved to Sherman Oaks I found that there were a lot of Filipino restaurants in the area and of course if there are Filipino restaurants, there will be desserts as well so I hit a few Filipino spots to get Halo-halo, not all of them were good and I forgot to take pictures in my haste to taste them so I am now in search for the best Halo-halo in the valley. I will update this post as my search continues.

1. Jollibee halo-halo
Price: $4.35 as of 11/14/2014
This picture does not do the justice of first seeing their halo-halo because as always I did not charge my phone and my battery ran out before I was able to take a picture. It looked very good, with 2 small scoops of a yellow(langka) and purple(ube) ice cream. The halo halo ingredients though did not satisfy my craving, I know the ice was already half melted by the time I was able to get to it but I think there was not enough. a few pieces of green and red kaong or jelly, some red beans, a few pieces of coconut. I just think for the price they should have put more in there. A plus though was the spoon fit the top and it was able to scoop out the halo-halo easily.

2. Red Ribbon Halo Halo

Price:  

Hallelujah for the first ever halo-halo cup that has a top big enough for you to fit not only your spoon but the halo-halo with it as well. I loved how this halo-halo looked like it had enough sahog(ingredients) in them to warrant a real true halo-halo where people did not skimp or it and just filled it 3/4 with ice. They advertised this halo-halo as having real mangoes in them and they did not disappoint, it had a good amount of sweet mangoes, even the ice cream was mango ice cream too. I thought there was too much mangoes that it made me think I was eating a frozen mango dessert instead of halo halo(I know too much complaining, not enough, way too much, make up your mind).

It was not too sweet but that's where the sweetness of the mangoes came in, it complemented the dessert. I never had mangoes in my halo-halo but I guess we can put whatever we want in it anyway that's why it's halo-halo. Overall I think this dessert was a good size, with enough ingredients to make me happy. 

3. Chowing 08/05/2016


There's a reason why I don't remember if their halo-halo was good or not, it was because it was forgettable.  As I was having their halo-halo yesterday I remembered why,  it was because the ice to the actual halo-halo ingredients ratio was 3:1, there was not enough beans, kaong, fruit,  flan or ice cream to satisfy your cravings,  it was just like every other thing they have on their menu,  their servings are too small,  they make me feel like I was still in the Philippines and they were just like the local carinderia where they count every piece they put on your plate.

This was not the chowing halo-halo I remembered from back home.  I remembered after Sunday mass when we had halo-halo they'd serve it in this huge banana split kind of glass and it would overflow with ingredients.  Why when you are in America and everything is cheaper do you scrimp on ingredients.

4. Good Ha 07/07/2016

Their halo-halo looked very promising, It looked like it had a lot of yummy halo-halo ingredients, but alas just like people who try to use fillers they used a lot of gulaman, they were flavored gulaman, like red had a tangy strawberry taste to it, the green I think had a pandan taste, still I was left wanting more beans, kaong and the other good stuff. They gave you a lot of ice cream on top though so that was a plus.