Summer Eat List: Top 10 Halo-Halo In Manila 2023
Sweet concoctions worth the brain freeze!
It’s National Halo-halo Sarap Day! This classic summer favorite is perfect for beating the summer heat with its eye-catching ingredients, delightful flavors and textures. Traditionally made with sweet beans, shaved ice and evaporated milk, there have been countless variations over the years so that today, you can find halo-halo everywhere from fine dining restaurants to street food stalls. It’s ubiquitous and so colorfully, proudly Pinoy.
It's the perfect time for us to share the halo-halo iterations that have made our hearts beat a little faster. Check out our curated list. You might just discover a new halo-halo you'll adore, or remember a beloved favorite that you haven't tasted in a long time.
Top 10 Halo-halo 2023
Top 10 Halo-halo 2023
Alegria Manila
Halo-halo is a showstopper dessert at this cool Filipino X Latin restaurant. A bowl of macapuno, ube halaya, red bean purée, langka compote, leche flan, pandan and sago is topped with a barquillos-inspired lacy ‘biscuit’ before liquid nitrogen ice cream is scooped over it at the table. Talk about theatrical dining! Contact: 0956 834 8677 | IG: @alegriamnl | FB: @alegriamnl | Address: GF Uptown Parade, 9th Avenue corner 38th Street, BGC, Taguig. (Photo: @sonnythakur)
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Alegria Manila
The globules of liquid nitrogen ice cream is spooned onto the dessert at the table. Contact: 0956 834 8677 | IG: @alegriamnl | FB: @alegriamnl | Address: GF Uptown Parade, 9th Avenue corner 38th Street, BGC, Taguig. (Photo: @sonnythakur)
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Bebang
The creamiest halo halo in the solar system, says their tagline. We agree (although who knows, there might be a planet out there with a creamier version). Bebang has lots of halo-halo flavors but we say go for the Royal Halo-halo with leche flan, pandan jelly, strawberry, peach, blueberry, mango, sago, ube halaya, special macapuno, pistachio, cashew, mallow fluff, topped with shavings of 24 karat edible gold! They have perfected the art of halo-halo delivery, so put in an order and wait. FB: @bebanghalohalo | IG: @bebang.halohalo | Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong.
Photo Credit: ORDER HERE
Ilustrado
A classic concoction, Ilustrado’s version of halo-halo is a rather hefty one with sweetened saba, sweet potatoes, langka, coconut jelly, white kidney beans, red monggo beans, macapuno balls, pinipig, ube ice cream and leche flan with milk, crushed ice and fresh fruits in season. Just what you need to cool down after a day walking around Intramuros. Contact: 0939 920 6822 | IG: @ilustradorestaurant | FB: @ilustradorestaurant | Address: 744 General Luna Street, Intramuros, Manila.
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Little Quiapo
An oldie that’s goldie, Little Quiapo is a Kapampangan diner that opened in 1949 and has since become a favorite family restaurant. It’s a cozy place that feels like an old fashioned Manila coffee shop with a menu of nostalgic dishes. The halo-halo comes in three variations: regular, special and fiesta. We love the fiesta halo-halo with its generous servings of sweet beans, halayang ube, langka, and ice cream — so good we’ve been going back for more than 40 years. FB: @originallittlequiapo | @littlequiapo | With two branches: 89 Malakas Street, Diliman, Quezon City | 42 Aguirre Street, BF Homes, Parañaque
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Manam
This modern Filipino restaurant serves Namnam Halo-halo with huge portions, lots macapuno, pinipig, nata de coco, saba and a slice of leche flan over milky shaved ice. We love how beautifully all the flavors balance. FB: @manamph | IG: @manamph |With 16 branches around Manila, for list see manam.momenfood.com
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Milky Way
In our opinion, the most perfectly proportioned halo-halo in town, Milky Way’s famous dessert is a icon that comes with red and green gulaman, sweet white and red beans, macapuno, red kaong, saba, ube and so creamy with evaporated milk and crushed ice. A halo-halo kit is available with condiments good for six servings and half a gallon of Milky Way Ube Ice Cream that’s delivered to you in a reusable insulated bag. Just add crushed ice and evaporated milk. Contact: 0966 634 5792 or 02 8843 4124| FB: @milkywaycafemakati |IG: @milkywaycafe_makati | Address: 900 Arnaiz Avenue, MilkyWay Building, Makati
Photo Credit: ORDER HERE
Nobu Manila
Debuted in Manila in 2015 as part of a Php 7,000 multicourse dinner, Nobu serves an elevated version of halo-halo using Japanese ingredients. Today’s updated version has ingredients like coconut water snow, yuzu gelée, green tea crisps, adzuki beans, coconut sesame mochi, sweet condensed milk and ube ice cream. Ask for this next time you chill at Nobu. Contact: 02 8691 2882 | FB: @nobumanila | IG: @noburestaurantmanila | Address: Nobu North Tower, City of Dreams, Asean Avenue, Parañaque.
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The Peninsula Manila
Filipino historian Ambeth Ocampo says The Pe was the first to serve halo-halo in oversize bowls in a classy setting. After all these years, we still love the iconic Halo-halo Harana that you can order at The Lobby, a toothsome concoction with leche flan, chickpeas, sweetened beans, jelly, kaong, nata de coco, ube, sago in syrup, langka, macapuno and evaporated milk. The whole thing is topped with a scoop of ube ice cream, sprinkled w toasted pinipig. Contact: 02 8887 2888 | FB: @thepeninsulamanila | IG: @thepeninsulamanila | Address: Ayala Avenue corner Makati Avenue, Makati. (Photo: @sayuvanilla)
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Razon’s of Guagua
The ultimate halo-halo destination, Razon’s is beloved for the utter simplicity of its halo-halo made with only saba, macapuno and leche flan. It’s famous for the finely-shaved crushed ice that melts on your tongue, and the creaminess of its dessert. They added a second halo-halo flavor a few years ago: the KLM is keso, langka, mais with chunks of cheese ice cream and cornflakes. With over 20 branches in the city, you can find a Razon’s near you always. But we suggest dropping by Razon’s in Pampanga where they use real carabao milk in their halo-halo there — and my goodness, it makes all the difference! FB: @razonsofguagua | IG: @razonsofguagua.ph
Photo Credit: ORDER HERE
Workshop by Le Petit Soufflé
They have a quartet of halo-halo like you’ve never tasted before. Ube Turon Halo-halo with ube halaya, macapuno, langka, ube ice cream, jellies beans, leche flan and banana turon over ube milk ice. Knickerbocker with red and green jellies, strawberry compote, fresh mangoes, strawberry ice cream and peach. Mais con Yelo with white bean jam, pastillas, corn, caramelized banana and banana turon over shaved ice. Mango Basque Halo-halo with frozen Basque cheesecake, fresh mangoes, Graham coconut streusel, vanilla ice cream and peach mango turon over shaved milk ice. Contact: 0917 707 7459 | FB: @workshopbespokebakery | IG: @workshop_ph | The Grid Food Market, Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Center, Makati.
Photo Credit: ORDER HERE
Lead photo: Razon’s of Guagua, The Peninsula Manila, Ilustrado
