While in The Philippines I wanted to have authentic halo halo from a local restaurant but settled for the Chowking Halo Halo.
I was really skeptical since Chowking is a restaurant that serves Chinese food. I felt more at ease when I learned that it was a Filipino made company that started in The Philippines; the halo halo had to be authentic.
About Chowking
Chowking was founded by Robert Fung Kuan, a Filipino born in Manila. He founded Chowking in 1985 and after opening many stores throughout The Philippines, he expanded to the USA in 1996. Eventually he sold his brand to Jollibee, a popular Filipino fried chicken fast food company, in early 2000.
Pioneer of the Asian quick service restaurant concept in the Philippines, Chowking combines traditional Chinese cuisine with modern fast food service.
~Learn more about the company on their website!
What is Halo Halo?
Halo Halo is a type of Filipino shaved ice dessert that means “mixed” in tagalog. It’s the unofficial dessert that represents The Philippines. Many people know of the colorful multi-ingredient halo halo with ube ice cream, however there are a variety of halo halo mixtures. Ingredients included may be: a variety of fruits, sugar palm fruit, cookies, macapuno, saba plantains, pearl sago, jackfruit, gulaman jellies, tapioca pearls, condensed milk, evaporated milk, coconut milk, ube halaya, nata de coco, boiled taro, sweet potato, sweetened beans, cheese, mung beans, pinipig rice, ice cream, sweet corn and flan.
Ingredients, flavors and display can vary in every location. You may get halo halo that doesn’t have any ube ice cream or sweet corn; some may use coconut milk instead of sweetened condense milk. You may have it served to you in a tall glass instead of a dish, something I personally found inconvenient.
Menu
I didn’t spend too much time looking through their menu since I was only there for the halo halo but they mainly offer quick and affordable Chinese food in The Philippines. There are a few shops open in the USA as well.
Price
I ordered a medium halo halo. I wanted the large but I wasn’t sure I could finish it.
Medium: $84PHP = about $1.64USD.
Large: $117PHP = about $2.28USD.
Location
This Chowking was inside of Gaisano Grand Mall of Mactan. Once you enter, it should be on your left.
Address: M.L. Quezon National Highway, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, Philippines
Find a shop near you:
Chowking Super Sangkap Halo Halo
The Philippines website describes their halo halo as,
A delectable assortment of 14 ingredients in freshly-shaved ice and sweet creamy milk, topped with leche flan, pandan jelly, red sago, and made more appetizing with ice cream and crunchy pinipig; available in small, regular, and large sizes.
~ on The Philippines Chowking website.
I didn’t know what to expect. In photos everything always looks amazing especially with all the editing they do. When the dish was delivered to me I was so excited. All the colors are so vibrant and welcoming. It really true, we first eat with our eyes. My mouth was already watering and I was filled with glee before even tasting it.
It tasted exactly how it looks. It’s a mix of different flavors and textures all clashing together at once. You can choose to mix it, hence the name, or eat each part however you choose. I was curious about how certain things tasted, like the saba bananas, so I tried a few things alone and then proceeded to mix and match different ingredients.
If how melted the dish looks in the photo is any indication of how hot it is The Phillipines, I don’t know what else is. The halo halo was more solid when it arrived but by the time I got a decent photo, it started melting. I only took a few too! While the restaurant was air conditioned, probably not as high as in the US, the halo halo was melting pretty fast.
As their product description states, there are 14 ingredients:
- Freshly-Shaved Ice
- Sweet Creamy Milk
- Ube Ice Cream (the purple ball in the center)
- Sweetened Red Beans (the dark brown balls)
- Leche Flan (beige colored mush next to the red beans)
- Saba Bananas (green bananas cooked in syrup)
- Red Sago (the red balls)
- Pandan Jelly (the green gelatin)
- Sweet Corn
- Ube Halaya (the dark purple paste)
- Mung Beans
- Wafer Cookie
- Pinipig (Toasted flat rice, they’re hard to see but they’re there. They’re similar to puffed rice)
- I don’t know the last ingredients, it wasn’t obvious when I ate my halo halo. I tasted coconut so I assume it was macapuno, nata de coco or shredded coconut hidden in the ice.
Would I buy the Chowking Halo Halo again?
Answer: Yes.
Worth Trying: Many times!
I loved the Chowking Halo Halo. I wish I could’ve had it more times. It tasted just as good as it looked. The colors were so vibrant, it made me happy just by looking at it! (´｡• ω •｡`) ♡ Next time I’d like to try their other options, like the Milky White Halo Halo.
RATING INDEX PRICE: How suitable I thought the price was
Chowking Halo Halo
Overall
QUALITY: How well I thought the product was made
TASTE: How enjoyable I thought the taste was
APPEARANCE: How appealing I thought the product/packaging looked
SERVICE: How accurate, quick and satisfying customer service was
AMBIENCE: How busy, crowded, clean and welcoming the store was
