Restaurant Review: Halo-Halo de Iloko Balay

Because posts and pictures about Halo-Halo de Iloko are all over facebook, my boyfriend and I decided that we should head to San Fernando City, La Union and give its much-publicized halo-halo a try. Further, said halo-halo was also featured in Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho (One at Heart, Jessica Soho). Meaning, there is something about that particular summer refresher that will leave one dumbfounded. Oh, that TV episode made us want to travel to La Union right away and then grab and savor every bit of the renowned concoction of different Filipino desserts.

So came the day of our much-awaited tour! My sister and her boyfriend kept us company during the the whole trip. The day’s itinerary included: (1) finally satisfying our lust for  the ultimate halo-halo of Halo-Halo de Iloko; and (2) making our way to the nearby beach thereafter.

The restaurant is situated at  Zandueta St, San Fernando City, La Union. Here’s how we got there from Baguio City. We took an ordinary non-air conditioned bus stationed beside Bayanihan building. Each of us paid P80.00 for the bus fare. Our travel time up to San Fernando City is two hours. Upon reaching the city proper, we hired tricycles that dropped us in front of the restaurant. Each tricycle ride costs P20.00.

We finally reached Halo-Halo de Iloko Balay at 2:00 in the afternoon. At that time, the second floor of the restaurant is reserved. At the ground floor, there were only three dining tables and all of them were occupied. There is a waiting area inside which can only accommodate two persons. We waited for around 15 minutes in order for us to secure our spot.

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The vibrant interior design sets off the lack of space at the ground floor of the restaurant.

The restaurant is located in a residential area of the city. It appears to be an old house converted to a chic looking restaurant. Antiques, local handicrafts, paintings, plates and vinyl records are made decors. It has stained glass windows.

Here are photos of the restaurant’s menu.

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In no particular order.halo-halo-de-iloko-menu-8halo-halo-de-iloko-menu-7halo-halo-de-iloko-menu-6halo-halo-de-iloko-menu-5halo-halo-de-iloko-menu-4halo-halo-de-iloko-menu-3halo-halo-de-iloko-menu-2halo-halo-de-iloko-menu-1

 

We ordered french fries, palabokano, okoy tikyosko and of course, fiesta halo-halo.

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The fiesta halo-halo was served in less than 10 minutes after we placed our orders.

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We give this delectable dessert a 7/10 rating. This delight mixed altogether is both luscious and heavenly. It has the right amount of sweetness. Each and every ingredient complemented one another. Plus, it is affordable. However, what we are looking for the most in a halo-halo, we did not find it in here. What we  hoped for is that in every scoop, we will have a spoonful of sweetened saba banana, sweetened jackfruit, sweetened camote, sweetened beans and nata de coco. But we did not. Yes, taken as a whole, this halo-halo is tasty but, 70% of its ingredients comprised of just cubed gelatin, toasted coconut and more gelatin.

A few minutes thereafter, the fries was served.

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This, for us, is the star of the show because it was cooked to perfection.

Then the palabokano was served.

pansit-palabok

For us, it tasted more like spaghetti. It was quite sweet for a palabok.

Then came the okoy tikyosko.

okoyHalo-Halo de Ioloko’s version of okoy is disappointing for us because 60% of it was flour. The okoy that we were accustomed to is made up of shredded green papaya/squash.

We wanted to try Halo-Halo de Iloko’s halo-halo variances. It offers buko halo-halo, kiddie halo-halo, ginettaan nga halo-halo, deep fried halo-halo and halo-halo kapekeyk. However, we settled for fiesta halo-halo because the weather was warm back then.

We suggest that you give its champoradelio and sotanglaw a shot. They were also featured in  Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho (One at Heart, Jessica Soho).

We left Halo-Halo de Iloko and hired a tricycle that took us to the city proper. That is another 20-peso tricycle ride. We noticed as we were leaving that a lot of customers were willing to wait outside the restaurant. There were many vehicles parked, too.

At the city proper, we rode a jeepney that led us to San Juan. It only took us 10 minutes to get to the beach.  The jeepney fare costs P11.oo. We paid no entrance fee at the beach.

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San Juan, La Union is the “Surfing Capital of the North.”

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All in all, each of us spent more or less than P600.00 for the whole trip, including the bus ride back to Baguio City.

We went back to Baguio City tired but appeased.

 

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