Digman Halo-Halo

I practically spent half of my life living in Cavite. And from the time my family moved here, I had been hearing about a place called Digman Halo-Halo. There had been a lot of raves about this joint. Some even going so far as to say that the Halo-Halo (an ice concoction which is a traditional dessert in the Philippines) in this place was the best in the country. Combine it with the establishment's claim that they were the first to serve Halo-Halo in history and we seem to have a real gem here.

I never once had the opportunity to visit Digman in the past because I wasn't too fond of Halo-Halo. My first job was making and serving it, so that probably affected my appetite for the thing.

A few months ago, I finally visited the place. It was just a stone's throw away from the church where we usually attend Mass. There was this narrow street that leads to a residential-cum-commercial area. Digman is the baranggay's (district) name, by the way. That's why the establishment was named as such.

We immediately saw the big elevated sign that says, "DIGMAN HALO HALO, TALK OF THE TOWN". My husband almost parked the car until he saw a second sign just a few feet away. Surprisingly, the sign says the same thing. Only, it's a different establishment. Quite confusing, isn't it?

So I asked around and people seemed to have their own bet as to which one was the original Digman Halo-Halo. After checking both places and seeing that they looked exactly alike, we decided to enter the establishment which we first passed because it looked a little older. It probably was the original unless the "real" original Digman underwent some renovation.:)

The place had the ambience of a small eatery or carinderia. There were only a few customers but it was a Sunday evening, so a lot of people would usually be in church. Halo-Halo, Pancit Luglug (native noodle dish), Siopao (Chinese steamed bun) were on the menu among others. We ordered for the special Halo-Halo and Pancit Luglug. While waiting, I checked the ingredients on display. Sweetened kaong, red monggo, beans, garbanzos, banana, nata de coco, and sago pearls were lined up inside a clear glass shelf.

The Pancit Luglug was surprisingly good for the price of Php40 and the serving size was not bad either.

The special Halo-Halo was topped with langka, leche flan, halayang ube and ube ice cream. The serving was around the size of Chowking's but was a lot smaller compared to Razon's packed tall glass. But it's also cheaper at Php55 than Razon's Php90.

It was quite disappointing, though. Maybe, my expectations were just too high because of all the hype about the place. But my husband and mom agreed that the Halo-Halo tasted bland and a little sour, which was weird. It's probably the way they sweetened the ingredients that altered the taste. Because frankly, I can't imagine how throwing the same things with shaved ice and milk would taste so different.

Finally after a long time, I am able to sample what's said to be the first Halo-Halo ever served. Even though I am not a satisfied customer that day, there's still the simple delight that comes from finally being there after wanting to be for a long time. But the next time I crave for a Halo-Halo, I'm definitely heading straight to Razon's.:)


BC2 Digman Halo-Halo
54 Gawaran St Digman Bacoor, Cavite
Restaurant hours: 10am-10pm