Destinations and Stopovers, Food, Restaurants, Travel

Talk of the Town - Digman Original Halo Halo

It’s been a month of new discoveries for me, courtesy of our Pinoy food thread on Southbound. So far we’ve visited Maty’s in Don Galo and Amber in Muntinlupa, and Toff has sampled the street calamares at the Moonwalk market. This time we went out of our way to try another South original: Digman Halo Halo.

I’ve binged on tons of halo halo over the course of a single afternoon, as (ahem) “research” for an article in Burn Magazine (not sure if this issue is still on the stands, but you can check out the article here). Back then, we considered going to Digman, though I didn’t know enough at the time to find the original location in Cavite, and I had no idea if there were still branches at large in Metro Manila (there used to be one in Tropical Hut in BF). At last, thanks to Mrs. L (a Southbound co-conspirator and my dining buddy at both Maty’s and Amber), we finally made the trip to the famed restaurant.

Like the Don Galo-Tapsi associations, Digman is actually a baranggay in Bacoor that has become synonymous with halo halo. Though it was late and I didn’t see them myself, I was told that there are other halo halo restaurants lined up along the streets here, and figuring out which one to try can get confusing (to make it even more so, there are other stores claiming to be “D’Original” Digman store, which at one time was the subject of a court case and is still heatedly discussed here).

We settled in, gave our orders (Halo Halo, of course, along with some Pancit Guisado, Pancit Palabok, Siopao, and Tahong Chips) and perused the various framed newspaper articles on the walls of the store. I wandered around taking photos of the halo halo sahog, which was graciously accommodated by the staff, who even let me behind the counter to take some more shots.

This was provincial hospitality and Cabitenyo pride at its finest: they talk to you the way they would their neighbors, they share their achievements (showing us a recent article in the newspaper that proves interest in the store has not waned over decades of existence), and they even share their own food (the Tahong Chips were technically out of stock, but our host had a packet left, so she gave it to us). The experience alone was worth the traffic for me.

But hey, we’d come for the food, and a lot of it there was, too. This was simple merienda fare, but we left stuffed. The Halo Halo Special (P50, with rapidly melting ube ice cream sitting on the ice) was served in a round bowl, with the ingredients densely packed at the bottom and hand-shaved ice layered on top. Though some people prefer to have their halo halo sans sugar, claiming the ingredients are sweet enough to flavor the milk, there was a fair amount of ice and milk, enough to make sugar necessary.

Perhaps perversely, I enjoyed the coarseness of the halo halo and the ube halaya; usually the hallmark of quality is the smoothness, but these made the concoction taste truly homemade and stood out against the other flavors mixed in. Indeed, this was simple, classic halo halo, the sort you used to buy on the way home after school or on summer afternoons, the basic flavor powerful enough to evoke all these memories and encourage undying loyalty.

The pancit wasn’t bad either. I liked the Pancit Guisado better than the Pancit Palabok (both P38): it was much tastier and the toppings were much more generous.

Taken with the Siopao (P17) and the Halo Halo, this was heavy enough for dinner, which was just as well, since we needed the sustenance to sit through the Aguinaldo Highway traffic on the way home.

The Tahong Chips (P15) were entirely new to me, and they tasted like something those Thai- or Indonesian- delicacy stores would sell. More an acquired taste than anything else, these would probably go best with some ice cold beer or soda, a bowl of suka, and a lot of time to kill.

So how does one get to Digman? I Googled “Digman Halo Halo” and I found tons of comments to the effect that most people would love to go there but they can’t remember how. We took Zapote, though a Coastal Road approach would probably be simpler and would spare you some traffic. From the Coastal Road, keep right and take the road heading to Cavite, then turn right at the intersection (sorry folks, my Manila maps fail me… I’m not sure what this road is called), then turn right onto Gawaran Street. Better yet, just ask any local where Digman is, and they’ll tell you. (Denizens of Cavite, help me out here, give us directions and landmarks if you know of any!)

I’ll get back to you with details on how to navigate this area soon enough… right now I’ve gotten distracted trying to identify rooftops on Google Earth, hehe. In the meantime, go head on over to Bacoor for your own halo halo adventure!

BC² Digman Original Halo Halo (Talk of the Town)
54 Gawaran St., Digman, Bacoor, Cavite
434-8135
Restaurant hours: 10AM to 10PM

Tags: bacoor, cavite, digman, filipino food, halo halo, restaurants, tahong chips

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