Mix Halo-Halo

Mix Halo-Halo is a small, cash-only dessert stop in Larena, Siquijor.

The best halo-halo on Siquijor. That is our verdict, it is a firm one, and it rests on no ranking at all: Mix Halo-Halo has almost no online existence. It is a Larena address locals pass between themselves, not one the platforms index.

Halo-halo, for anyone who has never had it: the name means mix in Tagalog. Shaved ice is piled over a base of sweet beans, nata de coco, purple sweet potato, candied banana, jackfruit, sometimes flan, then drowned in evaporated milk and topped with a scoop of ice cream or ube. You stir it yourself before eating. It is the Filipino national dessert, and it is exactly what you want after an hour on a scooter in the sun.

What to order: the large halo-halo. A guest noted in 2018 that his was enough for two at 95 ₱; the price has certainly moved since, but the generous format has not. A detail few people know: the house also bakes its own burger buns.

The setting: open-air tables, no pretension. No decor, no laminated menu, no wifi. You come for one thing and you leave.

Why you will not find this anywhere else: Mix Halo-Halo is not in the guides, barely on the review platforms, and has no page of its own. That is precisely what makes it worth knowing. If you pass through Larena, coming off the ferry or riding round the island, stop.

See also

• Louissiana's Kitchen – another café, 400 m away
• C's Kitchen – restaurant, 500 m away
• Portside Cafe – restaurant, 700 m away
• Where to eat in Siquijor – 60 restaurants and cafés by area
• Best restaurants on Siquijor – the 11 best tables, picked by locals