Sweet revenge

I'd been downed by this disease, Chikungunya, the whole of the past week; not just me but the hubby and daughter as well. This mosquito-borne illness, while not potentially fatal like its cousin Dengue, was debilitating. The joint paints and itchy rashes were killing us! Last Monday, my daughter and I decided to exact revenge on Chikungunya. And how sweet it was - cold and comforting too, with a Japanese touch. We had Mochi Halo-Halo at Karate Kid! This was right after being seen by the doctor. From a clinic in Quezon City, my daughter and I headed to SM San Lazaro in Manila and there found Karate Kid, a Japanese fast food restaurant, where we discovered this one-of-a-kind dessert: Mochi Halo-Halo - a fusion of Philippine and Japanese cuisine. Call it ingenious and I'd agree! But before we got down to dessert, we had Yakisoba, California Maki and Takoyaki. Mmm..delicious, everything!

Yakisoba, P68.

Takoyaki (Regular), P36.

California Maki, P42.

Mochi Halo-Halo, P55

Kido Punch Tea, P39.

There were hits and a few misses, but all in all, it was a satisfying late afternoon merienda that we had. First, our eyes widened when we were served the California Maki. They were so tiny! I ordered for a regular, not knowing it meant really small maki. Well, it was still big in taste so it was okay. The Takoyaki was good, too! I missed takoyaki so I was happy to have this Japanese street food again. Meanwhile, the Yakisoba was commendable! It had a nice balance of flavors and lots of crunchy veggies that included bell pepper strips, cabbage, mung bean sprouts (toge - one of my favorite vegetables) and white onion. The only thing I didn't like about it was it was too oily! I poured some chili oil to remove some of the sawa factor. Well, I know I just made it even more oily, but at least, the spice helped bring down the satiety. And then, the dessert - Mochi Halo-Halo. Its mere appearance put a smile on my face - lots of colors! And the taste - it's far from your usual halo-halo..it's of milk tea - a welcome deviation! What's in it aside from those pretty and glistening mochi balls? A lot! Red beans, coffee jelly, nata de coco, pudding (made from soya, I suspect), tapioca pearls, milk and winter melon syrup. All these for the price of just P55 for a regular order and P65 if you want a scoop of ice cream too. Isn't that awesome? My only lamentation was there was no available ice cream when we came. Even then, I was very impressed about Karate Kid's Mochi Halo-Halo - a new and tasty way to enjoy our all-time favorite dessert. I suggest you try it today at Karate Kid. There's a lot of branches in Metro Manila. 

Go find one near you and enjoy good food at very affordable prices. :-)