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!
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| Yakisoba, P68. |
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| Takoyaki (Regular), P36. |
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| California Maki, P42. |
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| Mochi Halo-Halo, P55 |
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| 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. :-)
