Before school started, the graduating batch of my sister had to be immersed in a place somewhere in Pampanga for their community work. Being the ‘baby’ in our family, my parents still treat her like a baby despite her age. As her older sister, I still don’t think she’s 16. For me, no matter how many birthday comes for her, she’s still our baby Reine. One Sunday, the whole family drove to Pampanga to inspect the place where Reine would sleep for 6 days. It was just a quick trip to make sure we know where to find her in case of emergency.

Mom didn’t want to leave Pampanga without going back to where Razon’s Halo-Halo first started. We used to dine at The Original Razon’s in Pampanga whenever we take a random trip to Subic. Timely during lunch, we were all hungry, we all agreed to head back to the Original Razon’s before driving back home.

The Food:

Generally speaking, food in The Original Razon’s is way cheaper than its other branches outside Pampanga. We expected the menu to be almost the same without missing our favorites, Pancit Palabok and the key that made them famous, Halo-Halo. At the back of our minds, part of our expectation was better quality, given it’s the “original” Razon’s.

For our starter, we ordered Pancit Luglug that was same as how it is. Nothing changed, nothing improved. Same old banana that has always been a hit in Razon’s.

The very dull looking cheeseburger was mom’s choice. For its price, I guess we can’t do anything about it.

More fats than more meat. Disappointing for the men who ordered this plate, dad and O. The flavor is there but the meat itself failed the men’s expectations.

Simple as fried chicken wings with a sprinkle of spice. I like the juiciness of their chicken, which was a total surprise to find in Razon’s.

From my dad’s opinion, this was his top choice during our lunch at Razon’s. A fuelling bowl of Dinuguan together with scoops of plain rice nourished a satisfying lunch for him. One serving is good for 1-2 persons. On our table, only O and dad have the hots for Dinuguan.

The reason behind the rush to Razon’s is this, their special Halo-Halo. Still creamy and delicious the way I like it with its 3 main ingredients, Macapuno, Saging and Leche Flan. One thing I loved about Razon’s is their incredible ice that’s as smooth as milk. Lay your spoon inside for a mix and you won’t get any trouble mixing because of its special ice. Unfortunately, I didn’t find that ice in this Halo Halo. Seems like the original ice crusher was broken and used a cheap kind of ice crusher. I don’t really know what happened but it’s not the same Razon’s I know. 🙁 Such a big disappointment. I’d rather go to the Razon’s of Guagua outside my village than drive all the way to Pampanga.

Enough tables and chairs to accommodate families who wish for a tall glass of cold halo-halo and pancit. Looked around and one table didn’t miss out on those specialties. Obviously, people visit Razon’s mainly for their halo-halo and pancit. That’s mostly it.

Honestly speaking, I won’t go back to The Original Razon’s in Pampanga anymore. 🙁 Besides, we aren’t from Pampanga, there isn’t any convenience to go all the way just for Razon’s.

My satisfaction or let’s just say the best halo halo for me is already found in Metro Manila’s Razon’s of Guagua, specifically the branch in Greenhills.

 Cheers,

 The Food Scout

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Location: Jose Abad Santos Ave., Guagua, Pampanga, Philippines

Contact: (+63 45) 901-0809

Budget: PHP100++

Rate: