It's a highly-recommended stopover in Maco, Compostela Valley, and so there we were on our way home from a day trip to Mati in Davao Oriental.
The name is Bern's Halo-halo & Desserts and it's known for its halo-halo topped with their homemade ice cream.
It's popular ... and tacky. You really get the feel that you are in a popular stopover in a small town, if you get my drift.
There is even a red upholstered chair beneath the television bedecked with flowerets and whatever, apparently for selfies by some provincial lads and lasses.
I would prefer that they have a menu though, to make the ordering easy. What they have are photos tacked on the wall where you order, and it's all over the place, if you're a newcomer, you wouldn't know where to look.
Anyway, since it's the halo-halo we came for, I ordered the durian. I had siopao to go with that simply because I found it bothersome to check on the photos one by one and the siopao steamer was right in front of me.
My officemates ordered the mais con hielo, more halo-halo of different flavors, instant pancit canton with bun, and siomai.
The overloaded halo-halo was enticing, but since the group had their different choices, then I didn't propose that we try it and share. I wasn't up to eating that much, too.
Overall, the food is okay and worth a visit if only to experience Maco. The halo-halo, however, is too sweet for me. It's a place you can sit down in and watch people as they come and go to get a grasp of the provincial life in Maco.
I learned they have a branch at Robinson's Place in Tagum City, but that will be eating the food without experiencing where it all started, and that will tell an entirely different story.