El Ideal Bakery

El Ideal, an old bakery known for its long-standing structure and famous guapple pie, was our first stop in Bacolod. Well technically, it is in Silay, a city that is half an hour away from Bacolod. We took the red eye flight from Manila, and we arrived at the Bacolod-Silay Airport a little before six in the morning. We got a bit stressed out when we found out that El Ideal was still closed when we checked it out around 7 AM. Our driver-guide then took the time to go around Silay so we could get a glimpse of the city. After waiting for more than an hour, our group finally set foot inside a relatively spacious bakery slash restaurant. BFFs Skye and Zayne could not help but run around the sea of breads! Haha!

El Ideal, with its old-fashioned design and architecture, made us travel through time. Everything in the restaurant is old, or looks old at the very least. Every detail, like the hanging lamp, unfinished floor and antique phone, helped set apart El Ideal from the usual cozy and modern pastry shops we have back in Manila. But I remember telling Boyet that they probably forgot to get antique-looking electric fan and tissue holder! Hihi!



We waited quite a while for our food to arrive. It was probably because we were the first customers that day so the kitchen staff needed more time to settle in. I actually didn’t mind because their breakfast meals definitely delivered!

My husband tried their tinapa. When his order arrived, I actually teased him that his tinapa looked really, really, really sad. At first glance, I would think that whoever made my husband’s breakfast is uninspired, but a bite of the tinapa made me forget my first impression! Masama talagang maging judgmental, mga besh! Haha!


This tinapa is like your not-so-popular-and-not-so-good-looking girl in high school who is always in her jeans-shirt-sneakers outfit. That girl who comes up on stage during your graduation ceremony, and all the boys from your batch ends up asking, “Who is that girl? What class is she from?” But when you talk to this almost non-existent girl, you’ll end up spending hours laughing at her stories and admiring how smart, funny, sensitive and kind-hearted she really is! Yes, I compared the tinapa to a girl! Haha! Believe me, this tinapa may not be visually appealing, but my taste buds jumped out of excitement as I tasted the smoky and savory flavors of the fish! Super sarap!

When we asked the one who got our orders what their specialties are, she said Chorizo Recado Pudpud right away. Two from our group got it, but I decided to try their tapa instead. I ended up eating the chorizo because there was a mix-up with our orders. Thinking that we already waited long for our food to arrive and asking the kitchen staff to prepare my original order would probably take even longer, I settled with the chorizo. And I was glad that I did!


Again, the chorizo may not be an eye-catcher, but its taste definitely compensated for its lack of proper presentation. Its flavors are so rich probably because of the different spices. It’s savory, a little pungent, and you’ll get a distinct “kick” at every bite. The oil from the chorizo was perfect when mixed with rice! Aubrey, who hates chorizo, liked it, too! I guess that says it all.

While we were waiting for our food, I noticed that some locals started coming in to get their staple breads for breakfast. Our group really wanted to try out some of their pastries, but we figured that it was still too early to strain our tummies. Warm up lang muna for our #JAJEBusogLusogBacolod adventures! Hihi. :)


El Ideal Bakery
118 Rizal Street
Silay City
Negros Occidental

* All photos were taken with an Asus Zenfone Selfie