My last day in Negros Occidental was scheduled for a walking tour around the City of Silay, Negros Occidental known to be the Paris of the Philippines. I was fortunate to visit Silay City together with the famous bloggers behind Out of Town Blog and The Pinay Solo Backpacker, Melo and Gael, respectively. I met them in Bernardo Jalandoni House and then proceeded to the San Diego Pro-Cathedral. It was sunny and a bit hot which led to tiredness, the reason for us to find for a place to eat.
EL IDEAL BAKERY
Your visit to Silay City is incomplete if you won’t drop by the most famous and considered as the oldest bakery in Silay City. El Ideal is located along Rizal Street and occupies the lower ground of the Cesar Lacson Locsin Ancestral house. They offer different kinds of pastry such as pies, biscuits and cookies. The place is known for the “guapple” pie. The guapple pie has no apples in it because “guapple” is a variety of guava having an extra large fruit. I ordered a slice of guapple pie and fresh lumpia.
The thinly sliced guapple fruit was blended with cinnamon powder and sugar then used to cover the pie crust and lastly topped with powdered crust. The guapple pie was okay with the crunchy guava slices that were overpowered a bit by the cinnamon. On the other hand, the lumpia was good with the right amount of sweetness used to flavor it.
CAFÉ 1925
Another place is Café 1925 located at the back of BPI Silay City which is just right next to El Ideal. The restaurant is not that big and can only accommodate at most 25 people at a time. A mural painting of Silay City is on a wall below their colorful window. A beautiful chandelier made up of Capiz shells makes the whole dining place warmer.
Specialties for the week were listed on their overhead menu board located at the counter. I ordered Herb Chicken with Misuno Rice while Melo and Gael both ordered Arroz ala Cubana. The restaurant also offers appetizers, soups and salads, rice meals, pasta and sandwiches. Meals range from Php 60 (French Fries) to Php 220 (Beef Salpicao).
The soup of the herb chicken was so flavorful and really complement well with the misuno rice. Another thumbs up also for the cucumber served with the meal.
KAPEHAN SANG SILAY
If ever you tend to visit Silay early in the morning, a known coffee house is located across San Diego Pro-Cathedral, the Kapehan Sang Silay. Native brewed coffee is being served at only Php 14 and you can also order rice cakes to go with your coffee like But-ong (Php 6), Ibos (Php 6), and Puto (Php 3)
With these places, together with my compilation of restaurant finds in Bacolod, manifest that people of Negros Occidental are not only fond of eating but also show their creativity in discovering recipes and utilizing available products in their area, particularly sugar which is abundant in the entire province.
