El Ideal Bakery – A Family Legacy of Good Food Since the 1920’s

El Ideal Bakery, (pronounced "el idjal"), Silay's original bakery, is currently run and managed by the 3^rd and 4^th generation of the family that started it.  It is not only a family legacy of good food to their grandchildren, but also to the many Negrenses who have had this place as a part of their lives.

photo courtesy of: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2184

I, for one, am one of those Negrenses. My paternal grandfather was an original "Silaynon" (what people from Silay City are called), with my great grandmother listed as one of the owners (former owner, actually, since she sold the house when all her kids got married – it was just too big for her) of the big Spanish houses that still stand up to this day. My grandfather used to own a farm in Silay, near the area where the new Silay Airport is located today. It was sold when none of his children followed his footsteps of going into farming, and he was getting too old for it.

Anyway, El Ideal Bakery has been part of our family's tradition as well.  Every November 1, my father's side of the family – complete with my grandparents (although now it's just my grandmother since my grandfather passed away in 1996), uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, nieces, the whole caboodle –  go there for our brunch right after we visit the cemetery (for our All Soul's Day tradition).  It has been that way ever since I could remember.

photo courtesy of:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2019

El Ideal has always been where it once were (since the 1920's), in 118 Rizal street, Silay City, Negros Occidental. The place have had some minor modifications like the installation of air conditioners, replacing of their chairs and tables with newer, more durable ones, new kitchen equipment, etc... But there are some aspects of it that remain as is, like their famous pre-war brick oven, the facade that remains almost the same up to this day since before the war, etc...

photo courtesy of: http://photos.friendster.com/photos

Every year, we never grow tired of it. My order has always been their specialty pancit malabon and fresh lumpia. My grandmother never fails to order halo-halo (her thirst quencher after the hot morning in the cemetery); the kids never fail to order the usual spaghetti; my aunt and uncles would go for my choice of food, plus some native delicacies. A November 1^st without stopping by El Ideal is not exactly November 1^st – if you know what I mean. And guess what?

Every year, at about the same time, we meet the same people – who also make their trip to El Ideal part of their tradition.

photo courtesy of: http://www.dessertcomesfirst.com

photo courtesy of:
http://elideal.multiply.com

Family traditions aside, El Ideal has earned a name for itself with its famous guapple pie. Yes, it's guava-slash-apple pie. It is one of my favorites, so to speak! This recipe was created in the 1980's when Negros Island hit a sugar crisis, and sugar became too expensive for pastries sold at reasonable prices. So guava was used as an alternative to sugarcane – and it turned out to be oh so delicious! Today, El Ideal's guapple pie is one of the most sought after pastries in local, national, and even international food fares held in the Philippines.

Their Dulce Gatas (it's Silay's version of the pastillas, made from carabao's milk and sugar) always reminds me of my father. My dad has always had a sweet tooth and it could be cured with this. Having this as dessert takes me back to my childhood days...

 I can't wait 'til next November 1! :) 

El Ideal's Telephone number: (034) 495 4430

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