El Ideal: Humble and Tasty Food!

A humble place just outside Bacolod City and a few minutes drive from the airport. El Ideal is said to house the tastiest and unique Guapple Pie. It is located in Silay City, where the ancestral houses are located. Unfortunately, due to the city’s too much partying the night before (Philippine’s Independence Day is also their Feast day as well, and no, I am not kidding about the too much partying part), managers of the ancestral homes weren’t able to open for business, thus the photos I have are only the facades.

Luckily, I researched and El Ideal was on my list to try. We drove ourselves to the place and we snooped around and see what the others were ordering. I noticed a lot were ordering fresh lumpia among others. It’s a self-service kind of establishment so we lined-up as we checked out what food were on display.

Guapple pie (Php 35 / slice) – it was only the correct thing to do, to order the specialty of the house. It is called such because it is a combination of both guava and apple fruits. The taste? Surprisingly good. The crust has the right crispness which went well with the mashed fruits filling. There was also a hint of cinnamon somewhere which complemented the pie well. I loved that for a pie, it wasn’t too sweet at all. This is good because I could’ve finished the entire slice without getting sick of it. But then I wanted to try something else and my stomach can only take so much.

Mais con Jielo (Php 40) – I was disappointed with this. It wasn’t just that it was ordinary, it was lacking in milk which is bad because there wasn’t much ingredients in it to begin with. 

Leche flan (Php 38) – this had an almost gelatin-like consistency and a very smooth texture. It was layered with a bit of burnt sugar which added a hint of bitterness to the dessert and a very good combination with the milk. One of the best leche flans ever (no bubbles, no rough parts).

Fresh lumpia (Php 30) – El Ideal’s patrons were ordering this so we had to try. Beside the usual lumpia ingredients, it had a lot of garlic than usual and mashed boiled eggs. This was served cold and I’m not really a fan of cold food (save for salads and desserts of course). But it tasted  great though because of the combination of the spices. Had this been warm, I would’ve loved it.

Arrozcaldo (Php 55) – now here’s a winner. Their version was hot and was just oozing with flavour. The serving was generous especially for the price. I loved that there was a lot of garlic in it.

These food, my dears, were consumed for snacks. We have ordered food as if there was no tomorrow. This humble establishment is certainly worth a visit. I suggest to do this after you tire yourselves out checking out the ancestral homes in the area.

El Ideal

118 Rizal St. Silay City Negros Occidental

(63 34) 4954430