Photo by Obsidian Soul, via Wikimedia Commons. Resized for this page. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Silay to Bacolod

Food of Negros: What to Eat in Bacolod and Silay

Negros cooks with smoke, sourness and sugar. The smoke is from charcoal under the inasal, the sourness from batwan in a bowl of cansi, and the sugar from the cane fields you drove past on the way here. Start your morning in Silay with lumpia ubod and guapple pie, end it in Bacolod with your hands full of chicken, and bring home a box of piaya. Then come back to the river and do nothing for a while.

The stay is at Bukaw, by the Malogo River in Silay.

Drive times on this page are approximate, from Silay City proper, not measured from our gate.

Last checked 27 October 2026.

From our own table. After a day at the Mambukal hot springs, our owner stopped for inasal at Chicken House's Homesite branch on Circumferential Road, Bacolod. That stop is in the Mambukal day trip.

Then the long table at home. Meals as a rhythm is how we think about eating either way.

The city pages are Silay and Bacolod.

Sugar, smoke and sour: how Negros eats

The sweet things on this page are muscovado from the cane. The savory things are grilled, or soured with batwan. Prices below are the sourced figures, with the date we have. Prices change.

Savory dishes

Savory

Chicken inasal

SM City Bacolod north parking area, near the Father Ferrero Street entrance30–45 minutes, approximate

Chicken marinated in vinegar, calamansi, lemongrass and ginger, basted with annatto oil and grilled over charcoal. Eat it with garlic rice, chicken oil, and soy sauce with calamansi. Order the pecho (breast) or paa (leg), ask for extra chicken oil, and eat with your hands.

The original Manokan Country site is being redeveloped, so follow the smoke to the SM parking area, not an old map pin. Aida's grills there, and it also has its own restaurant on San Juan Street, beside the fire station. A piece at Aida's was ₱55–₱110 in 2024. Chicken House has been grilling since 1976, on Lacson Street and at Homesite on Circumferential Road. The Homesite branch is open 11am–10pm.

Manokan Country on the Bacolod page

Chicken House at Homesite, on the Mambukal day trip

Savory

Cansi

Open

C-58 Capitol Shopping Center, Narra Avenue30–45 minutes, approximateDaily, 8am–8pm.About ₱500 a bowl at Sharyn's (October–November 2025), enough for two or three.

Beef shank and bone marrow, simmered for hours and soured with batwan, a sour fruit from the island. It sits somewhere between bulalo and sinigang. Sharyn's isn't air-conditioned, by design, because the soup is meant to be eaten hot. Go before noon, before the marrow runs out.

The photograph is a bowl at Eron's Cansi House in Bacolod, not at Sharyn's. Eron's street address isn't listed here.

A bowl of kadyos, baboy, kag langka at Chicken House in Bacolod — Photo by Spencer, via Wikimedia Commons. Resized for this page. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Kadyos, baboy, langka

KBL

Narra Avenue, Capitol Shopping Center30–45 minutes, approximateCapitol branch: Monday to Saturday, 10am–9pm. Sunday, 10am–8pm.

Pigeon peas, pork and young jackfruit in a sour batwan broth. It's the Negrense home cooking people miss when they leave. Pair it with inasal. Most small carinderias in Bacolod also serve a good bowl.

Sandok also has a branch at 20th Lacson Street. Sugba Sugba and Chicken House serve KBL too. The photograph is a bowl at Chicken House, not at Sandok. The hours above are the Capitol branch.

Savory

Batchoy

Lacson Street30–45 minutes, approximateBatchoy Special ₱180, plus ₱25 for an egg, at 21 Restaurant (2025).

Egg noodles in a rich pork broth with liver, chicharon and garlic. It comes from La Paz in Iloilo, across the strait, but Bacolod eats plenty of it. Merzci's counters serve it as well.

21 Restaurant is on Lacson Street. The house number isn't listed here. Order the fresh lumpia ubod and the chocolate cake too.

Silay delicacies

Lumpiang ubod, a fresh heart-of-palm spring roll with a garlic sauce — Photo by punctuated, via Wikimedia Commons. Resized for this page. CC BY 2.0.

Silay

Lumpia ubod

El Ideal Bakery, 118 Rizal Street

A fresh spring roll filled with heart of coconut palm and topped with a sweet garlic sauce. It is Silay's signature savory dish. Order it fresh, not fried, the first time.

21 Restaurant in Bacolod serves it fresh, and Bob's in Bacolod serves it fried. The photograph is the dish, not the Silay shop.

El Ideal on the Silay page

Bakery

El Ideal Bakery

118 Rizal Street, Heritage ZoneGuapple pie, ₱50 a slice (April 2025).

A bakery that has been rolling pastry in the same Silay ancestral house since the 1920s. The guapple pie is guava where you'd expect apple.

Go before noon. Whole pies sell out, and bring cash.

The house on the Silay page

Silay

Emma Lacson's Delicacies

120 Rizal Street

Next door to El Ideal, known for empanada de kaliskis: a pastry with flaky, scale-like layers, filled with chicken and raisins.

Buy it at the Silay shop.

Emma Lacson's on the Silay page

Silay

Ibos

Sticky rice cooked in coconut milk and wrapped in young palm leaves. Suman sa ibos, also called but-ong. A breakfast and merienda sweet in old Silay households.

Eat it with thick hot chocolate, the Silay way. The photograph is the dish.

Sweets and bakeries

Sweet

Piaya

A flat, unleavened bread filled with Negros muscovado, sprinkled with sesame and toasted on a griddle. It is the island's best-known take-home treat. Try the classic muscovado first. Ube comes second.

BongBong's, on 13th Lacson Street, listed ube piaya at ₱77 for ten in 2025. Merzci lists an eight-piece pack at ₱88, and ₱59 on promo.

BongBong's on the Bacolod page

Sweet

Napoleones

Flaky puff pastry layered with custard and finished with a sugar glaze that cracks when you bite. It is the Bacolod cousin of the mille-feuille. Buy them last. The custard keeps best cold.

Merzci's regular price in 2023 was ₱140 for six and ₱280 a dozen. There are ube and strawberry versions too. Recheck it. Pendy's, at 25th Lacson Street, sells them as well.

Pendy's on the Bacolod page

Sweet

Barquillos

Thin wafers rolled into crisp tubes, sometimes filled. They keep well on a trip, until they crush. Pack them in your hand luggage.

BongBong's lists Barquillos de Bacolod at ₱62, in a range of ₱49–₱140.

Sweet

Pinasugbo

Manapla town properAbout 45 minutes north of Silay, approximate

Thin slices of saba banana, fried and coated in caramelized sugar or muscovado, with sesame seeds. Crunchy and sweet. Manapla is known for pinasugbo and for puto Manapla.

Pinasugbo travels well. Puto Manapla is best the day you buy it. A stop in town pairs with the Chapel of the Cartwheels.

The chapel, on the faith trail

Bakery

Calea

Balay Quince, 15th Lacson Street30–45 minutes, approximate₱120–₱130 a slice (2025).

The cake shop people plan Bacolod trips around: chocolate mud pie, blueberry cheesecake and pecan pie. Go mid-afternoon on a weekday. Friday evenings are packed.

Calea on the Bacolod page

Pasalubong

BongBong's

Open

13th Lacson Street30–45 minutes, approximate8am–8pm.

Bacolod's best-known pasalubong house for piaya, barquillos and napoleones. There are other branches. Sample the piaya flavors before you buy a box.

The prices are with the piaya and the barquillos above.

BongBong's on the Bacolod page

Pasalubong

Merzci

Hervias Village 2, Villamonte30–45 minutes, approximate

A Bacolod pasalubong and bakery chain founded in 1995, often written Merci. The factory is in Hervias Village 2, Villamonte, and there are more than 70 branches. The phone is (034) 435-4444.

Try the ube napoleones. The piaya and napoleones prices are above. The red-and-yellow box is the one people carry home.

Sugarcane and muscovado

Sugar

Muscovado

Negros was built on sugar, and muscovado, the dark unrefined sugar that fills every piaya, is the one to take home. Hawaiian-Philippine Company, a mill in Silay, makes it in an artisan facility separate from the main mill. On special occasions that facility still runs a carabao-powered mill. Esperanza's Best, a farmers' cooperative in La Carlota, makes 100 to 150 kilograms a day.

Esperanza's Best is sold at the La Carlota Tourism Office and at TLDC in Bacolod. Seal the bag. Muscovado takes on moisture.

How sugar came to Negros

Pasalubong to take home

Buy the custard pastries last. Everything else can ride in the car.

Prices change. These are the sourced figures, with the date we have.
Item	Where	Price	Packing
Piaya	BongBong's or Merzci, Bacolod	₱77 for 10 (BongBong's ube, 2025 list). Merzci lists ₱88 for 8, and ₱59 on promo.	Keeps for days. Boxes travel well.
Napoleones	Merzci or Pendy's, Bacolod	₱140 for 6, ₱280 a dozen (Merzci, 2023; recheck).	Buy last and keep cool. The filling is custard.
Barquillos	BongBong's, Bacolod	Listed at ₱62, in a range of ₱49–₱140.	Hand luggage. They crush.
Empanada de kaliskis	Emma Lacson's, 120 Rizal Street, Silay	Ask at the shop.	The Silay shop is the one to visit.
Guapple pie	El Ideal, 118 Rizal Street, Silay	₱50 a slice (April 2025).	Order early. It sells out.
Pinasugbo	Manapla town proper	Ask when you buy.	Pinasugbo travels well. Puto Manapla is best the day you buy it.
Muscovado	La Carlota Tourism Office, or TLDC in Bacolod (Esperanza's Best)	Ask when you buy.	Seal it. It takes on moisture.

A food crawl from Silay to Bacolod

One day, Silay in the morning and Bacolod after. The clock times are a plan, not a promise.

About 7:30. El Ideal, 118 Rizal Street, Silay. Fresh lumpia ubod, a slice of guapple pie and native coffee.
About 8:30. Emma Lacson's, next door. Empanada de kaliskis for the road.
About 9:00. Drive to Bacolod, about 30–45 minutes.
About 10:00. Sharyn's Cansi House, Narra Avenue. Share one bowl between two or three, before the marrow runs out.
About 11:30. Walk it off at the Capitol Lagoon, or the Negros Museum (closed Sundays).
About 1:30. BongBong's, 13th Lacson Street. Piaya and barquillos to take home.
About 3:00. Calea, 15th Lacson Street. One slice and a coffee.
About 5:30. Inasal at the Manokan Country temporary site, or at Chicken House.
About 7:00. Drive back to Bukaw, and sleep to the sound of the river.

All times are estimates. Swap the cansi for KBL at Sandok, two doors down from Sharyn's, if you want something lighter.

Food of Negros FAQ

What food is Negros famous for?

Chicken inasal, cansi, KBL and batchoy for meals; piaya, napoleones, barquillos and pinasugbo for sweets; and lumpia ubod and guapple pie in Silay. Almost everything sweet is made with Negros muscovado.

Where is Manokan Country now?

At a temporary site in SM City Bacolod's north parking area while the original site is redeveloped. Aida's also has its own restaurant on San Juan St.

What are Silay's delicacies?

Fresh lumpia ubod and guapple pie from El Ideal, empanada de kaliskis from Emma Lacson's, and ibos, a sticky rice cooked in coconut milk.

What should I buy as pasalubong from Bacolod?

Piaya and barquillos from BongBong's or Merzci, napoleones, and a bag of Negros muscovado.

How much is cansi at Sharyn's?

About ₱500 for a bowl that feeds two or three (2025). It's open daily, 8am to 8pm.

The river after

Stay at Bukaw

Go out for the morning. Come back while the light is still on the water. River time and the river does not rush are the two essays we mean by that.

Flying in? We can meet you at Bacolod–Silay Airport with a van. Pickup is an extra charge. Write to us and we will arrange it.

Stay at Bukaw