There is something incredibly comforting about coming home. On a recent trip to Bacolod, I had the joy of revisiting my hometown with my daughter Hailey, who, by the time this is published, will be starting a new chapter as a freshman in college. Being a fellow foodie, she was excited to eat her way through the City of Smiles. Together, we rediscovered old favorites, explored new ones, and made memories one bite at a time.

We landed in Silay City and made a quick stop at The Ruins to take photos before heading to Bob’s for lunch. Celebrating its 60th anniversary, Bob’s is more than a restaurant, it is a place that is part of everyone’s family history. My parents had regular dates here before they were married. I remember being greeted by Ben, our favorite waiter, who always knew our order. Hailey had the Eat-All-You-Can Mongolian Bowl with the special peanut satay sauce that makes all the difference. I ordered my usual Chicken Saté with a side of Saté Babe. I can never decide which one I want more, so I end up ordering the Chicken Saté and a stick of pork barbecue on the side. Hailey told me that she knows why this is one of the places I keep coming back to—for the memories and the mouthwatering food.

Next stop was Kuppa, previously Celyn’s Ice Cream Shop, a popular hangout when I was in high school. I introduced Hailey to my go-to Wimpy’s Burger, an open-faced burger with gravy on the meat side and creamy cheddar cheese sauce on the bread side. It was just as delicious as I remembered, paired with a perfectly pulled cortado and a side of chewy oatmeal cookies.

We had a nostalgic dinner at Inaka, which is Bacolod’s first Japanese restaurant (established in 1975). We ordered the best-selling Beef Misono, Shrimp Tempura, Scallops, Gindara, and Misono rice, which brought back memories of family celebrations and special occasions here. All the dishes were just as good as I remember.

The next day, we had lunch at one of the iconic local eateries, Sharyn’s Cansi House. Established in 1985, Sharyn’s is famous for its rich and deeply flavorful broth slow-simmered for hours and served with a massive beef shank with bone marrow. We devoured the cansi soup, which can be described as a cross between bulalo and sinigang, with the native batuan as the souring agent instead of the traditional sampaloc. We also ordered their innovative take on cansi—Crispy Cansi, shredded beef deep-fried until super crispy. This was addictingly good paired with loads of rice.

It started raining in the afternoon, which was the perfect backdrop for us to savor our piping hot bowls of classic batchoy at Restaurant 21, another must-visit place in the city if you are looking for comfort food.

Dinner was at Kubo sa Lawn, known for delicious pork and squid sisig. Their garlicky sizzling squid with gravy was a hit that had us scraping our plates clean.

Dessert is never an afterthought in Bacolod, also known as the Sugar Bowl of the Philippines, with sugarcane as the main crop and sugar production as the main livelihood in the province of Negros. Dessert is always top of mind, even while we were still having lunch or dinner.

We headed to Felicia’s for their Frozen Brazos, Sans Rival, Queso de Bola, and Classic Ensaimadas—so obviously, we ordered them all. Quino’s served up my favorite chocolate cake—dense, dark, and the closest to my lola’s recipe, which is saying a lot because my lola made a really good chocolate cake. One bite and I was a kid again, licking the frosting off my spoon. We also had to try the newest dessert café in town, Buttery, which hails from Dumaguete. We ordered the crowd favorite, Tres Leches tub, which did not disappoint.

A special highlight was our road trip to Sagay, my father’s hometown, where we reunited with family and shared a meal at Enting’s. Known for his legendary lechon baboy—the best lechon that I compare all lechons to because it is the most flavorful, stuffed with tanglad (lemongrass and batuan)—Enting Lobaton is my dad’s friend and our neighbor in Sagay, with his son Mark now managing the business. His kinilaw and grilled seafood are as fresh as it gets. Enting’s eatery is a dining destination worth driving 1.5 hours from Bacolod.

We drove back to Bacolod to have some grilled-to-order pork barbecue from Chai Rose BBQ—the perfect combination of sweet and savory, grilled-to-perfection pork skewers. Dinner was at Business Inn for Hailey to try my favorite Sizzling Cansi and an order of Lumpia Shanghai with their signature sticky sweet-and-sour sauce, an underrated combination that few know to order.

We woke up the next day looking forward to brunch at V&W, a charming artisanal bakery and café owned by best friends Victoria and William. We loved the Pastrami Grilled Cheese Sourdough Sandwich, Classic Eggs Benedict, pillowy soft cheese rolls, and buttery ensaimadas. V&W has definitely elevated the brunch game in Bacolod.

While Manukan Country is the go-to for inasal, we found a hidden gem, Nena’s Beth (located in the Bredco area near SM and S&R), that served some of the best chicken inasal I have had in a while. This open-air eatery was recommended by my cousins, so we had to try it. We ordered bul-o (crispy chicken skin), isol (chicken butt), pakpak (wings), pa-a (quarter chicken thigh) with garlic rice, generous drizzles of rice oil, and always a pinch of salt, as every Ilonggo knows. Each bite was juicy, savory, and perfectly grilled. This may well be my new chicken inasal place in the city.

It was our last day in Bacolod, so we headed to Mimi’s (formerly known as Pendy’s), located at 25th Lacson Street. Mimi’s has always been our merienda and pasalubong stop before heading to the airport to catch a flight. We stocked up on pasalubongs like dulce gatas, made by cooking down carabao’s milk with sugar until it forms a texture similar to curds and is not meant to be smooth; chewy butterscotch bites; goat’s milk barquillos; Half Moon; and Napoleones. The best pasalubongs include Half Moon, which is a light and fluffy chiffon cake shaped like a half-moon (hence the name) topped with a thick custard made with egg yolks, similar to the filling of Brazo de Mercedes, another favorite dessert of ours. Napoleones are made with layers of puff pastry and alternating layers of thick pastry cream, topped with sugar icing that breaks with each bite, adding just the right amount of sweetness.

What started as a mother-daughter vacation turned into a journey of remembering and reconnecting. This was definitely more than a food trip. Bacolod served up great food and gave us new stories to tell and fond memories to look back on long after this trip.