After lunch, we all proceeded to Tibiao Bakery, the first bakeshop in the town and one of the more popular bakeries on Panay Island, where we were to sample their baked specialties.

Tibiao Bakery

Early on, we’ve previously sampled their popular and crunchy biscocho (from the Latin phrase bis coctus meaning “twice baked”), topped with butter and sugar, and asado rolls the day before.  Upon arrival at the bakery, I tried out their mongo ensaymada (also comes in ube flavor) and teren-teren, another Tibiao Bakery bestseller with a sweet filling, so named because it resembles a “train.”

An array of specialty breads

Aside from the above mentioned delicacies, the bakery is well known for its other Filipino specialty breads such as pan de sal,  pan de coco, macapuno buns, raisin bread, pineapple rolls, mongo rolls, mongo loaf, Pullman loaf, rainbow bread, ugoy-ugoy (a layered, flaky biscuit with granulated sugar as topping), paborita biscuits, principe, whole wheat bread, among others, as well as otap (oval-shaped puff pastry), cakes, cheese cupcake, biscuits, mamon, cookies and sweets.  They also offer short orders such as siopao, hamburgers, pancit molo and spaghetti.

Ensaymada mongo

This bakery was started by Manuel B. Lim, Sr. (mayor of Tibiao from 1991 to 2000) together with his wife, the former Anita J. Mandolado of Bugasong, as a neighborhood bakeshop on August 16, 1953 with a capital of around 20,000 pesos. Even after 6 decades of operation, they still use the same methods and equipment in baking bread as well as the old pugon, which is fired with wood, built on June 5, 1955.

Chesse pan de sal and mongo rolls

Now a proud export of the town, , it is now one of the largest and most popular companies in the whole Panay Island.  Their good and tasty breads has spawned numerous branches in the northern towns of Antique and the provinces of Aklan, Capiz and Iloilo.  In Iloilo City, a branch was started Manuel’s sons Vicente and Stephen in 1982.  Now it has around 10 branches  and it also supplies breads and baked goods to a lot of fast food chains such as Jollibee, Pizza Hut and Kentucky Fried Chicken, to name a few , plus it’s main locator inside SM groceries around Iloilo.

Raisin bread and whole wheat bread

There’s even a branch established by Sonny and Nieva Lim in Wellington, New Zealand (Tibiao Caterers/Capital Bakery).  Eventually in 1989, the business was converted from a sole proprietorship to a corporation.

Our media group

Tibiao Bakery: Bandoja St., Poblacion, Tibiao, Antique.

Tibiao Caterers/Capital Bakery: 5 Jasmine Grove, Maungaraki, Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand,Tel: 04-5891099. Mobile number (0274)495037. E-mail tibiao@xtra.co.nz.