Leocynn's Lumpia - Four years later...

Has it really been that long since our last visit?

Four years have elapsed since then..

and it was high time we returned (albeit with another ulterior motive across the street)...

The banner underneath the sign celebrates their "12th Anniversary" and says, "Thanks to all of you!". When Cathy visited, the banner proclaimed it was their "4th Anniversary".

Combos are still $7.50 as they were in 2011 (but were $5.75 during Cathy's visit in 2007):

Here's the 2011 menu for comparison (lumpia prices went slightly up since then):

(photo from my "Return to Leocynn's Lumpia" post, February 19, 2011)

Some other changes - Longganisa is no longer offered which bummed us out because we were craving it. Leo also got a new map of the Philippines.  Ha, I like the "Lack of planning" sign. One of my former co-workers used to have that sign hanging on his office window.

Here is the old map:

(photo from my first visit in October 2010)

Gotta love that bamboo font!

Everything else looks pretty much the same, even the little shopping cart on top of the counter.


Remember, it is "CASH ONLY" here.

We liked the sign hiding in the back...

TC and I were both pretty hungry. My choice was combo #2, pork adobo with four jumbo Shanghai lumpi and rice while TC had #5, chicken adobo with two vegetarian lumpia and rice. Both came with one small container of sauce. Use it wisely unless you want to pay extra for more sauce (there is a sign under the counter with the sizes/pricing).

The adobo here is very saucy and delicious. This was the chicken (legs) which TC thoroughly enjoyed as in there were no leftovers. Both servings were generous but not overkill.

This was my pork adobo.


Yessssss....fat...delicious fat. Seriously though, I didn't eat all of the fat on the pork chunks, just one juicy piece.

Lumpia is fried fresh to order. Remember that. It's not sitting out getting soggy. When we placed our order for our combos, he told us it would take fifteen minutes. No problem. It was worth the wait.




Previous visit to Leocynn's:
September 2011 (which links my previous two visits)

Leocynn's Lumpia
8360 Paradise Valley Rd., Suite C
Spring Valley, CA 91977
(619) 267-8120

NO WEBSITE of course!

As for those haters on yelp...they've written a lot of crap about the owner and  are probably not used to his gruff demeanor and just chalk it up to rudeness. The owner has been called (more than once I might add), a "dick", "rude", "grumpy", "obnoxious", and wow, this is pretty harsh -  "a-hole" and has "a bad attitude" and "horrible" customer service.  Then there was a review from "Esmeralda M" defending him as well as one from "Randy B". They totally get him. The dude is like an old school Filipino Lolo/Uncle.  His gruffness? That's the way he talks. If you hesitate about your order, he WILL go back to the kitchen not because he's rude, but because he's most likely frying some shit up and can't leave it to burn. And yes, he probably doesn't have patience if you're waffling over your choice. You need to know what you want when he asks.

Some  folks are just too sensitive. As a comparison, he is kind of like the Filipino version of the Soup Nazi (okay, maybe not as mean as the Soup Nazi) or the man from Star Dust Donuts.   I personally don't find him rude but I can see how he can be seen as rude.  He's old school and all business. Today, he was not as talkative as my previous visits (if you read my first post you will see that I found out quite a lot about him by our conversations). Actually, I was kind of hoping to hear a rant or two like the last times.  He was pretty nice today and thanked us before leaving.   I have never heard him be rude to any customers. He is curt but not everyone is always going to be sunshine and rainbows. Here's a tip, TC and I made sure to refer to him as "po" (as in "Thank you po"), which is an article of respect said to Filipino elders. It is pronounced as "po" with a short "o" sound NOT "Poe" like Edgar Allan Poe.  If you're not Filipino and he hears that from you, he might even be impressed. But probably not.