Return to Leocynn's Lumpia

Part two of our lunch was supposed to be at the TJ Oyster Bar. However, it was 12:30 pm and lunch hour was in full swing. Plus, that place is fkg small. There are only 4 or 5 bar stools and there was a line out the door. Sooooooo, we decided to go to what was supposed to be Part three of our progressive lunch, Leocynn's Lumpia which I've blogged before (see original post here). Looks like he updated his banner to celebrate their "8th Year Anniversary".

This time his hot food was ready. When TC and I went last fall, he had just opened up shop and was busy cooking his pancit and lumpia.

The owner apologized for not having enough white rice and said we could substitute more pancit for one of our entrees.

Bert ordered the new combo written in blue plus combo #1 - Adobo, rice, and pancit.  Except that Leo gave us some extra Longganisa (due to lack of rice) with that combo! Nice!!!!!

It's pretty simple here (clockwise): pancit bihon, pork adobo, longganisa and chicken adobo. Plus lumpia but the tray was empty at the time. He was frying up a new batch.

We had some rice but here's the extra longganisa. He asked us if we wanted "sauce" over the rice. Bert said, "Oh you mean, the sabao (soup)?". He seemed happy that Bert threw out a Tagalog word and said, "Now I know you are truly a Pilipino"! Ha ha.

Like our last time here, the owner was not shy in expressing his opinions. He started talking about how upset he was that the Governator commuted the prison sentence of the son of the Former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez. The son, Esteban Nunez killed SDSU student Luis dos Santos back in 2008. He pled guilty and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. But right before the Gov left office, he reduced the sentence in half! He noted that it was terrible that he did that and how could he do that to the victims' parents.
 
The lumpia was freshly fried - these were nice and crisp and not greasy at all. The longganisa was fatty as usual but hey, that's the way it should be. Filipino food sure isn't health food. The sausages are great once in awhile but if you ate this everyday, heart attack city here you come.

Oh look, he uses bay leaf in his adobo (seen on the sausage)!

Leo also went on about how some Filipino general recently committed suicide after it was learned that he and his men bilked millions of dollars from the people. He said he was glad that he killed himself. Man, he really isn't shy about telling it like it is. In between all this banter, he greeted customers and served them. He made sure to verbally tally up their purchases and he didn't even put in the tax.

The whole time we were there, he had a steady flow of customers, many of whom were not Filipino, which is cool. It showed the diversity of this area. A Caucasain man came in to order $30 worth of lumpia for a party. There were quite a lot of African Americans that came in like this kid who just got back from football camp at Saints and a couple that came in as we were leaving. Leo started talking about Manny Pacquaio and man, the conversation really started flowing.

He was a total hoot and Bert was very entertained. We also liked the food. The chicken adobo pieces (both legs) were quite meaty and hearty. As mentioned earlier, the lumpia was fried perfectly and the filling was mostly meat. The pancit wasn't the greatest (that honor belongs to my mom) but it didn't entirely suck either. I also liked how he gave us more sausage, so score for us!

Leocynn's Lumpia

I feel like taking a break from the SF posts for a tad bit. Sooooo....picking up from when we returned from our trip...

Since both TC and I were on fall break, I figured, hell, we'll go out everyday for lunch AND have dessert...and use up some coupons from that entertainment book before it exires.

After several years, I finally decided to go to this place...because of this here post from Cathy (a Friend of Yoso) that kept nagging me at the back of my mind. It's so close by...but not really. I've never been to that part of town, so why not, eh.

At the corner of Paradise Valley Road and Worthington is this little Filipino place...The name comes from the owners (a husband and wife team, Leo and Cynn). As you can see, they've been here seven years. When Cathy went, it was four years.

Since TC and I got there around 11:30 (and the dude opened at 11:00), it was kinda dead. There was nothing in the steam tables yet.  I placed our order of 8 shanghai lumpias ($3.50) and had a seat at one of the two tables.

So while we were waiting for the owner, Leo, to fry up our lumpias, we engaged in some conversation. Of course, he asked the inevitable, "Where are your parents from?". I dutifully told him their province while he shared where he was from, which was Marinduque in the Philippines. In fact, he was quite the chatty fellow. It was like talking to one of my dad's friends, an uncle if you will. At one point, he told me, "I am not listening to you because I am frying the lumpia in the back". He wasn't trying to be rude, mind you. Then he'd go in the back, check on it and then continue the conversation.

He did this several times because he was also starting up his adobo and kept checking on that too. "Okay, I am busy right now, I cannot talk to you!". I guess if I wasn't used to how older Filipinos are kinda tactless, I could see how one could interpret him as being rude but I didn't see it that way at all.

Here's their menu - it's just lumpia here folks. Nothing fancy. We just wanted a small snack before our real lunch. You can see they have other lumpia fillings as well as "jumbo" size. If you don't want lumpia, you can also have pancit bihon (he spelled it with a "j" which is incorrect, unless he was trying to be "Spanish") or adobo.  Ooh check it out...They have SARSI - a Philippine soda which tastes like root beer.

I made a mental note to try the combos next time. They are about $1 more than at other places, I noticed. Oh yeah, he also told me that he was "proud" of his food and that he concentrates on the food that he makes the best. "If you want more selection, then go to Tita's or Conchings!" Seriously, he said that. Ha ha!

On the other side of the place was a small map of the Philippines so I showed TC the province where Bert's parents were from as well as my parents province (Batangas and Nueva Ecija respectively). See the guy in the lower right corner? That's Lapu Lapu, the Chieftan of Mactan (an island in the Visayas) - there is a statue of him in Cebu commemorating him as a hero because he was the first Asian to successfully repel foreign invasion by KILLING MAGELLAN.  Thank you Lapu Lapu for stopping the devil colonizer from circumnavigating the world and from further trying to indoctrinize the natives, rape the women, and spread diseases.

Here's another sign...

The view of other end...there's TC playing with my iPod...

Judging from the quote at the bottom of the calendar, and also this figurine of the Santo Nino in the corner, I figured that Leo was a religious man. In fact, I got an earful later about how he hated divorce and felt that marriage should be forever and all that. I just bit my tongue. It was kind of like a little anti-divorce rant. Heck if I know how this came about, but he brought it up! Don't get me wrong, this dude is just being your normal Filipino uncle. They all have their pet peeves, so I wasn't insulted or anything.

Hey, I want this sign so I can get a Prime-A spot 'cuz this place is usually packed.

After chitchatting with Leo, I found out a lot about him. His place is named after him and his wife. He did NOT retire from the US Navy (like I assumed). Rather, he retired as a health care worker while his wife (Cynn) still worked at a hospital up north. His three kids all graduated from Morse but he didn't know their exact ages, just that they were 20 and 30 something. I'm still older than his kids tho'.

The lumpia was hot, crispy, and fresh - not greasy at all. I like the carrots in the lumpia too, just like how my mom makes it.

Here are some of the sauces he sells on the counter (you can also find these at Seafood City, Ranch 99 etc). I like the Jufran banana sauce and sometimes use it to marinate chicken. That sweet chili sauce for chicken is also quite good with fried chicken!

So there you have it, Leocynn's. For some homecooked food and/or lumpia, this is the place to go.


Leocynn's Lumpia
8360 Paradise Valley Rd., Suite C
Spring Valley, CA 91977
(619) 2678-8210

There is no website but here are a few reviews:

Here are a few more reviews about this place:
Yahoo travel and Yelp