Fredcel Lumpias & Catering
3876 38th St
San Diego, CA 92105
(619) 282-2305
fredcellumpias.weebly.com
I learned about Fredcel from mmm-yoso. I wanted to take Boyfriend there because he loves lumpia. Loves. It’s kinda scary seeing how many lumpia he, his brother and his cousin can devour. We paid Fredcel’s a visit a few weekends ago.
When we got there, we were surprised by how empty it was. Granted, it was almost 3pm, but all the other Filipino places I’ve visited are usually still busy around 3pm. We were the only customers in the restaurant, and there wasn’t much food available. A lot of the trays of food were empty and many of the ones that still had food, the food looked dry and old. The worst part was that there was no pancit!
I was impressed by the prices. You can get 100 lumpia for $30. A combo with 1 item is $3.99 and with 2 items it is $4.99.
The man behind the counter said they could make some pancit if we could wait 5 minutes. Since we had already come so far, we decided we might as well.
It was particularly hot that afternoon. And it was even hotter inside the restaurant. Boyfriend said that he felt like he was in the Philippines because it was so warm inside. Also he said that the windows inside the restaurant looked very much like the windows of stores in the Philippines. I forgot to take some pictures of the windows.
Boyfriend didn’t really want any of the food other than the lumpia. The chicken adobo caught my eye because Fredcel uses large pieces of chicken, including drumsticks for their chicken adobo. So we ended up getting a combo with pancit instead of rice, chicken adobo and lumpia. Either five or six lumpia are included as an item in a combo plate. I can’t quite remember, and we had eaten a few before I got out my camera.
I was surprised to see thin yellow noodles being used to make the pancit. Usually the noodles are clear. However, the taste was still pretty good. The chicken adobo was good too. The lumpia were nice and crunchy. The skin of the lumpia had bubbles on it, which usually happens with thick skin eggrolls. However, this skin was still thin.
Some of the lumpia were devoured prior to this picture being taken. The food was pretty good, but I prefer Manila Fastfood. I will keep Fredcel in mind if I am in the area, or if I am going to a potluck and want to get a tray of lumpia.
You certainly get value for your money at this place. Has to be my favourite place and has been for the past 4 years since I moved here!
Interesting story! I didn’t know that. They are definitely pretty yummy.
Fred $ Cel’s lumpia is actually legendary in NC. Cel used to cook batches of it in her little kitchen and Fred would sell them out of his garage. LOL.