the recession brings me to rosemead...again

when i studied abroad in hong kong, those nine months were a blur...not cuz i drank a lot, but because every single minute there was a desire to experience something great and to travel to somewhere different. boy it was fun...minus the near drowning experience in thailand...and the awkward 2 hour convo about jesus with two pilipino men during a bus ride to manila (even though i'm buddhist)...or getting lost in malaysia...ah, good times, good times.

i have a lot of memories about hong kong too, like getting shoved by grannies when i got on the train, street vendor eats, and endless shopping for cheap shit. holy smokes. and the portion size for food too...i will never forget the day i first looked down at my big mac (yes, i sometimes ate mcdonalds when i was there) and wondered why it was so small...and then i looked at my reflection in the windows and was reminded that i'm pretty obese by hong kong standards. i guess if i ate less, then i would have been able to fit into child size clothing like everybody else there. but did that thought stop my belly?! hells no!

i also remember eating at many hong style cafes. cafes are like glorified cafeterias where you can pick and choose from a really extensive menu, which normally means a variety of choices but a decrease in quality of food. when i had dinner with my family this past weekend at ledo cafe in rosemead, i was reminded of this once again.

we started off with their greasy spicy pork chops. the flavors were good, but wiping your greasy mouth with a napkin was not. i think there is a place in the food pyramid for foods like this and we checked that one off quickly.

stir fried green beans with fish cake. tasty, but must be eaten quickly because of the conjeel factor. yes, that is a bone fide factor in foods.

roasted chicken with a side of corn and rice. NNNNOOOOOOOO! ill. i took a bite and left the rest of my portion on the plate. it was cold and pink looking inside. thanks to buddha i have an iron belly or else i be running to the wc.

short ribs in burgundy sauce. this was actually pretty tasty and if i find myself at ledo cafe again wanting to reminisce about hong kong eating, i would totally order this again. the meat was extremely tender and the burgundy sauce was light. it went well with rice.

we also ordered a salmon dish which was quickly pulverized before i could take pics. i dunno, but salmon with mayo sauce does not speak to me. anyways, my family killed the meal and for roughly $60 with drinks, it was a cheap death indeed.

i think the food is decent here, that you will get a variety of items to choose from, and it is tres cheap. service is straight up sgv style, so if you get angry with bad service, then perhaps this is not the place for you. but if you don't mind because you're hardened to sgv service like a soldier wounded by war like i am, then by all means, ledo cafe is quite alright.

Ledo Cafe
8158 Garvey Ave
Rosemead, CA 91770
(626) 573-8998

price: $
verdict: it's aight