Ingleside Eats: The Macau Bun Special At Jo Jo’s Cafe Is Just Right

Affordable, tasty and perfect for game day.

Alex Mullaney Jan 27, 2022

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Any diner would be hard pressed to find a better deal in Ingleside than the $3.99 Macau Bun at Jo Jo’s Cafe.

The special item was added to the menu last year, proprietor Joanne “Jo Jo” Lei told the Ingleside Light.

“It’s not too big. Not too small. Just right,” Lei said.

The item contains deep fried pork chop with onions on a lightly toasted brioche bun slathered with spicy-and-sweet Jo Jo’s Sauce. It’s garnished with cucumber slices of pickled carrots.

Lei said a young chef brought the bun to her attention after visiting Macau.

“Damn, that little bun was a surprise,” diner Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez said. “Here I was eating your usual — albeit tasty — diner food, and out comes this tangy, zesty little bun with enough meat to be its own mini-breakfast. It was a surprise, but a delicious one.”

For the full Hong Kong-style cafe experience, pair it with a milk tea or popular watermelon juice. Or order a few with chicken wings for the next big game.

The restaurant, which also offers catering, does a tremendous to-go business. Lei modified the business to be a sit-down and fast-casual hybrid after a kitchen fire necessitated a complete remodel in 2010.

Lei, perhaps the hardest-working restaurateur in Ingleside if not the city, opened the business in December 2002 after her family closed down Grand Cafe after a 10-year-run. She may hold a celebration to mark the start of the twentieth year.

“Almost a year to go — right now I’m super busy — but I will see,” Lei said.