Sam Woo Barbeque

Best b.q. pork and fried rice handsdown!! The wonton soup is great. Sam Woo rocks! This is a really good restaurant

After mass on a Sunday morning, I’m feeling rather hungry, and it’s a «cold» Los Angeles morning in December…
May I please have won ton min to warm up?
Why? Because typical coffee and pastry will not be as satisfying as those thin, firm noodles, and some savory Chinese dumplings with the little shrimp in each one! Yes! It’s exactly what I wanted and it hit the spot!
How about some cha siu? I just want a taste. Oooh — but those slightly burnt edges are so yummy… Maybe I’ll have a few more slices… Mmmm! Just one more bite, please?!
Okay! I’m done!
Woo Hoo! That’s a great breakfast! I don’t even know how I got there! I was just happy to be on vacation and not have to think! I didn’t mind about the cut and dry service. Ambiance doesn’t really matter so early in the morning. The place was clean and functional — that’s enough, right? And, I didn’t have to wait to be seated! Bonus!
This Sam Woo location seemed a bit smaller than the one I’ve dined at in Las Vegas. It seemed plainer in the décor department, but when you have good food, all of those other things don’t seem so important. I’m really just looking at my plate — and yours, too!
So — may I have a byte of your Roast Duck? How about the piece with lots of crispy skin???

Price is on point for duck and crispy pork. The place isn’t glamorous or anything but service is surprisingly good. It’s cash only and they got a C for their inspection grade.
But hey. Duck.

I’m adding on a star for the take-​out counter.
Needing a little something to give as a gift, I went to pick up their combo plate (#1 on the take-​out menu).
Fast service!
That combo plate was excellent. I had assumed it would just be the three basics– BBQ pork, some sort of chicken & roasted duck. It was much more! The variety made this a nice gift.
Will definitely come back to pick some up for my family!

Open late, slightly sticky (or smelling of cleaner!) tables, tasty enough BBQ, cheap, and like all Sam Woo’s, the classic HK-​style service (or lack thereof!).
That said service actually is very decent for an HK-​style place where you traditionally expect no service at all, and the price is right.
Food doesn’t seem to be as good as the one off Del Mar tho; not only is the interior smaller, the beef chow fun was slightly more greasy, and that’s more than enough to cost them a star.

We only do take-​out at this store. Their roast duck has consistently been one of the best. Tried the special lobster chow fun. Very tasty, great noodles, lobster was more work than it’s worth. Good to try it, but next time I’d stick to beef or chicken chow fun. There are a lot of Sam Woo stores in this area, but I’ve bookmarked this one.

Food came out really fast, flavors were just okay, but everything seemed really heavy and greasy to me.
pan fried noodles with meat and vegetables: way too saucy. It completely drenched the noodles so there were hardly and crispy parts =/​
roasted duck: meat was a bit dry and skin wasn’t crispy. tasted like it had been sitting out for awhile
lobster: really fresh, lightly fried and tossed with salt and pepper. (and probably tons of msg)
overall, nothing mind blowing, but still good tasting
next time, i’ll probably just order the char siu.

Ambiance: small and convenient restaurant divided into dine-​in area and to-​go zone.
Service: friendly and fast
Food: in general ok
Congee with salted pork — *** average taste
Chinese donut — **** warm and crispy, recommend
BBQ pork with noodles in soup — *** average taste
Soy sauce chicken on rice bowl — ** so so
Price: very cheap, less than $ 10 each person

This was a good place to just grab and go for roast duck! I love the fresh taste of duck! Seeing them hang in the window makes it look fresh and smells good! Thank u for quick service with a welcoming and friendly smile!

This is the smallest Sam Woo I’ve ever been to… however never judge by appearance especially with Chinese Food. This review is for the take out side only.
Cha siu and soy sauce chicken to go! I’ve been to at least 4 Sam Woo BBQ and they all have the tastiest cha siu. Great party food, just tell them to chop it up and viola, appetizers for a crowd.
The soy sauce chicken was a treat. I usually get the steamed chicken but this was a nice change.
Only issue is the parking is limited and tight!

Sam Woo is great for to go orders. It is affordable worth good food.
I think it is one of the best places to order charsiu (Chinese bbq pork), and sausage.
We’ve tried fried rice, chow mein, chow fun, steamed chicken, duck, shrimp, and beef dishes here, and nothing has disappointed us, yet. Portions are large, and the prices are right.
The lobster is tasty, too, at around $ 12 for a large to go box.

Vibe/​Layout
They divide this place up in half. One side is a dine in café, the other half is for pick up and to go orders. Once you walk into the entrance, All the sad but yummy roast duck is hanging on display.
The vibe i got in here, i felt it was a hole in the wall kind of place. As well i felt the food was presented in a old school style, and the food they serve is very authentic. Also they do have a fried oil or grease kind of odor in here, it made me think they serve stinky tofu and i straight up asked if they did, but nope sadly.
We went inside just to get some of the nasty bits for togo; to snack in the car on the way back home. We did get the duck livers, pig intestines, and soy sauce eggs.
i do want to come back and try the dine in experience. I want to try their porridge and rice plate with an entrée next time i come back. i do get the vibe they serve up some bomb porridge and rice plates. rice plates such as soy sauce chicken rice plate. or roast duck rice plate.
I do recommend you to come here and try some more traditional style asian Chinese food. Lot of the items are marinated in a old style bold soy sauce flavor, where not very many places serve it this way. Bold meaning its DARK! Here is a list below of what they serve.
Food
Togo orders are charged by per pound
— soy sauce eggs — i recommend this and it was delicious!
–duck liver — if your feeling duck nasty bits then its a must try!
–soy sauce chicken wings — These look so tempting but didn’t get it, but looks good with rice!
–pig intestines — i got the orange color ones and it was just crisp and chewy!
–soy sauce chicken
–Roast duck
–Steamed yellow chicken
–Fried tofu
–Fried fish skin — veryyyy crispy and lightly salted! its rare to see it in LA and they do sell it!

I use to love coming here two or three times a week. We ordered the late night specials and it is at no value getting a smaller portion when for a couple dollars more you would get more. Don’t let that fool you. Maybe they wanted to go home we got there after a concert and it was like 12:00 am. They close at 1:00 am.
Very disappointed and the noodles and dishes are not as good or is it because j went late at night.. I am sure they have good duck roast pork the stuff they are known for. We orders the specials and it was 6 things for 46.00 hmmm I think we got ripped off it was 4.95 dishes and a couple of 6.00 and one 8.00
Wow…
I have to write this so I remember that we won’t come here

Been coming here for years! I grew up eating at this restaurant every weekend because it’s my dad’s favorite place and it still is to this day! There’s always two dishes he always orders– wonton noodle soup and salty fish fried rice. I either order the barbecue pork noodle soup, salted chicken with rice, or beef chow fun. Everything comes out in a timely manner and the food comes out really hot so I know they cooked it well!
The restaurant is divided in half. You can get takeout to bring home or sit down and order and eat there.

I enjoyed lunch here today, it was almost as good as mom’s home cooking. The use of fresh, crisp vegetables, with just the right amount of spices and seasoning mad the meal enjoyable. The customer service was very good. They were very accommodating to our request to add more black beans and garlic to the bitter melon, and add more fermented bean cake to the Chinese greens. My favorite dish was the fried intestines. Next time I’ll ask for a side of jalapeños to accompany the dish. All the food was flavorful, not too salty, and not overcooked.
The ambiance is OK, typical small Chinese restaurant. This is a cash only establishment. They have parking on the side and street.

Sam Woo is definitely a staple in the SGV. You can’t go wrong with their roast duck, soy sauce chicken, soy sauce eggs, and really anything else from their BBQ menu. I also come here frequently when I’m craving traditional chow fun, tofu and BBQ pork with gravy over rice, or even wonton soup for the sickly days.
Tips:
You can call in to-​go orders. Keep in mind that they only have one line, so the line will likely be busy when calling during peak hours. If you’re ordering from the butchers, you need to be a little aggressive to get attention!
Cashiers speak English!
Cash-​only.

I had heard a rumor, «go to the Sam Woo on Valley, it’s much better». This rumor was also heard by my mom from a few people she knew. We love going to Sam Woo, because since I was very young, one of my favorite foods… I loved their Shrimp and Scrambled Eggs over Rice. It’s comfort food for me, and it’s inexpensive — but there is MSG… just fyi. And I’ve always loved their duck and roasted pig. Since I was YOUNG, like five years old.
However, this «rumored to be better» Sam Woo is further from my house and in an area where I generally like avoiding — I don’t do well with Asian parking lots. They paint the lines too skinny for the stall and I get freaked out about parking — it’s in my head, since normally, I’m an a pretty good and experienced driver/​motorcycle rider/​parallel parker… I feel it’s bad design and I’m sure I’m not the only one who has trouble fitting their car into a stall and being able to open the door and physically get out (I have a two door car). But finally, we did, and both my mom and I love take out menus (hey, it’s helps with remember details for Unilocal reviews… That’s how I justify the double wasting of paper. Sorry, trees…
After so many disappointments from the Sam Woo closer to me, I decided, «let’s check out the one on Valley». OMG — the food was WAY better (reminding me of how Sam Woo used to be) but literally, the menu was different by a little, and the prices of the same food was different. How is this possible, aren’t chains regulated?
Ever since we’ve come to this Sam Woo, we have never gone back to the one that is closer to my house. It’s worth the drive. I’m sure whatever it cost me in gas, I’ll save that much on the food (like 50 cents a dish). My mom has told me that the old Sam Woo we went to raised it’s prices again — CRAZY!

Tips:
1) come in 530 pm lots of space. 6pm totally full.
2) Duck ($ 11.50 half) good as always, beef brisket very good ($ 4.95), portion huge with the low price
3) vegetable tasty, we ordered 胜瓜（丝瓜）
4）serve food 5 min after ordering
5) CASH only bring around 15 per person

Sam Woo Barbeque is a restaurant chain that serves Hong Kong-​style cuisine. There are locations in SoCal, Las Vegas, and in Toronto. «Sam Woo» is a romanization of the Cantonese pronunciation for «triple harmonies,» in reference to feng shui principles, including the synthesis of heaven, earth, and humanity.
The menu includes roast duck, soy sauce chicken, BBQ pork, suckling pig, roast pig, congee, yang chow fried rice, chow fun, wonton noodle soup, rice dishes, noodle dishes, meat dishes, and seafood.
The restaurant at this location is divided into two sections, a take-​out area and the dining area. The dining area is a bit small and the take-​out area is a bit crammed too. The dining area looks a bit worn as there are some tables that are wobbly.
On the first visit, I ordered roast duck over rice. The duck was super tender and flavorful with the rice being soft. I liked dipping the duck into the plum sauce on the side. Overall, it was fantastic and I devoured everything. We also ordered a lot of items for take-​out that night including hainan chicken, honey walnut shrimp, and more roast duck. Everything came out great.
On the second visit, I ordered the same thing. However, the duck was completely inedible. It was difficult to chew as if the duck was still alive all tensing up for dear life and didn’t want me to eat it. It was terrible.
For both visits, the food came out pretty quick. The service for both visits were okay. But not anything to rave for. It was difficult to get descriptions for some of the dishes we weren’t sure of.
There’s not many parking spots for the restaurant. So fair warning.
Overall, the first visit was great but the second visit was terrible. For the second visit, I must have just gone on a bad day. It wasn’t like both of the visits were terrible so I’ll give it another chance but it won’t be too soon.

And my 400^th review is… Sam Woo! I have started coming here many moons ago. So many moons that it dates back to my high school days.
Not the most glamorous place to go, but this dive serves the best soy sauce chicken, roasted pork, barbecue pork, and their infamous roasted duck.
Compared to other Sam Woo restaurants, this one by far serves the tastiest food I’ve just mentioned. Their dishes here seems a bit more authentic and possibly is least expensive, and more abundant. Hopefully it’s not all psychological.
Other dishes I enjoy here aside from their barbecue and roasted stuff is their rice noodles with brisket in soup. The chow funs, and their chow meins are delicious. It’s probably the most authentic as it can be as it’s truly served with the «wok» flavor, meaning the wok is very hot and is able to cook quickly without burning away the flavor.
This place went down the drain once a few years back. Nothing was good, and everything was greasy and bland. The chef could have put this place out of business since the food was so bad.
I stopped coming for quite awhile hoping they’ll clean up their act. They had to serve better quality food, and clean up the place because it also seemed unsanitary. I remembered the greasy floors, flooded restrooms, dirty dishes that wasn’t properly cleaned, and seeing a fly buzzing around the roasted ducks and pork. It gross.
Anyhow, they really come a long way by cleaning up their act and performed some remodeling. Thank goodness the to go area seemed cleaner without flies flying around, no more wet restrooms, and cleaner floors along with their dishes.
The food is up to par even though it’s still a bit greasy… since it comes with the territory in Chinese food. You basically cannot go wrong coming here.
The food is not that expensive, and you may order an individual plate with rice or noodles, or you could go family style! The menu is large, and there are many choices.
The service is good when it’s not busy. But in most cases it’s decent since the dining area is small. Don’t be surprised if the waiter grunts at you or whomever else. That’s just how they are. No harm, no foul. They’re all pretty cool… especially the older gentleman who works in the; evenings. My parents has known him for many years.
Yes, it’s still a hole in the wall. But this place is good. Don’t expect ambiance, nor expect this place to be romantic either. LOL
I would give it four stars. Food is good, but it’s just not appealing. So a strong three stars.