Monterey Palace BBQ Fast Food

Their Chicken is yum. Like their Honey Sausage. Bf likes their pork ribs. Don’t recall if I ever tried their roasted duck. Chicken is about $ 9-​ish for half of a chicken. A piece (or rather a row) of pork ribs is close to $ 10 (depending on the weight).
Parking is kinda bad. You can enter one way from Valley Blvd. Only a few spots, but there are like two or three more behind the restaurant (close to/​where the recycling center is at). There is an alley way to enter/​exit from there. It’s next to the Arco gas station and you would come out (or enter) from Del Mar. If you go around (by the wall), there’s another alley that loops around the jeweler place — another exit/​entry, also to/​from Del Mar.
A good alternative when the lines are too long at Sam Woo. BTW, they only take cash.

I drove by here every time after shopping at 99 market. Today I finally decided to stop by, which was a big mistake. There was no people there when I walked in, I should’ve left when that happens. Anyway, BBQ park (cha shu) is dry and blend. Roast duck is below average. I will never come back. $ 20 down the toilet. Oh well, you never know until you try it.

It’s a to-​go food store. I was only there for 3 minutes and wish I never had stepped in. The service was absolutely horrible. I am not interested to be treated like-​wise again.

Really hard to get in, limited parking (I think there were 3 or 4 parking spots). Their water chicken was pretty good though, but I think Sam Woo is better.

Limited parking here and no seating. The selection of food items is not great here but it does taste good. Two items for $ 4.99 and it includes chow mein or chow fan. Would be back if in the area for a quick meal!

Roast duck.
I only found out about this place by chance, and have had their BBQ a few times, but never visited the store. Decided to stop in to get some roast duck for the family since I was in the area.
Since I went around 4pm, the place was fairly empty. Huge roasted pork hangs at the front behind the glass, with a few roasted poultry as well. What I like about this place is that it is not pre-​chopped and sitting in it’s own pool of oil. The man before me ordered the whole pig’s head and the cook literally just chopped off the head and started hacking away for all the edible parts. It was quite primal watching it, yet looks like a piece of art with the way the cook was chopping the head up.
Compared to the pig’s head, my order of half of a roast duck seemed weak, but still, the cook skillfully chopped up half of the duck and placed it in a styrofoam. For the half duck, it was a little under $ 10. It is more expensive than other spots, such as Sam Woo or even inside the 99 Ranch Market at the Focus Plaza, but I do like the flavor here. Some finds it a bit salty, but I like it that way since too often I get roasted duck that is somewhat bland and you need sauce to go with it. The duck was also very juicy, which is a plus since duck is leaner.
There’s also other items that sits under heat lamps and steam warmer, such as wings, feet, and other awesome parts that Asians love. A lady after me was trying to haggle for the chicken feet. Don’t know if she succeeded since I don’t really know how to speak Cantonese, but it was awesome to watch them go back & forth!
On the other side of the chopping and food area, there is a fresh poultry market. Want some chicken that’s as dark as the night? They have it here. Hens and ducks? Yup! How about some quail? Yes. Don’t know how «fresh» it is but the area looks clean and nicely organized.
Now… service. Don’t expect much. Not sure if the lady ringing me up was having a bad day or what but man she looked pissed, but honestly, sorta expected from a spot like this, so no big deal. Cash only!
Parking is horrendous. There is a lot, but it’s quite laughable for how small it is. Hope you are lucky or just park somewhere else to save the headache.

Poor parking area, this place used to be a night club. Roasted pork is dry and no taste, not sure if it was from left over. They cannot compete with Sam Woo in Focus Plaza (San Gabriel).

Relatively new place but a wonder why they opened it in such an awkward spot.
The parking is simply horrible. I recommend just parking over at 99 ranch parking lot and walking over.
The roast park is hit or miss. When it is a hit, it’s the crispiest skin I’ve ever tasted. Today unfortunately was a miss…=(

3 stars. This is a new (⁷⁄₂₀₁₁) take-​out restaurant and poultry market. May seem like strange bedfellows, but everything is possible these days. This review is for the restaurant side, although I do want to point out that upkeep appears clean and tidy, and I didn’t find any reason to be concerned about poultry and takeout being under the same roof. All the poultry was kept in refrigerated cases or in plastic bags in refrigeration.
To the point, the takeout restaurant offers both traditional Cantonese/​Hong Kong-​style BBQ goodies: char siu, roast pig, roast duck, tea-​flavored chicken, sausages, etc. for sale by weight, as is customary. No surprises there. They also sell some hot foods, consider them small entrees, if you will. A small box costs about $ 1.95. A small box of soft chow mien runs $ 1. The quality is ok, you get what you pay for, but it’s very convenient and fast. My order of roast pig was flavorful, but on the dry side. The skin was a bit hard, not crunchy. Char siu was just fine, a bit on the salty side. The hot food items were average. Again, the emphasis is on practicality.
Service was fast and courteous. I believe this is a cash only establishment. It appears there is a large rotisserie grill but it was empty. There is no seating space, it’s all for pickup and go. There is a soft drinks refrigerated case with water, juices, soda, and other soft drinks.
PROS:
+ New establishment (⁷⁄₂₀₁₁).
+ Variety of Chinese BBQ and some hot food items.
+ Fast, convenient, and budget-​oriented (particularly the hot foods).
CONS:
— Roast pig in my purchase was a bit dry.
— Char siu in my purchase was over seasoned (salt), for my taste.
— Sharing the same roof with a poultry department may be a turnoff to some.
VERDICT: One more option in the SGV for BBQ. From my experience, the hot foods need to maintain a standard of fresh ingredients so that folks will continue to be back. «A-​OK».