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SGV Adventures – Ruby BBQ

Oct21

Restaurant: Ruby BBQ Food

Location: 9561 Garvey Ave Ste 1&2, South El Monte, CA 91733. (626) 279-6854

Date: September 20, 2019

Cuisine: Southern Chinese

Rating: Tasty, if a little “downscale”

_

Lately, because Yarom and I are diehard Chinese Food fanatics and it’s hard to find others willing to drive all the way to the SGV during the week for lunch, the two of us — with occasional extras — have been sampling some of the more casual eateries on our list of new places to try.
7U1A7234-Pano
Enter Ruby BBQ Food — yes they actually include the word food in their name — just in case BBQ wasn’t clear enough. This is a very casual Southern Chinese place in a more Vietnamese section of the SGV.
7U1A7237-Pano
It’s real casual, with a takeout counter and menu on the wall.
IMG_2400
But it was crowded. We had to wait 15-20 minutes for a table.
7U1A7239
They have roast ducks and the like to go too.
7U1A7243
Now just to give you a bit of the flavor of the place, and these downscale SGV joints, ignoring Yarom’s protests I include this photo. This particular lady was at the counter ordering/waiting right in the middle of the lobby. This did not, however, stop her from clipping her nails and leaving them on the floor of the restaurant. Very local crowd. Still, bear in mind, I ate here right after and I’d happy eat here again. They actually have an “A” too.
7U1A7240
7U1A7241

The menu.
7U1A7246
Free vegetable soup. Kinda boring.

Besides the soup, Yarom and I ordered 10 dishes for just the two of us — that’s just how we roll.
7U1A7248
Eggplant Szechuan Style. Delicious. Soft eggplant dripping in tasty garlic sauce. Not particularly spicy.
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Dry sautéed string beans. Also good. Nice crunchy beans.
7U1A7261
Ruby BBQ Rib. Cold with great piggy flavor.
7U1A7265
Golden pork. This and the next dish were pretty similar, both not too different than a panda express type dish. This one had less bone, I think, but the sauce was sweeter and a bit more overwhelming.
7U1A7267
Pork chop. This one was more chew it off the bone and was very slightly better. But both were good.
7U1A7275
Bamboo duck. Unusual heavy brown gravy with those rolled bean curds. The duck meat itself was dark and boney but the overall flavor was excellent.
7U1A7281
Egg with shrimp. Surprisingly delicious shrimp omelet.
7U1A7283
The owner of the restaurant just could not believe that we ordered so much so she gave us the last few dishes “to go.” She insisted. We opened them and ate them at our table anyway.
7U1A7288
Ruby steamed chicken. My least favorite dish. Basically Hainan chicken. Fine for what it was, but it’s steamed chicken.
7U1A7289
With a bit of garlic sauce.
7U1A7293
Mapo tofu. Not spicy, but nice texture.
7U1A7302
BBQ Duck. Quite good, particularly juicy and delicious dunked in the sauce below.
7U1A7304
The duck sauce.
7U1A7305
Apparently everything comes from “dept 01” but as you can see, it’s not an expensive department. Even the signature meaty BBQ dishes like the duck were barely $11!
7U1A7307
Yarom with the owner and his leftovers.

Overall, while the atmosphere is “amusing” the food (particularly for the money) is pretty tasty. This is like working class real Cantonese/Chiuchow and while the Chinese equivalent of a greasy spoon, like many American greasy spoons, it’s also delicious. Service was gracious.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

For more LA Chinese dining reviews click here.

IMG_2399
Now just to continue to paint the complete picture of this colorful little corner of Los Angeles — and part of what I think makes our great city great — I did photo the classic “old school Monterey Park bathroom.” It’s quite a looker. Again, not bashing Ruby BBQ. I like it and find it’s “unrefined” quality genuinely charming. Just painting the full unvarnished picture.
IMG_2398

Related posts:

  1. Adventures in Street Food
  2. Best Geoduck Ever
  3. Chicken Crawl – Red Chicken
  4. Adventures in the Screen Trade
  5. Yunnan Night
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: BBQ Pork, Cantonese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, lunch, Lunch Quest, Ruby BBQ, SGV, Yarom
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