Sam Woo Barbecue

Easy to find if you know wheres it at. Go to this malls center. Thats by the electric stairs taking you to the 2^nd floor. Sam Woo just shoot Inwards a few stores at the 1^st Floor. Parking is beyond a Mad House at this mall. And weekends its probably doubly Mad searching for a place to park. Unless you Lucky… its like 2 – 3 cars waiting for each newly opened spot at that immediate location.
Sam Woo Deli have excellent whole chicken with done right Very tasty green onion ginger sauce cuplets given.
The Roast Big we saw hanging… just brought out… must have been the oldest living BIGGEST Pig that ever walked this Earth. Its skin looked truthfully frightening… Thick. Tough. Old. Ugly. Fortunately we brought a much much younger Roast Pig from a Deli in LA Chinatown few hours earlier. See accompanying picture at store posted Deli menu prices.
Having been to Sam Woo’s in LA Chinatown, San Diego… we were looking for a SW for a late lunch. Theres apparrently 3 SW’s in the area. One had the «Old Chinese Lady’s» recommendations. «Its much better» think its near 600 Valley. This one at 140 Valley, Unilocal’Rs posted its REALLY UP or Down. But a receint Elite Unilocal’R posted he had an Up experience. So here we are.
I walked thru SW restuarant couple times scanning dinner foods on many tables. Really, everything just did’nt look inviting. Looked bland, looked colorless. We did’nt risk eating there. And there were no one but no one waiting to be seated. In its quite small restuarant. Puctures on Unilocal great Foodie’s stuff, on that day, was nowheres to be found on the tables. This certainly must be this SW’s Down Day. So Im inclined to go with the «Old Chinese Lady’s» assessments to Eat at the Other SW.
Going with 3.5 Unilocal stars. 5 stars for chicken. 2 stars for the Crazy Old Age Roast Pig that was so Huge… it barely fits in the Deli Show Case. Can’t IMAGINE anyone SUFFERING the long wait for a parking space to buy such Pig. Or eating in on this restuarant’s Down days.

This has happened to us twice already! Each time we get home and opened the box of roast duck we found out there was hardly any meat in it but bones! And it’s both times chopped by the same short and skinny old guy with orange hair! I noticed today after he took my order he asked there was anything else I needed and then rudely told me to step away from the counter and take a seat. I felt somewhat bizarre at the time why he told me to do so, and now I figured out why – so I wouldn’t see him «slipped» some pieces, especially the meaty ones, away without me catching him. I’ve thought of calling the store to complain, but knowing Chinese delis wouldn’t do shit I rather give my fellow Unilocalers a heads up here. Especially when I don’t know if it’s a wide practiced act or maybe that «trendy hair-​colored» OG WAS the boss. Lesson learned: rather I change my duck purchasing spot or not, must keep a close watch at those dudes prepping my meat This ain’t no Mickie Dee’s of KFC where u can just make a call and come back with a receipt and you’ll get your dissatisfied order refilled for free!

I’m not picky when it comes to Chinese food. I don’t expect great service so I chuckle a little when I read other Unilocal reviewers rage about horrible service. GUYS it’s SGV! You are bound to find a piece of hair in your food or a rat’s leg in your food sooner or later (totally kidding). But I like Sam Woo! We get decent service here and the food is great!
We enjoy the Fried rice, Kung Pao Chicken, Braised Green Beans, & Honey Walnut Shrimp. Prices are decent but they could be a bit cheaper for Sam Woo. Parking can be a beezy though during the weekends and its CASH ONLY!

If you want service, politeness, or presentation, you’ll be disappointed.
And for some reason this location has been maddeningly inconsistent over the years. Lately they’ve been excellent, a few years ago (as evidenced by the reviews then) they were so-​so.
But the past few visits, well, when you want authentic cheap Chinese food, they’re superb. The beef chow fun is legit, not too oily, and cooked to perfection. The BBQ pork (char shu) and the roast duck are delicious; the only real wrinkle was the pei dan sau yuk juk, which was a bit plain compared to the loaded, delicious creations at some of their competitors– but this is a BBQ place, so no one would really expect top of the line jook (congee) here.
It’s about as close as it gets to eating at the usual haunts we hit in Hong Kong. Short of getting on a plane to Hong Kong and 15 hours later sitting down at a slightly greasy tables with a dining room completely devoid of any ambiance… well, this is an excellent option.
They could regress and get worse (wouldn’t be the first time), but for now, they’re about as good as one could hope.

This place is Amazing! I’ve ordered items here for pick-​up in the past, but last night I dined here for the first time with my family. We waited about 20 minutes to be seated, which is relatively good considering how packed this place gets. We ordered multiple dishes: pork chop, tofu, lobster, noodles, fish. I can’t remember the name of the dishes because I was too busy eating them. This place is by far my favorite spot to eat Chinese food family style! I will definitely be back soon! The only issue here is with parking. Sam Woo BBQ is also located in the Focus Plaza, so parking can be a bit hectic.

Good, affordable Cantonese food.
Not a big fan of roast duck in general but this restaurant is always packed every time I come to this plaza. I finally gave it a try tonight and liked it a lot. The plates are big portioned and everything we ordered tasted quiet good. May give roast duck a try next time after seeing the long line of customers waiting to buy them.
Service is OK and price is more than reasonable. Will definitely come back again considering how often I visit this plaza.

If you do not speak chinese (cantonese) it’ll be kinda hard for you. Workers here do not speak english. I struggled with my broken cantonese. they are open late definitely a plus but they ONLY ACCEPT CASH. They do have an atm machine in the store, convenient. Its in the same plaza as tip top sandwiches. They are famous for their roasted poultry and other BBQ-​ed meats. My faves are the duck and soysauce chicken. its 1.25 for a side of rice. The butcher started my order before i was done ordering. I like that he was attentive but I was not done ordering and felt pressured because he had already cut it so i could not really change my order.

Food was ok but I did not like how they rushed outside while we already left demanding a tip. What the??? We even tipped already! Never coming again, they didn’t even bring us water when we asked for it

Okay I love sam woo but how necessary is this?!

Quite a good value here on their wonton noodle soup and BBQ products. We stopped in here for a quick lunch upon arrival in town. It’s a no frills, cash only place in a large, all-​Chinese strip mall and the whole surrounding area is the modern day Chinatown of LA. We had a large bowl of fresh tasting wonton noodle soup and a nice tri-​meat combo with rice (roast duck, roast chicken, and BBQ pork) plus a small serving of Chinese broccoli for $ 1.50, all for $ 16.25 pre tip. Overall, this place nicely met our quick meal needs.

How can something so Chinese be so average? I mean, every customer is Asian, every waiter, kitchen worker, and almost everyone walking by on the freekin’ sidewalk, but still our lunch today was just so so. Very little flavor. Both the pork and chicken looked boiled – bland color, no flavor.
I chose Sam Woo because my lunch guest needs safe, quiet food. (You call that a LIFE?!). She was satisfied. I was disappointed. The other Sam Woo in SGV is MUCH better.

CASH ONLY!!!
A quick stop from Palm Springs because my party was craving for noodles. We ended up ordering lotsa stuff AND their house special noodles but… Didn’t get the noodles! Our server put in 2 orders of something else we ordered (he forgot the noodles) but it was no big deal — the stuff we ordered was enough to quench whatever noodle craving we got. The squid could use a little work, but overall, our experience was great. Two thumbs up.

I used to come here all the time with my family 15 years ago as a kid. We’d always enjoyed an authentic Chinese meal here. Then according to my parents this place went downhill and we stopped coming.
Today, I was in the area and decided to place a take out order for honey walnut shrimp and pork belly with preserved vegetables.
When I got home, I opened up the box of shrimp and I literally let out an «Ewww.»
What the heck is that I just paid $ 11 for? The picture below speaks a thousand words.
If I didn’t have to fight traffic I would take this back because this is more like «over-​fried shrimp in week-​old oil.» This is the nastiest honey walnut shrimp I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s actually offensive.
The pork belly didn’t look that good either but at least it’s more acceptable.

Sam Woo quality is going downhill.
I used to go to Sam Woo all the time whenever I craved roast duck and roast pork. I stopped going years ago because the duck was very dry and not tasty.
I went back again recently and it was not a great experience. I took someone with me and he was disappointed too. His steamed chicken was still bloody :(
2 stars! I wish they would improve the quality of their food again because I miss the old Sam Woo.
Sam Woo Barbecue is not yummylicious!

We have been coming to this restaurant for years! It’s my parents go-​to place and now it has become mine too whenever I just want a quick and delicious meal! The food is always consistent and I’ve never been disappointed.
My favorite dishes include the wonton noodle soup, shrimp fried rice, fish in corn sauce, fish in sweet and sour sauce, fish in black bean sauce, garlic stir fried string beans, congee, rice with salted chocked, tofu and eggplant, and any of their bbq pork dishes (I ask for the leanest piece and they cut me the best parts!)
Price compared to portion size is fair!

The place was just as busy as ever. The service was decent. It was efficient and fast despite the place being packed. It’s not the cleanest. Especially the bathroom but that’s minor things.
I went with my family. This place is safe enough for old folks even though there were a lot of people. My grandma came along and didn’t face too much trouble getting to her seat with her walker.
Now on to the food. We ordered the duck noodle soup. That was pretty good. I mean it better be since that’s what this place is known for. The duck didn’t have too much fat. There was a decent amount of meat. The noodles were nice and bouncy. And the soup was a little too greasy for me but that’s just my preference. As for the fried noodles, that wasn’t that good. The noodles did have a nice crispiness that I enjoy, but the dish as a whole didn’t have much flavor. I wasn’t a fan of the fried noodles. This is why I gave this restaurant 4 stars instead of 5. But I can see myself coming here again. Good experience over all.

What do you get when you put good food, good portions, and good price? You get Sam Woo. This location has been around for over 20years and it’s just as great as I remember eating here as a child. It’s wonderful to see some of the familar waiters’ faces as well. Something I noticed is that portion. Each dish is pretty big and they are priced well too.
Onto the food:
:BBQ pork/​duck: This is a must have here. They are known for their BBQ, so order a combo dish up. Tender, juicy and amazing. The sauce that they give you, I would skip unless you like a bit of sweet flavorful to your meat. This is probably one of their smaller portions
:Sauteed pea leaves: Pretty standard is ok. Nothing too special, but still good. And again. Beware of the large portions.
:Sauteed cod fish fillet: Sooo yummy. I was suprised that it wasn’t that greasy considering fish fillets usually taste better with more oil. The crunchy peas and other vegatables are also cooked well.
:Walnut shrimp: Pretty good. I wouldn’t say amazing, but still really great and rich. This will make you full for sure. The crunchy batter and bouncy shrimp was a lovely combo. I’ve had some that has less batter, but at least this is crunchy, so it’s not bad. Just make sure you eat them piping hot or it could get soggy.
:XO duck chin: surprisingly tasty. A spicy delight and fun to eat. Wouldn’t recommend to take out. Reheating it ruins the texture.
:Stir fried beef and noodles: OMG. You could probably eat this as a meal of its own. Such big portions. The beef was so tender and flavorful. The noodles were a bit soft, but everything combined together was awesome. This can be reheated and it’ll taste just as good as when they delivered it to your table.
Don’t expect awesome service, but for a cheap Chinese restaurant, it’s not bad even during busy hours.
Note: it’s a cash only place. Parking in the plaza is pretty hard. So good luck on that.

Yuck is the only word I can describe this place. M y family decide to give this sam woo location a try. Parking is chaotic. They have a huge parking lot but it seems that it still hard to find parking. The service wasn’t that great. I had to ask many time before I got water. The food wasn’t that good.
Fried Rice
The fried rice tasted bland. I needed a lot of chili oil to make the food at least appealing.
Wonton soup-​The soup tasted like water there was no flavor. At least put some chicken powder to bring out the flavor.
Chow Fun beef
They didn’t put enough beef in the dish. There was just a few and yes this dish was bland too.
Chow mein crispy with beef.
I just tasted oil and the sauce was water down.
I don’t think I’ll be returning back to this place.

Another Sam Woo in da house! Well, actually this one has already been around for quite awhile. Probably for 20+ years when Focus Plaza was first built. I come to this particular Sam Woo’s the least because of the horrendous parking situation during the day, and especially on weekends. Get ready for a scratched up car there because people fight (indirectly) for parking since it can be really packed.
This location serves good food most of the time. It can also be a miss especially when the food is horribly bland, such as their Chow Mein which can also be a take out box of grease *cough*cough* with soggy noodles, or sweet and sour pork which can mostly consist of bones and batter, *cough*cough* again… enough said.
You will usually get good food when you order family style. I like their stir fried string beans, their beef tofu, and especially their BBQ and roasted meats menu. Yes, they are known for their BBQ ducks, BBQ pork, roasted pork, and: their soy sauced chickens. You cannot go wrong ordering any of these. They are delicious!
Other items I mentioned in their menu is also very good. Most of their dishes, depending what you order is also good and flavorful. I just can’t figure out why their noodles are so bad.
But again, they have their ups and downs including its service. Usually when they’re busy, don’t expect good service nor eye contact even when you flag them down. You’ll be ignored. On the hand, when it’s not busy, everything is fine.
I like this restaurant, but it’s the parking that stinks the most. I don’t want to waste my energy or time looking for parking. I would go elsewhere during the plaza’s peak hours.

Favorite go to place when I don’t want to eat upstairs at the other restaurants in the SGV plaza. Affordable prices for the dishes you order — either eating in or taking it to go.
Love their roast pork, bbq pork, roast ducks, yellow chicken and cuttlefish. Great place to get my bbq to go when I don’t want to cook.
Favorite in house meals:
Seafood chow mein with crispy noodles — loads of seafood do not disappoint.
Salt n pepper pork chops: Generous amounts of pork chops. Just shake off the msg before you eat, lol
I’m sure there’s more I can’t remember, but these two dishes are my favorite stand outs.