Update 1:
Hearing about a few more possible quality Hong Kong BBQ restaurants, we decided to do another HK BBQ Journey to see how they might compare…
Sam’s BBQ Restaurant
Some friends of our friends from Hong Kong had mentioned that Sam’s BBQ Restaurant (not to be confused with Sam Woo BBQ) on Garvey Avenue was actually a Cantonese Roast Duck specialist. This was exciting news if true, and we couldn’t wait to convince enough of our friends to join us heading east to the SGV for another journey. 
Walking into the place, there is 1 other table eating. The place looks old-school SGV from another era. (Perhaps @chandavkl knows how old they are?)
Roast Duck (1/2):
We arrived before Lunch, so we were hoping that meant fresher Roast Duck (not hanging as long). It had a nice color. Taking a bite… softish, flabby Duck skin. 
No crispness (but to be fair every single L.A. HK BBQ restaurant we’ve been to has been that way except one). The Duck meat itself had a decent savoriness that permeated down to the bone.
It was passable, but nothing noteworthy.
Soy Sauce Chicken (1/2):
Sam’s BBQ only has 1 choice of Chicken for their Soy Sauce Chicken (unlike Ming Kee), and this looked nice, tasted fresh, but the Soy Sauce seasoning was surface level only. The majority of the Chicken meat tasted barely seasoned (the Soy Sauce didn’t seep down into the Chicken).
We wanted to give them another try…
2nd Visit:
Two Delicacies Combination Platter - Charsiu BBQ Pork + Roast Duck:
The Charsiu BBQ Pork had the typical shocking neon red color that most Cantonese BBQ Pork has. It tasted slightly worse than Sam Woo BBQ (on Del Mar, at the giant Focus Plaza / 99 Ranch Market Plaza). Dryish, slightly chewy, but with that sweet-salty flavor you’ve come to expect from Charsiu.
The Roast Duck on this 2nd visit was about the same as before: Tasting fresh, but the Duck skin was soft, no crispness and the savory Duck meat was fine, but not amazing.
This is a place that turned out to be slightly worse than Sam Woo BBQ in Focus Plaza. Given that, it’s hard to see ourselves stopping back over here unless we happened to be living in the neighborhood.
(Cash Only)
Sam’s BBQ Restaurant
9624 Garvey Ave.
South El Monte, CA 91733
Tel: (626) 442-7389
Rice Box
Located inside the Spring Arcade Building in Downtown L.A. is a “chef-ified” Hong Kong BBQ specialist that Eater did a big article on last year. Opened by a husband-and-wife duo of Leo and Lydia Lee, Chef Leo was born in Mexicali, Mexico and went to the Culinary Institute of America. It seems they wanted to apply high quality ingredients to traditional HK Cantonese BBQ and try and elevate it. Which sounds too familiar to those of us FTC’ers who have heard a similar pitch before. But sometimes it works.
Walking into Rice Box, it feels like a tiny shoe box of an establishment, with just 1 long cramped counter, and a few small tables outside.
The wall has a bunch of red plaques with Chinese writing for the dishes.
The Bao Box - One of each of their Handmade Bao (Steamed Buns) Flavors:
OG Char Siu Bao (Slow Cooked Duroc BBQ Pork and Onion):
This tasted like a competently made typical sweet-salty Char Siu Pork filling. Could you taste the difference of using Duroc Pork? No.
Shrooming Bao (Wild Mushroom Mix, Vermicelli Noodles, Onion, Rice Box Vegan BBQ Sauce):
With a beautiful black ink brush stroke on top, the Shrooming Bao was actually the best Steamed Bun (Bao) at Rice Box: There were real umami flavors coming through with the Wild Mushroom Mix, but the Vegan BBQ Sauce sort of made it taste similar to the Char Siu Bao, but it still had enough of a zesty, umami, savory angle to make it stand out.
The actual Steamed Bun itself was a bit too crumbly for our preference. Everyone in our group agreed that it was fine, but it didn’t really sing with the Bao texture.
Cheesy Char Siu Bao (OG Char Siu Bao with Monterey Jack Cheese):
There’s a reason you don’t see legit Chinese places pour on oozing Cheese onto most of their dishes. This was no bueno. 
Queso has its place. With Hong Kong BBQ? Nope. 
Build Your Own Box - 3 Items - Char Siu, Porchetta, Chicken:
This was Rice Box’s take on a traditional 3 Item Combo at HK BBQ places, this was an easy way to try all 3 of their BBQ specialties in 1 order.
Black Soy Chicken (Mary’s Organic Chicken Poached in Black Soy Sauce with Ginger Scallion Sauce):
Sadly, this turned out just like most average Soy Sauce Chicken around L.A.: The Soy Sauce didn’t permeate into the meat, so it’s just surface level. So, at this point, could you really taste the difference with Mary’s Organic Chicken and “Black Soy Sauce” (as opposed to… Not Black Soy Sauce? 
)? Nope.
Chef-ified ingredients don’t mean squat if you can’t execute properly.
Porchetta Crackling (Seven Spice Duroc Pork Belly, Triple Roasted):
Perhaps the most intriguing offering, we had read ahead of time how Chef Leo tried to replicate traditional Hong Kong Roasted Pork, but was unable to. He then went the route of making Porchetta, and the end result is nothing like legit Hong Kong Cantonese Roast Pork Belly. 
First, the “crackling” they claim to have is more like hard to chew, get-stuck-in-your-teeth, sort-of crackling Pig Skin. The flavor and taste are completely off. This is basically just his version of a typical European Porchetta preparation, and a far cry from legit, real HK Roast Pork Belly. Again, does it matter that he’s using Duroc Pork and that it’s Triple Roasted? Nope.
OG Char Siu (Slow Cooked BBQ Duroc Pork Roasted and Honey Glazed):
In perhaps the most egregious offering, their OG Char Siu (they do not deserve the “OG” moniker), is dried out, chewy, salty, sort of sweet BBQ Pork that is worse than Sam Woo BBQ’s Char Siu (everyone on this journey went to Sam Woo BBQ and all of the places on our previous HK BBQ Journey (above) - no one in our group thought this was better).
It was so bad and mediocre, we really didn’t want to return. But somehow, for the sake of FTC, we headed back…
2nd Visit:
Shrooming Bao (Wild Mushroom Mix, Vermicelli Noodles, Onion, Rice Box Vegan BBQ Sauce):
The Steamed Bun texture got worse this 2nd time around. You can see how crumbly it’s getting in the pictures. The center filling still has that appealing umami Mushroom mixture so that was still a plus.
OG Char Siu Bao (Slow Cooked Duroc BBQ Pork and Onion):
About the same as before: Sweet-savory, safe tasting. There was nothing that made it stand out, and we still couldn’t taste the difference with the Duroc Pork they list on the menu.
Build Your Own Box - 3 Items - Char Siu, Porchetta, Chicken:
OG Char Siu (Slow Cooked BBQ Duroc Pork Roasted and Honey Glazed):
One look at the picture above and you can tell how this turned out. Even worse than the 1st visit, dried out, chewy Roasted Pork that is probably the worst “HK” BBQ Char Siu we’ve had since I can remember (that’s how awful it was)! 
We were lucky @beefnoguy @JeetKuneBao @Sgee @Ns1 weren’t in the house, or else they might’ve flipped the table in disgust, LOL. 
Black Soy Chicken (Mary’s Organic Chicken Poached in Black Soy Sauce with Ginger Scallion Sauce):
The Soy Sauce Chicken was actually moist. Sadly, it had no Soy Sauce flavor in the meat itself.
Porchetta Crackling (Seven Spice Duroc Pork Belly, Triple Roasted):
Besides the laughably tiny amount of Porchetta they give you in this combination (that’s a zoomed in picture above), it is the same as before: There’s some semblance of a type of barely-there crunchiness, but a far cry from real Hong Kong Roast Pork Belly, let alone Suckling Pig, etc.
Their Vegetables are old and chewy and completely flavorless. I’m grateful they want to get healthier with a mixture of Red Quinoa in the Steamed Rice, but it’s loose and more like a Rice Pilaf than usual Chinese Steamed Rice.
This is a quick-serve, order at the counter type of place. But at $15.50 (+ tax & tip) for a tiny 3 Item Combo box, it’s also terrible QPR for what you get.
Rice Box is a prime example of where quality ingredients don’t matter if you can’t execute. They tout repeatedly throughout the menu their fancy ingredients - Duroc Pork, Organic Ingredients, Mary’s Organic Chicken, Triple Roasted, Homemade, No MSG, etc. - but all of that is for naught when you’re putting out some of the worst Hong Kong BBQ Char Siu in L.A., when your Organic Soy Sauce Chicken doesn’t taste like anything but the Ginger & Scallion topping, when your version of HK Roast Pork Belly is laughably short of even the mediocre L.A. HK BBQ places (everyone in the group voted Rice Box at the bottom), and it’s the most expensive prices for HK BBQ out of all the places we visited in L.A.
There’s a reason we haven’t heard @ipsedixit talk about this place. Why @JLee who’s shown to pursue championing traditional OG culinary techniques has also found this place lacking. We won’t be back.
Rice Box
541 S. Spring St. #131
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Tel: (213) 988-7395
Monterey Palace Restaurant (Revisit)
We wanted to get a sanity check on our HK BBQ Journey, so we headed off to Monterey Palace to compare.
Chrysanthemum + Pu’er Tea:
Monterey Palace is probably one of the few Dim Sum places left in L.A. that actually serves legit HK Roast Pork Belly because the BBQ Takeout counter attached to the restaurant specializes in Roast Pork (and their Suckling Pig is one of the Best Bites we had last year!).
Crispy Pork Belly:
Taking a bite… SO GOOD! 
A real, legit crunchy, Roast Pork skin, juicy, moist Pork meat beneath. Easily the best Roast Pork Belly for Dim Sum locally! 
(and it puts to shame what we had at Rice Box).
Har Gow - Steamed Shrimp Dumpling:
Passable version. We ordered some Dim Sum since some of our friends wanted to take a break from the non-stop HK BBQ we were consuming. 
Shiu Mai with Roe:
No one is going to mistake Monterey Palace’s Dim Sum for upper echelon, but again, it was OK, and it scratched that itch for some of our friends who wanted to try some Dim Sum.
Roasted Duck:
This is a quality Hong Kong Roast Duck by local standards. The Duck skin has almost a hint of some crispness, but it’s still soft, but it’s one of the better executed Cantonese Roast Duck in the area, juicy, flavorful, just lacking the skin.
Crispy Skin Roast Chicken:
There was a real crispy Fried Chicken skin on this Chicken. The Chicken Breast portion was a bit overcooked, but in general a solid rendition.
Monterey Palace
1001 Garvey Ave.
Monterey Park, CA 91755
Tel: (626) 571-0888
Ruby BBQ (Revisit)
Macau Special Pork:
The first bite is crispy-crunchy Roasted Pork skin, then you get striations of lean and fatty Pork and I remember immediately why Ruby BBQ is our favorite regular HK Roast Pork Belly in L.A.
Excellent!
Bitter Melon Pork Ribs:
Some good Wok Hei (Breath of the Wok) as the natural bitterness in the Bitter Melon is tamed, but still complements the meaty, savory Pork Riblets and Black Bean Sauce.
BBQ Duck:
With a beautiful color, Ruby BBQ’s Roast Duck (listed as “BBQ Duck” in English) has almost a hint of crispness in the Duck skin. It is probably the best of the local places for Hong Kong Roast Duck, juicy, with great balance of flavor, and just missing the great skin that would make it phenomenal. But very good otherwise.
Ruby BBQ continues to deliver excellent HK BBQ-style Roast Pork Belly and their Roast Duck is probably our favorite version in L.A. as well. The crunchy Pork skin, fresh, lean and fatty Pork within just adds to the appeal. Monterey Palace isn’t too far behind for an everyday Roast Pork Belly as well.
When I think about the amount of “hot coverage” a new hamster place like Rice Box has gotten, and then think about the zero coverage that Ruby BBQ or the even more phenomenal Ming Kee BBQ has received, it just highlights how easy it is to buy hype and marketing; to get the masses to buy into nearly anything. That’s why I’m glad we have our veteran FTC’ers who can drop knowledge and highlight the real culinary finds. That luscious BBQ Pork Neck Charsiu, great Soy Sauce Chicken and actual crisped skin Roast Duck at Ming Kee BBQ… thank you @beefnoguy @JeetKuneBao. Legendary.
(Cash Only)
Ruby BBQ
9561 Garvey Ave., Suite 1
South El Monte, CA 91733
Tel: (626) 279-6854