After having rather dismal luck with Bei Jing Kao Ya (北京烤鸭), aka Peking Duck at both Happy Duck House and Array 36, we decided to give it one more try. You know, three strikes and you're out? So, we decided to stay in Monterey Park at our usual place; the Courtyard by Marriott on Atlantic.
Things started out pretty good. When I checked in, I found that I had made some kind of elite status with Marriott and to "celebrate" they decided to upgrade us! Well, we got a huge suite. It was two bedrooms with a living room between the bedrooms.
The place had three bathrooms; of course the Missus had to check out each one to see which She liked best! It even had three mini-fridges!
Way more room than we could possibly use. With just the two of us, one bedroom went unused. But, our favorite part was the huge patio!
Yes, the view is of Atlantic…….
And the seats were dirty; but we liked just hanging out after dinner and we used the cover sheets on the sofas.
It was a nice way to start the evening. Would this be an omen????
Courtyard Los Angeles Monterey Park
555 N Atlantic Blvd.
Monterey Park, CA 91754
For dinner, I chose a place that I'd read good things about Ji Rong Peking Duck, located at the Rosemead end of Valley. I had the Missus call and make reservations for a table and a duck. You need to reserve the duck in advance.
We had made reservations for right when they opened. There are two parking lots straddling the building, which houses 888 Seafood and Shin-Sen-Gumi among other businesses. There was ample parking when we arrived, but the lots were pretty full when we left. The restaurant itself looks fairly plain, a far cry from the craziness of Array 36. The staff are very professional.
So, once we were seated, the staff knew we had reserved a Peking Duck which goes for $85. We also ordered the Soup which was an extra $15. Along with several other dishes.
The standard accoutrements were delivered. Along with some pretty darn good looking duck! After our last few tries we were ready for another "fowl" (sorry, couldn't help it), but this was really good.
It was quite interesting, the skin was separated; the one's that were fattier were on the upper and left hand side; these were crisp with a creamy finish. The skin on the right were more crisp. The leftover skin with fat heated up super well in the air fryer later! The meat was slightly gamey and earthy. All of this went so well with the perfectly made tender, but up to the task pancakes. Which also heated up well using my microwave tortilla warmer.
We saved the two legs for home and they crisped up perfectly. This was so delici-yoso once you create your little "roll-up". In fact, the Missus said this was better than what we'd had at Quan Ju De in Beijing!
The duck bone soup arrived soon after. This version was served without carcass parts, with just some napa cabbage and tofu. It was very "ducky" and had a perfect amount of salt and white pepper.
Nice a mildly rich, I might have enjoyed this just as much as the duck!
The Hot & Spicy Pig's Feet ($14.98) wasn't very spicy, but had a nice gelatinous texture and was so tender.
It was more on the sweeter side of things, but still had some nice soy tones. This was quite good.
We didn't care much for the Hot & Spicy Pig Stomach ($18.98), which was more spicy than the pig's feet, but really tough.
It was also a bit too salty. Overall, think of eating salty rubber-bands.
The Missus was curious about the Black Fungus with Chinese (Yamaimo) Yam ($15.98).
This was okay. The mountain yam was sliced too thick and there was a true lack of seasoning on this. The Missus actually prefers the version I make at home.
The last dish to arrive was another favorite; the House Spicy Oyster Mushroom ($15.98). This was so good, a great meaty texture, perfectly seasoned.
It was even better as leftovers; as the spice and other flavors intensified, but the great texture held.
Overall, I wonderful meal. We were so happy, that we can't wait to return. If you take a close look, you'll find that other than the duck, most of the other dishes are under $19!
Finally, it seems like we found a place for Bei Jing Kao Ya!
Ji Rong Peking Duck
8450 E Valley Blvd.
Rosemead, CA 91770
It seems that we got really lucky on this road trip; from getting the room upgrade, to having a wonderful meal at Ji Rong.
I hope our luck holds out when return!
I walked up to the counter, the place had just opened, but there seemed to be a couple of folks waiting for their orders already. The young man working was really nice, though he looked a bit overwhelmed. I took a look at the menu….even though the portions looked pretty large, I went and ordered the Mix Katsu Combo ($19.99), which included both pork and chicken katsu and curry. 
The katsu had not been fried evenly and there were some darkly colored spots, the texture of the panko was kind of mealy, at least the breading wasn't separating from the proteins, but it was easy to tell which was the pork and chicken. The pork was on the left; it was thicker, had a more spongy texture, but was fairly tender, if a bit on the dry side. The seasoning was one dimensional being quite salty. The chicken on the right side was thinner, dry, and chewy. It was also quite salty. I'd take the pork any day of the week.
I'm pretty sure the curry had been made with "cubes", it had a nice spice, but was barely lukewarm….and I was eating in the food court. It was quite gloppy and was also on the salty side. Dipping the katsu in this was just too much sodium for me.
Way back when 
Man, that plate looked kinda sparse? So, going down things, the bi was missing the roasted rice powder which would give it a wonderful nuttiness; the one slice of Tan Hu Ky was dry and flavorless. This would be the common theme of the meal, as the "cha" the pork -egg "cake" was dry and bland. The meats were dry and tough; you get the point, right?
Good lord, this was greasy, and rubbery, there were like three shrimp, it was terrible.
Good lord. The fish was supposedly mahi mahi, overfried, not seasoned, and dry as heck. The tortillas were like cardboard. The purple cabbage slaw was flavored with ginger and the other had mango "salsa" which really needed some spice. It was all accompanied by a pool of pasty black beans, which at least was seasoned adequately.
With not too much of anything, I could try the biscuits and gravy. The gravy wasn't too salty or greasy, the texture was on the lighter side of things, but it wasn't bad. The egg was perfectly easy over, the yolk having no off flavors. The breakfast potatoes nice and crisp on the exterior, the breakfast sausage routine. This was good enough to bring back memories of old school – diner breakfasts I'd had in my younger days.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that Marbled Rye was used, which added an interesting yeasty-tangy-sourness to the sandwich. As a whole, a routine sandwich, basic mass produced sliced turkey; we enjoyed the cucumber and sprouts the most. It was enough for our lunch and we walked thru this western theme town to our car and headed off.
The fish looked not bad. As I looked at the seaweed salad and surimi salad, then had a taste of the poke, I got full on 
It might have been a bit much, but was really not bad at all. What was bad was the brown rice which was severely undercooked and hard. Not good eats.
My first thought when I opened things up was "what's up with the mac nuts?" The half nuts were just too big for this. The shoyu wasn't overly sweet, but was used quite sparingly. The quality of the fish, while not bad, wasn't to my liking. Too much "sugi" – rubbery connective tissue. The rice was cooked nicely….I forgot to ask about brown rice. I might have been traumatized after my visit to PB Poke House.
The portion size seemed on the smallish side, but still isn't bad compared to the "manini" 2 ounce portions I've seen at the chi-poke places.
Good lord, this looked totally like "saku", Carbon Monoxide treated fish. So much sugi, so dry looking, I was kinda not wanting to eat this. I tried a piece and it was mushy, yet chewy, with a metallic tinge. Yikes. 
The consomme was aromatic and slightly rich without having that greasy "tongue feel" that I don't like. It was just slightly gamey, but not bland, and you knew there was some "chivo" swimming around here. It wasn't very salty and really needed the lime to help things out. I prefer my consomme having a bit more goatiness, but this was decent.
I preferred the Barbacoa, which was moist and more tender than the Birria, which was on the chewier side of things. The birria did well with a dip into the consomme, some salsa, and a squeeze of lime. While it was a level above 
Man, when the tripe is right it is so buttery as is the tendon. The other cuts of cow are so beefy. This has some decent spice. The key is to eat it at the restaurant and let it sit over the heating element for a while before giving it a good mix. It'll sizzle away and the onions at the bottom will get soft and creamy and absorb all the beefy-spicey goodness.
