Mr. Chopsticks Seafood & BBQ may be the only Chinese restaurant in the San Gabriel Valley with an on-site garden. The relatively new establishment resides in the back corner of El Monte’s Union Plaza and houses a dining room white walls lined with food photos, white clothed tables with wooden lazy Susans, and a glass-fronted courtyard garden that helps fuel cooking. The restaurant lists seafood first in the name, but they also take Chinese BBQ seriously, particularly birds.

During a family dinner, my mother-in-law ordered a platter of roasted squab featuring four birds with crispy, lacquered skins that locked in the naturally dark meat’s juices. Mr. Chopsticks simply seasons their squab and serves each plate with squeezable lemons and a dish of salt and pepper for dipping. Other dishes on the menu have more pop, but it’s hard to compete with the simple pleasure that eating these pigeons imparts.