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Header image courtesy of Yat Lok Restaurant 一樂燒鵝 (via Facebook)
Cantonese barbecue is a go-to comfort cuisine for a lot of Hongkongers, and the juicy roast goose is no exception. Some people prefer the succulent chunks of meat from the goose breast, whereas others prefer the fleshy drumstick where the meat is tender and the skin extra crispy. Roast goose usually goes by different portions: a quarter, a half goose, or a whole goose, and the flavourful meat goes well with either rice or rice noodles.
Although Sham Tseng in the Tsuen Wan District is well-known as the best place to go for authentic local roast goose, we’re going to introduce our top picks for the best roast goose restaurants across Hong Kong. See if you’ve been to any of these before!
Ki’s Roasted Goose Restaurant offers authentic roast goose with a rather peculiar signature flavour that sets it apart from other restaurants. They smoke their geese to create a novel woody and citrusy aroma that clings onto the crispy skin. You will either love or hate this unique treatment but we absolutely love it! With several branches over the city, it may be hard to choose where to go, but we recommend going to their Tin Hau branch when it’s less busy and sharing half a goose between one or two friends to enjoy every part of the goose!
Yue Kee Roast Goose Restaurant may be all the way out in northwest New Territories, but their roast goose is second to none and definitely worth a trip. They use their own birds from a farm in Guangdong and they fill the goose with air to separate the skin from the meat, similar to the way Peking ducks are cooked, in order to create crispier skin and juicier meats. You can tell by how puffy and crispy the geese are lined up behind the windows, so be prepared to make a half-day trip for a real hunt of some of Hong Kong’s best roast goose!
Yue Kee Roast Goose Restaurant, 9 Sham Hong Road, Sham Tseng | (+852) 2491 0105
Tin Hung Restaurant also procures their geese from their own farm in Foshan, where they are shipped to the restaurant on a daily basis. Since 2001, they have been marinating and roasting geese for customers. We have heard tell that they have sold up to 100 geese in one day to fill up the bellies of their loyal customers! You can pick from a whole goose, a half goose, the upper quarter, the lower quarter, or just the drumstick.
Tin Hung Restaurant, Shop D, G/F, Yan Yee Building, 88 Kin Yip Street, Yuen Long | (+852) 2474 8849
Yat Lok might be the most popular roast goose joint for tourists, most likely due to the Michelin star they received or the special recognition they were singled out for from Anthony Bourdain, renowned celebrity chef and travel documentarian. The main branch used to be all the way out in Tai Po, but since it closed in 2018, you can simply pop by their store in Central for a taste of their famed roast goose.
If you are going alone, the best dish to order is the roast goose drumstick with rice noodles since the drumstick is arguably the best part of the goose. The noodles and broth can also help you cut through the greasiness since you will be expected to eat fast so they can serve another table!
Yat Lok Restaurant, G/F, 34–38 Stanley Street, Central | (+852) 2524 3882
Offering roast goose to locals since 1942, Yung Kee is the reigning emperor in the roast goose scene. The geese are smoked in charcoal ovens to retain all the meat juices, so even if the skin of their roast goose is not the crispiest compared to other roast goose restaurants, they are definitely one of the juiciest! Don’t forget about the plum sauce they serve on the side with your roast goose, since the sweet and sour flavour combined with the fattiness of the goose will treat you to some next-level flavours you don’t want to miss out on!
Yung Kee Restaurant, 32–40 Wellington Street, Central | (+852) 2522 1624
Sham Tseng Chan Kee is the longstanding rival of Yue Kee—their roast goose competition can be traced all the way back to 1978. The goose here is roasted to lovely bronze colour and meat juices flow with every bite you take. Don’t be expecting nice décor and attentive service at these no-frills roast goose places—it’s all about the food here. Thanks to the unparalleled tour de force of renowned roast goose restaurants Sham Tseng Chan Kee and Yue Kee, Sham Tseng is now known to locals as the best neighbourhood for roast goose.
Sham Tseng Chan Kee Roasted Goose, Shop A, G/F, Chan Kee Commercial Centre, 48 Castle Peak Road, Sham Tseng, Tsuen Wan | (+852) 2491 0722
Most people will know Kam’s Roast Goose due to the fact that they received a Michelin star within four months of opening, but whether that’s the pinnacle of their achievements is up to you. The restaurant was opened by one of Yung Kee’s founders so already they are arguably a step ahead of the rest of the roast goose joints. As opposed to the traditional charcoal ovens used in Yung Kee, the geese are roasted in gas ovens to spotlight the juicy and tender meats from the roast. Whether you like it more is all down to personal preference—go ahead and compare the two and see which preparation method you like better.
Kam’s Roast Goose, 226 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai | (+852) 2520 1110
This unassuming roast goose restaurant is tucked away in the Western District in the area around HKU, so you will probably bump into a lot of university students here. While this small restaurant does not stand out at all to the untrained eye, it was recommended by the Michelin Guide as a must-try restaurant. You can opt for the roast goose rice or the roast goose rice noodles—both come highly praised.
Po Kee, Shop P, G/F, 425 Queen’s Road West, Shek Tong Tsui
First published on 4 May 2020. Written by Ching Yuen. Last updated by Celia Lee.
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