Roast goose @ Yung Kee Restaurant, Hong Kong

My cousin and his wife were in Hong Kong recently, and requested Chinese food for when we met up for dinner. On another day, I'd brought them to our favourite teahouse for yum cha, and they loved the dim sum and appreciated the fact that it was the oldest teahouse in HK. For dinner, I wanted a restaurant that was similarly a Hong Kong institution, and hubby suggested Yung Kee Restaurant, most well-known for its roast goose. Hubby had eaten with colleagues at Yung Kee, and said the food was pretty good. I, on the other hand, still hadn't been to Yung Kee, even though I've lived here for more than 3.5 years. Yung Kee's history began in 1942 with a poor restaurant apprentice opening his own humble shop who went on to become successful and internationally acclaimed for his delicious roast goose. It is not uncommon for tourists buy roast goose to bring home to share with family and friends (obviously these are not tourists from Australia where there are quarantine and customs regulations restricting people from bringing food into the country).

Roast goose, char siu (barbecued pork), roast suckling pig, roast pigeons and soy sauce chicken by the window to entice pedestrians walking by:

The first floor dining room:

There are four floors of dining rooms in Yung Kee, and I read that the restaurant serves 1000 diners every day, often running out of roast goose by evening. I also read that a few people received terrible service, some complained of inconsistent food quality, and still others moaning about the prices - all quite common complaints for popular establishments running at full capacity. We got excellent service, the food was delicious, and I thought the pricing was quite reasonable for the food quality and calibre of the restaurant. Yung Kee is well-equipped for crowd control, and service was efficient and professional. Other than roast goose, Yung Kee's century egg (aka preserved egg, hundred-year egg, thousand-year egg, millenium egg) are also renown to be very good, so I made sure these two items were on our order list.

Century Egg - there is good reason why these are popular! Even hubby who is not a fan of preserved egg (or preserved anything!), said that these were good. I love preserved egg congee, but it would be a waste to use Yung Kee's preserved eggs in congee. The creamy yolk and jelly whites were mild with no sulfuric aroma, and the pickled ginger was a good accompaniment:

Braised Assorted Vegetables with Mushrooms (HK$140) - the obligatory vegetable dish, which was thoroughly enjoyable. I loved the different textures of the mushrooms and fungi in this dish:

Signature Roast Goose (HK$160 for a 2-4 person portion) - glossy, crispy skin and moist succulent flesh. It was an indulgent treat as fat and flavour go hand-in-hand here:

Mixed Barbecued Meats (HK$200 for choice of two) - we chose char siu and soy sauce chicken. The charsiu was lovely, not too fatty and not too sweet, flavouring was just right. The soy sauce chicken had a nice crispy skin, which was a lovely surprise as I was used to soy sauce chicken with soggy skin:

The sweet-cooked beans (not sure what type, perhaps soy beans) under both dishes of roast goose and barbecued meats. Delicious to snack on:

Fried Rice Yangzhou-style (HK$150), with plump and juicy prawns:

The desserts:

Cousin's wife chose Osmanthus Sweet Soup with Dried Longans (HK$38), and they said it was good:

Another of cousin's choice - Chilled Black Sesame Pudding with Seaweed (HK$26). The seaweed didn't really do much for the pudding, both taste and texture:

Hubby ordered Mini Egg Tarts (HK$33 for three). Quite nice, but the consensus at the table was that Luk Yu's one was better:

I wanted Sweet Black Sesame Soup (HK$36), which was a good choice. Deliciously sweet with the fragrance of black sesame:

We had an enjoyable time at dinner, good company and delicious food. The bill came to about HK$250 per person, which I thought was quite reasonable.

[Prices quoted above do not include the 10% service charge.]

Yung Kee Restaurant
32-40 Wellington Street
Central, Hong Kong
Tel. +85 2 2522 1624

Hubby and cousin found something in common! Hubby has been using Vibram FiveFingers for the past three years, not just during training, but also everywhere - garnering amused stares and genuine questions. Cousin recently got on the FiveFingers wagon, said it was easy to pack for travelling. Cousin's wife pointed out the girls were wearing sandals, so we had a bit of camera fun outside Yung Kee Restaurant: