The Happiness of Roast Goose

Roast goose in Hong Kong is everything you want it to be: smoky, crispy and wonderfully fatty.

Roast goose, a typical Cantonese dish, was number 1 on my Hong Kong to-do list. If you ask a local where to eat it, the answer is almost always Joy Hing, which means ‘happy again’. The restaurant is a household name and specializes in Chinese barbecue. It’s not for nothing that there is always a long queue outside.

The menu is in Cantonese, but as soon as you walk in, a cheerful waiter gives you the most popular options in English. They are experts at preparing pork and goose here, and I go for the latter. The goose comes on a scoop of fluffy rice and is exactly as I had hoped. The skin is crispy with a perfect amount of fat underneath, while the meat is incredibly tender and flavorful. The name is perfectly chosen. After eating this, you can’t help but be happy again!

Chinese barbecue

Hong Kong and China are bursting with similar restaurants specializing in Chinese barbecue. Pork (char siu), goose or duck is roasted on a spit over a fire. This creates a smoky flavor and super-crispy skin. Is your mouth watering yet? In Amsterdam, you can enjoy delicious roast meat at Nam Kee or Wing Kee. In The Hague, head to Full Moon, and in Rotterdam to Tai Wu.