Street food with Michelin stars always draws queues. Yat Lok is one of those places in Central. But if you go at odd hours, like at 10.30am or at 3pm, you might get a table in the small shop without too much wait. That’s what I did.
This is what the 2019 Hong Kong Michelin Guide has to say:
The signature roast geese glistening behind the window are marinated with a secret recipe and go through over 20 preparatory steps before being chargrilled to perfection. Char siu pork uses pork shoulder from Brazil for melty tenderness. Roast pork belly and soy-marinated chicken are also recommended. Expect to share a table with others. It’s been run by the Chus since 1957 and in this location since 2011.
The visit
Not much to say. I went for the classic, a quarter of goose with drumstick and some sweet iced tea.
The sauce was distinctly sweet, but in a good way. It was indeed quite unique, even if I am not sure that is something to deserve a long wait in line.
They also have other roasted meats, like pork and chicken.
On the menu they also sports some combination platters.
The check
I spent 185 HKD for the goose quarter and 19 for the iced tea, that’s 204 HKD or 26 USD. Whether it is worth or not, I leave it to your judgment.
Where in Hong Kong: 34-38 Stanley St, Central. Tip: a Venchi ice cream shop is just in front of the restaurant.
A food trip to Singapore would be incomplete without paying a visit to at least one Hawker Center. They are typically open-air complexes populated with all sort of food vendors (the “hawkers”). Each stall usually specializes in one single food item or just a few related. They are all over Singapore and very much part of the culture.
The visit
I went to Maxwell Food Center in Chinatown area with two friends from Japan and Taiwan. It was a Friday evening in July 2019. This particular center seemed to cater both to tourist and locals. There was a good mix and it was busy but not packed. This is a relatively large center with over 100 stalls organized in 3 or 4 alleys.
We arrived at 7pm. Despite being open till late, many stalls were winding down at that time, in particular there seemed to be no chicken rice available (like at the celebrated Tian Tian Chicken Rice stall at n. 10 and 11). If you are craving for chicken rice, go earlier.
We collected goodies from different stalls (plus some drinks from a separate one; drinks are usually sold by specialized stalls) and then we found a table for the feast. Tables are not linked to any specific stall, you can sit wherever you find a spot.
First stop was a stall selling oyster fritters called Maxwell Fuzhou Oyster Cake (Stall no. 5). The cakes were deep fried with oyster meat and other ingredients such as minced prawns, pork, peanuts and oyster juice. Each cake is the size of a hand’s palm. We bough half dozen and we were derided by the seller claiming that his customers would eat at least a dozen each. Perhaps just a clumsy attempt to up-sell, or in Singapore there are some massive oyster cake eaters.
Then we went to stall 71 (Fu Shun Shao La Mian Jia) and we had to queue for 10 minutes or so for some Cantonese style roasted goose and pork.
Finally during the waiting I ordered some fish balls from stall 72 (Seafood White Bee Hoon Kitchen).
All the food was very good. The oyster cakes were less juicy than expected, but still very nice. The roast meat was comparable to the best Cantonese roast in Hong Kong. The fish balls had a good amount of batter and were also nice.
The check
Most of the food was bought by a friend so I did not track all the costs. Obviously the big ticket item was the roast meat. The cakes and the fish balls were just a few Singaporean dollars. It was really affordable.
Sinapore continues to sport quality hawker food and a visit to a hawker center is highly recommended.
Where in Singapore: 1 Kadayanallur Street This review was very useful while looking for stalls. Also here you can find the description of several other stalls.
Roast goose is a hallmark dish in Southern Chinese cuisine (Hong Kong and Guangzhou). The Shanghai Michelin Guide happens to have one restaurant specializing in roast goose awarded one star: Madam Goose. I had to try it.
Getting to the restaurant may feel discouraging because it is located in a mall in Minhang District, a suburban district of Shanghai. Luckily, while it will take some time, it is not so difficult to get to destination: get on the line 1 of the metro and get off at the last South stop. Then take the South exit.
By pure accident, I think, there were huge advertising posters publicizing the restaurant right out of the South exit.
The visit
I shared a weekend lunch with a friend and we met at the restaurant on the 4th floor of Skymall in Minhang District. Above you can see the entrance.
The restaurant is quite nice. I do not understand why the 2019 Michelin Guide ranks it with a single fork (the fork rating indicates the level of comfort of the restaurant) and seems to suggest that it is not a comfortable place… or maybe it was renovated recently. Anyway, it is a nice place that will get very busy for lunch. I arrived at 11.30am on a Sunday without a reservation and I had no problem finding a table. But just half an hour later it would have been another story.
Staff does not speak English and the menu is in Chinese… but luckily there are some pictures…
We sampled several dishes. The dish pictured above is goose foie gras and it was very delicate. Definitely recommended.
The goose can be ordered in “quarters”. One problem with goose meat is that sometimes it tastes gamy, but not this one. It was juicy and tasty enough, maybe not that crispy. The Michelin Guide praises how they hand pick the best specimens for their dishes.
Well… some vegetables…
This should be fried goose heads. Nicely presented, but not a lot of meat to sink your teeth into.
More meat, but this time char siu pork. I recommend this dish, even if was not anything out of the ordinary.
We also tried their dim sum. The shrimp dumplings were simple but good.
Finally, we had an instagrammable dim sum filled with nut paste (or pork, honestly not sure!). Also very good (but of course dim sum is not their focus).
The check
In two, we spent 382 CNY (56 USD, or 28 USD per person). The main goose dish was 108 CNY. This makes Madam Goose one of the cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant in Shanghai along with Lao Zheng Xing (it is in the range of a Bib Gourmand).
The restaurant is great value for money and if you like this kind of cuisine may be worth the ride on the metro. However, why this restaurant got a star is not entirely clear. Was the affiliation with Wang’s Steak group a factor? Is really their goose so superior to others? The jury is still out, I guess I will have clearer ideas when I finish the scramble.
Where in Shanghai: Suite 422, 4/F, 5001 Dushi Lu, near Xinzhu Lu In Chinese: 都市路5001号仲盛世界商城4层422号, 近莘朱路 Nearest metro station: Xinzhuang (take the South Exit to Skymall).
