Yat Lok Restaurant 一樂燒鵝 @ Hong Kong

My roast goose journey in Hong Kong for 2024 came to a completion with this final stop. Not the best for last, more of a delay because they are quite notorious.

The stellar rise of Yat Lok Restaurant 一樂燒鵝 is well documented in all major magazines and social media, so I shall not repeat it. But I have been delaying my trip to Yat Lok because of the notoriety of poor service and bad dining experience.

Founded in 1957, this family business has been running at this spot since 2011. The unmissable, glistening roast geese are marinated with a secret recipe and go through over 20 preparatory steps before being chargrilled to perfection. And because of this beautiful roast goose, they got their star for the first time in 2015.

Their stellar rise is partly due to the Michelin 1 Star awarded to them for the last consecutive 10 years. Every influencer and star wannabe have to come and “punch card” 打卡. This cycle simply pushes them further up the recognition vortex.

The fame was great for some but bad for others. Everyone working here has a really grumpy face. Sorry, but that already spoiled my appetite for lunch. I had a backpack as we just got off the train to Hong Kong, and there’s no room to put the bag down. We had to put it on our laps as we “daap toy” 搭臺 (Cantonese for “sharing table”) with two other couples for the table for six persons.

I was surprised that the dry noodles 撈麵 came first right after we placed our orders. While the ‘laifun’ soup noodles 瀨粉湯 is the famous main dish to accompany the roast goose, I do not fancy the idea of my roast goose being soaked in soup. The dry noodles I had were so-so. Should have stuck to laifun. 

Darling ordered the poached chicken with rice 白切雞飯 so that we can have a taste of their poached chicken.

For me, poached chicken needs to have the fragrant Hainanese chicken rice. Here, it is drizzled with the blue ginger sauce 沙薑汁, which is quite nice.

I ordered a portion of the roast goose (lower quarter) 烧鹅下庄. I went straight for the roast goose skin, and the glistening skin was really crispy and delicious. Surprisingly it was not oily like some others that I had tried this year (2024). Although it had a smokey taste, it did not bother me at all (but Darling thought the goose was burnt).

Another must-have mentioned in the guide is their roast pork belly 燒腩肉. I do not recommend it if you do not like dry pork meat, although the skin crackling was one of the crispiest I had in the Cantonese BBQ 燒臘 capital of the world.

Comparing the two Michelin 1 Star roast goose in Hong Kong (the other being Kam’s Roast Goose 甘牌燒鵝), this is definitely not to my liking. The roast goose is saltier although the skin is crispier and less oily. The service is absurdly rude, and the overall dining experience is not worthy for the price we paid. In my opinion, this is a poor assessment for the star, not even Bib Gourmand (as their price range is beyond the criteria). Not coming back anytime soon.

Yat Lok Restaurant 一樂燒鵝
G/F, Conwell House, 34-38 Stanley Street, Central Hong Kong, Hong Kong
中環士丹利街34-38號地舖
Tel : +852 2524 3882

Visited Dec 2024

Michelin Hong Kong Guide 1 Star 2015-2024