The famous Sham Tseng roast goose

I was at a friend's house near Tsuen Wan today when we decided it was time enough to go for a late lunch.  The elves came to my rescue, sending me a few suggestions in the neighborhood.  Unfortunately this wasn't a crowd that would eat at your local cha chaan teng... so a motion was made to go and have roast goose.

After a big detour, we ended up in Yue Kee (裕記大飯店) in Sham Tseng.  I guess this was the old favorite, even though my friend who lives in the area had warned me that despite the reputation, the roast goose in Sham Tseng is only so-so.  Oh well, you never know until you try!

We ordered a whole charcoal oven roast goose (炭爐燒鵝) to start.  Well...the skin was crispy, but I thought they had over-roasted the bird.  The skin was a little too charred in some places, which I definitely did not want.  In terms of the goose meat itself, it was OK but not really outstanding.  In fact the noodle shop a few steps from my office can probably beat this place in terms of roast goose on any given day...

The double-boiled watercress and goose gizzard soup (鵝腎西洋菜湯) was OK.  Watercress soup is always good, and the gizzards have been boiled for so long that they were starting to turn a little mushy.

The deep-fried smelt (椒鹽白飯魚) was pretty good.  Slightly spicy and tasted great.  I wouldn't have minded if I took half the plate myself...

De-shelled prawns stir-fried with egg (滑蛋蝦仁) is a classic dish.  This was OK, with yellowed chives to provide additional flavors.

I had no interest in the Chinese-style beef steak (中式牛柳) nor the stir-fried goose offal in black bean sauce (豉椒鵝腸什), so I didn't touch them.

The pan-fried salty fish (煎咸魚) was very good.  Pretty salty and a little smelly, but everything you wanted out of the preserved fish.  As I wasn't eating any rice, I just sampled a small piece to satisfy my taste buds.

The stir-fried kale (炒芥蘭) was OK. The sauce of the clay pot lettuce looked like fermented tofu (腐乳), so I chose to stay away from this one, too.

Hopefully, my next trip to Sham Tseng for roast goose will yield better results...