Your goose is cooked on Soi 26
Fans of the Hong Kong delicacy now have a home here in the City of Angels
It’s easy to see why Cantonese food connoisseurs in Thailand are so crazy about Hong Kong roast goose. The big bird, with its perfectly thick and crispy reddish-brown skin covering juicy meat, is among the top items in the hunt-down list of many epicures from the Kingdom to the island. These travellers don’t just partake on the delicacy on site (mostly a super-crowded, hole-in-the-wall eatery), but they also have the bird meticulously packed for an overseas takeaway.
Golden Bowl, this week’s subject of review, promises roast goose fans in Bangkok a nice life hack.
Opened a little over a year ago on the second floor of K Village mall, the restaurant offers authentic Hong Kong fare — especially the roast goose — in the convenience and comfort of Sukhumvit.
The dining room of the 114-seater is bright and breezy with lots of functionally set space between tables. Its glass-fronted kitchen, graced with a hanging display of barbecued meat and poultry, is manned by a team of veteran Hong Kong chefs.
Its 100-item menu lists Cantonese shophouse classics including wonton noodles, congee, barbecue dainties, braised meat and rice dishes, all prepared to time-honoured recipes.
Comparing to an average of 3,000 baht per goose that you would pay in Hong Kong, it costs you only two-thirds that here, and you would also save on plane tickets.
The chefs here prepare the goose overnight, with marination of fragrant herbs and spices. A process of slow roasting, air drying and glazing begins very early in the morning. The meticulous work results in long-retained crispiness of the skin, and supple, well-seasoned quality of meat. The roast goose, which is the best-selling item here, is offered with sweet and tangy plum sauce in a small portion (450 baht), half-bird (990 baht) and whole bird (2,000 baht).
Equally worth having are honey-glazed barbecue pork loin (380 baht), crispy roasted pork belly (380 baht), steamed chicken (360 baht) and soya sauce chicken (480 baht).
You can have roasted meat as a topping with your noodles and rice. Or go for the most popular personal dish option: egg noodles with shrimp wonton (210 baht).
The restaurant makes its own noodles and properly cooks it to perfect al dente while the dumplings are prepared daily with fresh shrimp that offers a bracing chew in each bite.
I highly recommend that you complement your meat and carbs with an order of Chinese kale with oyster sauce (160 baht). The vegetable proved to me to be extra fresh, crunchy and very sweet.
Those who’d like to pass on the carbs, go for wok-fried beef with Chinese kale and ginger (420 baht) and you’ll be delighted by the tender and flavourful beef slices and nice greens.
Golden Bowl is also an ideal destination should you look for a soothing indulgence and authenticity of Hong Kong-styled congee (boiled minced rice soup).
More than 20 options of meat-seethed rice congee are listed on the menu. From the most classic congee with pork and ash-cured egg (200 baht) to signature congee with roast goose (380 baht), fish congee (350 baht), congee with braised sea cucumber (380 baht) and congee with abalone (680 baht).
Steamed rice noodle rolls, aka guay tiew lord in Thai, are also the restaurant’s specialities.
The delicately soft, springy and almost translucent sheets of rice noodles are made freshly to each order and served with a choice of stuffing.
Of the 10-item selection, most popular is rice noodle rolls stuffed with pathongko (deep-fried Chinese bread) (160 baht). The dish, a unification of soft noodles and crispy bread, was enhanced perfectly with savoury sweet brown sauce.
During my visit, only an option of ground black sesame soup was on offer on the dessert menu.
However, the piping hot serving of the velvety, pitch-black creamy liquid with a mildly sweet and rich nutty taste proved to me a heavenly ending to the meal.
Golden Bowl is great choice of venue for families to casually celebrate Chinese New Year with delicious Cantonese feast. Two private rooms, each accommodate up to 10 guests, are available. Reservations are recommended.