I don’t follow a lot of people on Instagram, and when I do, they’re mostly people I know or want to know. I almost never follow businesses and the like. One day though, as I was scrolling through Instagram one time, I came across a seemingly familiar delight: a friend of mine posted a picture of the Hong Kong roast goose that he ordered.
As a Chinese-Filipino who only went to HK once — and more than a decade ago for that matter — the picture of the roast goose immediately intrigued me. You can’t just find roast goose anywhere, let alone in a pandemic. So, I promptly wanted to check out where he got it from.
The business is called The Saturday Goose, and they’re available on social media at least. Curiously, they only have two products: whole roast duck and whole roast goose. Naturally, we ordered the more exotic roast goose, though it was about P1,000 more expensive!
Curiously, again, they only deliver on Saturdays — hence the name of the business. Customers ought to order early, however, because the business gets sold out quite fast.
The order came on time, and my immediate impression was that the packaging box was incredibly huge. And the goose inside, tightly wrapped in foil, thankfully, matched its size. Customers may also opt to have the goose or duck cut before delivery
Of course, taking pictures and Instagram stories with the goose was mandatory. And after that, we followed the reheating instructions, cut up the goose, and plated it. We recommend to reheat it in an oven, not just in a toaster or microwave.
After doing so, I noticed what was perhaps one of the few downsides: the goose was extremely oily. Though goose and duck dishes are usually fatty, they’re not always oily. One will notice that Chinese restaurants have them hanging upside down. They don’t do that just for display. They do it to allow the oil within the goose or duck to drip.
So, that would be my recommendation to the business: if it’ll help, do allow the goose or duck to drip more before sending it off. Another suggestion would be to give customers advice on how to properly drain the excess oil.
The goose dipped in plum sauce
I have to commend the taste, however. My mom commented, “Lasang Hong Kong.” I agree with her. For a dish that was — most likely — made here in the Philippines, was delivered in a package, and was reheated, I tasted that unique and flavorful sweet flavor that’s associated with Hong Kong goose and duck. Imagine that with the crispy texture of the skin, and you’ll never know that you’re just in the comfort of your own home. Texture wise, the meat itself was also quite tender.
The goose also came with two sauces: the dripping sauce and plum sauce. The taste of the dripping sauce consisted of the flavor of the goose. The plum sauce was unique, but I think I preferred the dripping sauce because it captured the actual flavor of the marinade of the goose.
The one thing I would also suggest is that the goose not be the main entrée. Eating too much of it might give the heavy, fatty feeling associated with food like crispy pata and lechon. But that’s fine — it’s a given because it’s goose, after all.
Another thing I would add is that a great complement to this dish would be Yang Chow Fried Rice. We also recommend to pour the dripping sauce over rice. I did so with the Yang Chow Fried Rice that I ordered from another place, and it gave the rice a hint of that roast goose flavor. Delicious!
Overall, I was quite happy with my The Saturday Goose experience. It certainly was a welcome addition to my family’s weekend meal, and it’s definitely something that can be ordered when marking a special occasion. It can be quite pricey at P3,500 for a whole goose, but just the very idea of purchasing a roast goose for the household, coupled with the HK taste that it offers, made it a rather interesting experience indeed.
For orders, you may contact them through Viber at 09277657986. For updates, follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
Still hungry? Check out more online food stores here.
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The author of this article:
An accomplished young Chinese Filipino writer and media personality, Aaron S. Medina is associated with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Ateneo de Manila University Chinese Studies Program, the Philippine Association for Chinese Studies, and CHiNOY TV. He has a passion for truth, justice, and Pokémon, too! Follow him on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aaron.joseph.s.medina/
