Hong Kong - Roasted meats at Joy Hing and Hon Lok

Roasted meats (pork, duck, goose, pigeon...) are everywhere in Hong Kong. It is hard to walk very far in this city before you pass by a shop with delicious looking bronzed roast beasts hanging in the window. Fittingly, then, our first meal in Hong Kong was a roast pork feast at Joy Hing Roasted Meat in the downtown neighborhood of Wan Chai.



Joy Hing, like many well-regarded small restaurants in Hong Kong, is always busy. These places pack people in, though - you generally find yourself sharing a table with others. Even if there is a line, it usually moves quickly. You aren't expected to linger at a place like this.



Service at Joy Hing is brusk, and was less tolerant of our lack of Cantonese than most other places we visited. Despite no English menu, we managed to get a plate of bbq pork (char siu) and roast pork. It was more food than we needed and priced well above what we expected, but was undeniably delicious.

We had better ordering luck at Hon Lok Roasted Restaurant, near our Hotel in Causeway Bay.



Again, communication proved difficult, but a combination of Cantonese, English and finger pointing soon had the friendly staff plopping down plates of roast duck and pork, along with rice and the ubiquitous gai lan (Chinese broccoli) in oyster sauce. Exactly what we wanted.



Delicious, and it also cost a fraction of what we paid at Joy Hing.



A guy at the next table briefly suspended inhaling his own food to chide my inefficient use of chopsticks to eat rice with. His waving of his spoon at me made his point clear. Lesson learned, and one that stuck with me for the rest of the trip.