Kamcentre Roast Goose: Causeway Bay’s Best Siu Mei

How a Hip-Hop Podcast Turned a Sports Club Restaurant Into Hong Kong’s Hottest Char Siu Spot

Hidden on the first floor of the South China Athletic Association (南華體育會) in Causeway Bay, right next to a bowling alley, sits a restaurant that most people in Hong Kong had never heard of until recently. That changed when Brian from 廿四味 (24 Herbs), Hong Kong’s iconic hip-hop group, appeared on the podcast SPOTITALK《緬甸堂》 and declared Kamcentre’s char siu to be the “Hermès of char siu”.

Brian did not stop there. He described the food as “dope” and told listeners they needed to “着兩條褲” (wear two pairs of pants) to eat it, a vivid Cantonese expression meaning the experience is so good it is almost indecent. Both phrases exploded on Threads and social media, becoming widely used slang and sending waves of new customers to a restaurant that had been quietly operating inside a members-only sports club for years.

The restaurant is 甘棠燒鵝 (Kamcentre Roast Goose), and while the name says “roast goose”, it is actually the char siu that has stolen the show. The man behind the roasting oven is 馮浩棠 (棠哥), the former head of Yung Kee’s (鏞記) roast meat department, where he spent over 40 years perfecting his craft before opening this venture with 甘焯霖, a cousin of Yung Kee’s late proprietor.

What to Order: The Char Siu Comes First

The dish that everyone comes for is the 甘一刀叉燒 (Kam’s First Cut Char Siu, around HK$210). The name refers to the prized first cut from the roasting rack. It uses premium pork with a fat-to-lean ratio of roughly 6:4, slow-roasted in foil until the meat is meltingly tender, then unwrapped and glazed with the original pan juices before a final blast in the oven to caramelize the edges.

The result is extraordinary. The outer layer shatters into a sweet, almost charred crust while the inside stays impossibly juicy, with honey glaze and rendered fat flooding each bite. We recommend eating it on its own first before pairing with rice, so you can appreciate the texture and sweetness without distraction. The only caveat: it can feel rich after several pieces, so share with the table.

The roast goose is no afterthought. Chef 棠哥 uses the same skills honed at Yung Kee, selecting black geese (黑烏鵝) between 4 and 12.5 pounds for optimal skin thickness. The 琵琶鵝 (Pipa Goose) is the showpiece: a whole butterflied goose requiring dozens of precise knife cuts to separate meat from skin without bone fragments, resulting in a dramatic presentation and shattering crispy skin. Pair it with sour plum sauce.

Other dishes worth ordering include the 金錢雞 (Money Chicken), a nostalgic old-school Cantonese preparation of layered pork, liver, and water chestnuts with a sweet glaze. The 鵝雜煲 (Goose Offal Pot) is a rich braise of goose intestine, blood, liver, tongue, feet, and wings in a savoury-sweet sauce. The 西洋菜湯 (Watercress Soup) is prepared thicker than usual, with vegetables blended into the broth for a more concentrated flavour.

The Setting: A Bowling Alley, a Sports Club, and Seriously Good Roast Meat

Part of the charm of Kamcentre is the unlikely setting. The South China Athletic Association is a sprawling sports complex in Causeway Bay with football pitches, a swimming pool, tennis courts, and a bowling alley. The restaurant sits on the first floor, right beside the bowling lanes. You walk past the sound of pins crashing to reach your table. It is about as far from a typical fine-dining environment as you can get, and that contrast is part of what makes the experience memorable.

The dining room seats about 60 people and feels like a casual Hong Kong cha chaan teng rather than a private kitchen, despite the elevated price point (HK$201 to 400 per person). The vibe is relaxed, the menu is bilingual, and the staff are welcoming to non-Cantonese speakers. Reservations are strongly recommended, especially since the podcast went viral.

The restaurant has also earned recognition beyond social media. It was named in the OpenRice Best Restaurants 2025 Top 10 Chinese BBQ Shop category, and the display counter proudly shows multiple dining awards. Food critic 蔡瀾 (Chua Lam) has also praised the restaurant’s offerings.

How to Get In: The Membership Question

The one hurdle that stops most visitors is the membership requirement. Kamcentre Roast Goose is inside the South China Athletic Association, and entry requires at least one person in your group to be a member. But here is the good news: becoming a member is surprisingly easy and cheap.

General membership costs just HK$250 per year. If you only want a short visit, a tourist membership is HK$130 per month. For a one-time investment, perpetual membership is HK$3,000. You can apply in person at the membership office (open daily 10:00 to 18:00), by mail, or online. All you need is a Hong Kong ID card or passport.

Once you are a member, you can bring guests and family members with you. So in practice, only one person at your table needs to be a member. Call ahead at 3580 2938 to make a reservation, as walk-ins can be difficult, especially on weekends and since the recent social media surge.

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