Gene C.
Yelp
This review is only for ordering a whole roast pig. I was looking to order a whole pig for a party of 30+ adults and had always wanted to serve a whole pig. I had initially been planning to order a whole lechon/Filipino style pig, but there are not many vendors capable of selling whole pig and instead sell you pork belly rolls, and I was calling too late before a holiday weekend so they had sold out. I was also aware that Chinese restaurants can roast a whole pig, so I pivoted my search to Oakland Chinatown. (FYI, many Chinese restaurants do not directly advertise that they will sell you a whole pig, but if they are roasting traditional HK/Cantonese style meats with char siu and roasted ducks/chickens hanging in the window, AND you see a quarter of a pig hanging by the butcher block that they carve up to sell crispy pork, then it's likely that they can sell you a whole one.)
The internet initially led me to Sun Hing across the street, so I went to do a taste test that was overall pretty good, 7/10, and suitable for the party. While shopping for fruit at a neighboring store, I walked by New Gold Medal and saw the pig hanging in the store, and so I decided to try their pork on a whim. The meat here was less salty and less intense with the five spice and Chinese cooking wine (a good thing), more juicy and tender, and with more thin and crisp skin compared to the thicker, more bubbly Chinese chicarron style from Sun Hing, which was more like what I had in mind; overall I give the pork an 8.5/10.
Unlike many other stores, New Gold Medal won't give you a flat price on a pig but will sell you the non-suckling pig at $12/pound of cooked meat; as a comparison, other Chinese restaurants quoted me $360-$400 for a 40-45 lb roasted pig. After reading many reviews of how other restaurants sell pigs that appear to be missing meat in the belly region and leave buyers feeling ripped off, I felt that paying by the pound was a more honest and less problematic approach. I put down a $100 deposit 3 on a Thursday for a Sunday pickup of a 37 lb roasted pig that ultimately cost me ~$450, which was around $50-$100 more expensive than the other shops, but I was ultimately extremely satisfied with the results. We picked up the pig less than an hour before our party, and the meat was still warm, juicy, and richly flavorful by the time I started carving, and there was plenty of crispy pig skin for everyone. (I believe you can request that the restaurant carve it for you for an additional fee.) Even my Korean in-laws, who typically don't care for food with strong five spice seasoning, loved the meat and skin. There was so much meat, we wound up giving 1/3 of the pig away to our guests in takeout containers. My overall satisfaction with this place is really high, I would absolutely recommend their crispy roast pork and I'm now interested in trying their other dishes in the future.