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Fattys Chinese Kitchen, a closer look
 Fatty's Chinese Kitchen on Yelp! |
 Lots of Trip Advisor reviewers on Fatty's Waikiki! |
Aloha!
11/1/10 - Here's one of those tiny shops that, if it weren't for Yelp, I'd be pretty much in the dark about. Yelp is so great in finding small, out-of-the-ordinary places. Its army of internet volunteers all vie for a little "first to post" notation on any given place, worn like a badge of honor, along with other possible accolades. Got a few myself, in fact! Believe it or not, some enter subjects like "the island of Molokai," or a certain tv show fifty years ago, and chalk-up a "first to post" award right away! If you're thinking about being first with Fatty's Chinese Kitchen, however, think again. At this time of writing, and despite the fact that most locals know next to nothing about this place, there are already 74 different reviewers adding their own two cents, most of the very positive variety.
The biggest barrier preventing locals from eating here at Fatty's is location, as you've gotta know a thing or two about parking in Waikiki when you don't have the luxury of staying at a hotel close-by. If you're serious about coming, though, there's either metered street parking, which can be tough to find, or you can hit Seaside Avenue, where there's no less than three public parking entrances, all clearly marked, between Kalakaua and Kuhio Avenue's. Seaside is a one-way going mauka (mountain-side), so you'll have to enter on a left turn from one-way Kalakaua and look for all three lot entrances on the right side, then pay a flat rate of anywhere from $5-$7 for a several-hour block of time.
From there, you'll have to find the relatively wide walk-way from Kuhio Avenue that leads to the International Marketplace, bordering the Miramar Hotel Parking lot. Check out the interactive view above for a better look at the general area. You may not be able to read the Fatty's Chinese Kitchen sign there, but trust me, it's just inside the walkway on the left side, as shown here:
This is a very small, very simple, yet highly efficient operation that reminds me of the quick-serve noodle houses I've seen in Beijing. With only a single counter immediately bordering the kitchen, the place fills-up fast, but because most dishes arrive quickly, turnover time is relatively short. Still, those chairs lined-up outside are there for a reason, and at peak times, many opt for take-out instead.
One of the coolest things about Fatty's is that you can enjoy a first-row view of the busy kitchen from any spot in the house, and these ladies (and a couple of guys, too!) really know what they're doing back there. With hot woks firing, burners blazing, huge pots boiling, cleavers loudly chopping, and each cook multi-tasking both with themselves and eachother, it's certainly an amusing and fun show to watch, even upon our first visit, when we arrived just at their opening time of 10:30am, before anyone else arrived:
In a kitchen like this, it's mostly street-type Chinese foods that are hot, filling, and quickly prepared, such as this roast duck noodle, for a measly $6.50:
Though the duck was great, the choi sum was bright and crisp, and the broth, flavored nicely, the real star of these bowls were the noodles. No, they don't make 'em in-house, but when someone else makes them earlier that day, they can turn-out just as great. And the noodles here are some of the best anywhere, arriving thin, firm, and fragrant, with the distinct flavor good egg noodles always contain. It was truly a most beautiful and delicious thing!
But it gets even better. Our favorite soup noodle dish was yet to come, in this particular Chef's Choice special, going for $8:
Called a spicy shrimp pork noodle, it contained a broth that was thickened more than usual Chinese broth, which allows a lot more flavor in each bite because the viscosity causes more of that delicious broth to stick to the noodles. The spicy-hot aspect was only barely noticeable, but there's always a bevy of hot sauces available too, and besides, you don't really expect a whole lotta spice in non-Szechuan Chinese foods anyway. The pork came in the form of tiny, yet highly-flavored bits and pieces, while the shrimp was also given sparingly but was sweet and cooked perfectly into crisp, yet tender portions. Bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, a few different chopped vegetables, and green onion completed the order. Here's a better shot at the bits 'n pieces:
Our least-favorite bowl of soup noodle tried was a spicy beef noodle. We both thought it would arrive with the same thickened broth as our earlier spicy shrimp pork bowl, but it was actually about as thin as the roast duck bowl. All of them carry the same great broth, but differ only in toppings and, in some cases, a little added pastes or essences. When it comes down to it, however, just this base broth and noodles alone would be enough to satisfy me!
Here's a couple of shots of our spicy beef bowl:
But there's more to Fatty's Chinese Kitchen than just soup noodles. Most of us locals have long-known about local-style Chinese ginger chicken, which is served cold. It is closely related to the chicken rice of Hainan, Singapore, Malaysia, and elsewhere that is served hot, with several sauces on the side, and oftentimes with a slightly oily, highly fragrant rice. Ginger chicken is a bit more straight-forward, with a mound of Chinese long-grain rice, cold chicken, and a sauce of ginger, garlic, and sometimes Chinese parsley, all grated and mixed in oil. Considering the chicken is cooked well enough, it is this sauce that makes the dish, and the sauce here at Fatty's was excellent. It may not look the greatest, but a little of its salty, gingery flavors matches ingeniously with the chicken, its flavored oil dropping down and soaking into the rice like a type of thin, transparent gravy. For a quick, tasty lunch, and for only $6.50, it was perfect!
Moving right along, here's another dish I highly recommend, and one that got quite a bit of attention from a couple eating alongside us, who were enviously asking about the plate as soon as it arrived hot and steaming in front of us:
Called runny egg beef on rice, it consists of exactly what its name implies. Its pieces of beef must have been tenderloin, since they were all tender and succulent, while the part-cooked, part-raw egg gravy was simple in taste, combining the great flavors of egg and a type of broth, most likely chicken bouillion (I talk to all my Chinese Chef friends, and you'll be surprised how key this ingredient is in Chinese cuisine!), but no doubt difficult in execution. With a little Sriracha hot sauce on the side, this was a very classy and impressive dish.
And finally, how could we go any further without trying their cake noodle? Yeah, the extra oil used is something to consider, but what the heck - it tastes so dang good! Outside of the added oil, the only other negatives are an extra $2 charge and the time it takes to cook. Actually, I don't remember seeing cake noodle on the menu - the only reason I knew it was offered was because I saw them preparing a batch for an earlier customer. As in most local Chinese restaurants, you can order the stuff with any manner of gravy'd item, such as oyster chicken, pork w/unchoi, beef broccoli, or beef choi sum, as shown here:
As you can see from the Styrofoam plate, you can order take-out if the place gets too crowded. Once again, I loved the taste of these noodles, which were crisped from frying but softened from the rich gravy for a perfectly balanced texture. The beef was also tender and the choi sum contained a crispy stem and softened leaves that soaked-in the wonderful flavors of the gravy. Excellent!
Though our friendly neighborhood Yelper's are almost always ebullient regarding Fatty's Chinese Kitchen, there are also a smattering of folks out there who were soundly let-down and disappointed from their experiences here. For anyone else out there interested in trying Fatty's for the first time, I have two words of advice - first, don't let your expectations get out of control, and second and even more importantly - don't order the one, two, or three-choice special plates!!! I know, it's easy to get drawn-in by the $4.50, $5.50, and $6.50 prices, respectively, but don't do it, as these particular choices come from a limited amount of 5 different items, all pre-made and sitting under hot lights. When you're hungry, they may look good and you may want the benefits of immediate gratification, but please wait for them to cook something fresh for you instead - the show is good and it'll taste much better, believe me!
Now, I'm not gonna go comparing this simple, street-type eatery to the Big Boy'z of Chinese cuisine in Hawaii, but for what it is - cheap, fast, hole-in-the-wall - I'd definitely approve!
Hey, hope you've all had a wonderful Halloween weekend! At our place, there was Wolverine, Super Woman, a walking strawberry, a Viking warrior, a Carnivaal dancer, and an angel! Good-fun stuff!
Take care, and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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