This is my second time at Fat Mao. The first time I went to Fat Mao, I thought it was a ramen restaurant, only to find out that they serve various types of Asian noodles. They had Beef noodle on the menu last time but it was all out by the time we got there so Zach and I settled for the braised duck noodles. I remember the food being good but nothing spectacular. The duck was cooked well as it fell right off of its bones. I really wanted a beef noodle soup though so left the restaurant half satisfied.
This time around, we really didn't want to make dinner so we opted to go to Fat Mao. We checked out Phnom Phenh first but of course it was packed with people.
Fat Mao wasn't too crowded and we were guided to our seats right away. I liked their manga menus and how they've decorated the restaurant with physical copies of mangas. Apparently Fat mao means lucky cat in Cantonese which I didn't know. This explains why there were cats everywhere in the restaurant, including on the menu.
The water was served is mason jars (so hipster)
We got the green onion pancakes as appetizers. I was surprised that it came with curry (like the rotis at Hawker's delight!). The pancakes were doughy and greasy, but other than that it didn't have much flavour. Unfortunately, I couldn't really taste the green onions which should be the start of the dish. It was still a good side dish to have with your meal.
For noodles, we ordered the Hot and Sour Pork with rice sheets ($10.99) and the Southern Thai Beef Laksa with wonton noodles ($11.99) and
Like I mentioned in previous posts, I am not used to South East Asian cuisine/flavours and also.. hot and sour soup was an odd concept for me. I think I tried the Chinese version of hot and sour soup and couldn't wrap my head around it. It was a flavour I've never tasted before. Maybe throughout the years my taste buds have matured (?) but hot and sour soup wasn't not what I remembered it to be. This soup was delicious and the tangy flavour of the soup just made me dig in more. My boyfriend ordered this one but I wanted to takeover and finish all of it! The pork was also tasty with two different types: pork & sausage/spam(?). The rice sheets were interesting as they were literally sheets of rice which I've never seen before but it went really well with the soup.
Rice sheets
The Southern Beef Laksa was a disappointment for me. It didn't even taste like laksa . It may be because it is specifically a "southern" style laksa? I am not sure but I wasn't a huge fan of it. I also did not enjoy the wonton noodles. It was heavy and overcooked and it just didn't taste good together. There was barely any soup inside because the noodle soaked up all of it. Fortunately, the beef was tender and well cooked.
The wonton noodles
Fat Mao is a nice place to grab a quick bite when you go in without too much expectations. It's an okay place but like I said, nothing spectacular. Though, it is refreshing to see a "noodle" restaurant versus a ramen place. I think there has been at least 3~5 new ramen places in Vancouver since ramen has become popular within the last couple of years. If I have to choose among the Korean spicy seafood noodles (jjam pong), Taiwanese beef noodles versus Fat Mao, Fat Mao would not have been my first choice. Although the light, tangy broth of the Hot and Sour noodles may just lure me in.
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