The Bakery at Fat Rice - Brunch

I like Fat Rice.  I have been several times, though I haven't been in a while and I have never been to brunch, so I decided to schedule a brunch there.  The party that I had was pretty large and Fat Rice is small, so we were seated in The Bakery at Fat Rice which is an actual bakery, which is attached to Fat Rice and is used as overflow seating.  While we were seated in The Bakery, the entire brunch menu was available to us, it was just that the aesthetic was different.  The back wall of The Bakery is occupied by the display case and bakery.  The front wall was occupied by a large window, which provided a lot of the light.  The tables were arranged in two rows, cafeteria-style and can probably seat about 30 people.  The menu has a lot of very different and interesting things on it, so it was a good thing that we were a large party, so we could try many things.  Because there were a lot of different and interesting things, though, we did need some time to plan our attack, so we ordered our drinks and then first started with the bakery menu.  My drink was very different and very different from something I might normally order.  Called a Kalimotxo, it started with Red Wine, and had Coke, Balsam Amaro, and Lemon.  As might be expected it tasted of red wine and coke, the balsam amaro added a bitterness, which made the combination similar to bitter vermouth.  The lemon was more garnish than anything.  While the drink was interesting and I did finish it, it was a little more bitter and a little less tart than I normally go for.

There were a lot of interesting things on The Bakery menu, so we decided to order several things and share.  We started with a Bolo de Arroz, similar to a muffin, it was made with Rice Flour, Lemon, Coconut, and Rosemary.  It was sweet, a little tart, slightly bitter from the rice flour, and had a nice herbaceousness from the rosemary.  We then had a Ceylon Snickerdoodle, which was similar to a regular snickerdoodle with a crispy crust and a chewy texture, but also had a Gooey Salted Egg Custard filling.  This was really good and may have been one of my favorites.  We then went to a Char Siu "Pineapple" Bun, which had a cross hatched crust that looked similar to a pineapple.  It was filled with Barbecue Pork and Scallion.  It was really good and reminded me of a barbecue pork bao, though the bun was a little more firm.  W finished things off on the bakery side with an Ube Milk Bar, which was actually packaged.  It consisted of Ube, a purple yam, a Shortbread Crust, Condensed Milk Jam, and Coconut Streusel.  It was sweet, very good, and I was happy someone ordered it, because it was one of the things that came home with me.  Also ordered before our main courses was the Linguica Sausage, a Portuguese Pork and Garlic Sausage similar to Spanish Chorizo.  It was served with Almonds, Cilantro, and Fresno Chilies.  The peppers were pretty spicy and helped cut through the fatty flavor.  The almonds were flavorful and added some texture.

After our snacks, we started receiving our appetizers.  While it was my intention to let everyone contribute to the whole order, it seems that I ordered a lot of the food.  I ordered both appetizers, Curry Vegetable Samosas with Tamarind Mustard Seed Chutney, and Bacalhau de Vovo Home Made Salt Cod Spread with Olives and Papo Seco Bread.  I like Samosas and while there shape was a little unusual, it wasn't important, because they tasted really good.  The crust was nice and crunchy and held a very nice and flavorful vegetable curry.  The dipping sauce was both tart and spicy sour and it went well with the curry.  Papa Seco Bread (literally "Dry Throat") are very popular Portuguese Rolls that are similar in similar in texture and flavor to Baguettes.  Bacalhau is also a very popular Portuguese dish and spread on the bread, it was a great match.  The olives were pitted and had a good flavor, and the chilies were pretty hot, and seemed to amp up the flavor of the fish.  It was all very good.

We ended up with three entrees, one of which I have wanted to try since the first time I came here.  We had Piri Piri Chicken, Wood Fired Thighs with Garlicky Greens, Cornichons, Potatoes, and Fresno Chilies, Yellow Vegetable Curry with Coconut Rice for our vegetarian cohort, and the dish for which the restaurant was named and the dish that I have wanted to try since I first came here, Arroz Gordo (Fat Rice).  Piri Piri Chicken is usually pretty spicy and this lived up to its reputation.  It was also very moist and flavorful on it's own without the Cornichons, or the Fresno Chilies, though they each did add something.  The chicken was spicy enough that the Fresno chilies didn't really add to the general heat of the chicken, but they did contribute a pretty good and fresh pepper flavor.  The Vegetable Curry was very similar to that that was in the Samosas, but it was very good and also went well with the Coconut Rice.  The Arroz Gordo they recommend for two or more people and there is a very good reason for that, because it's enormous.  It is similar to a paella, in that it's kind of a catch all dish and it had many of the things that we ordered on their own, Curried Chicken Thighs, Char Siu Pork, Linguica Sausage and Potatoes, plus Chili Prawns, Clams, Olives, Wood Roasted Beef, Hard Boiled Eggs, Golden Raisins, and Yellow Rice.  It was pretty amazing and with the other stuff we ordered even with 5 guys eating it, I ended up taking about half of it home.

I love Fat Rice. It is one of my favorites and it does a lot of really good stuff.  I really enjoyed brunch, dining in the bakery, and getting to try many of their baked goods that while familiar, also have a very individual spin.  I will definitely return for dinner and for brunch.                  

Fat 'n Happy - New Year's Dinner at Fat Rice

I was very happy when Fat Rice opened last year.  I had long complained that there were no Portuguese restaurants and while Fat Rice, which serves a Macanese menu, is not precisely Portuguese, because Macau was long a Portuguese colony and serves food with a lot of Portuguese flavors.  When I saw that they were serving a special 5 course menu for New Year's Eve, I jumped at the offer.  Because they were serving everyone the same menu, they staggered seating at the bar and various tables.  I made my reservation at a table but because I was dining by myself and there were open seats at the bar, they offered me a seat at the bar which, in my opinion, is a better seat because it looks into the bar and open kitchen.  I started things off with a cocktail they called The Green Fairy.  Normally, when someone refers to the Green Fairy, they are referring to Absinthe which has a decidedly black licorice flavor.  This was not absinthe and had no absinthe in it but it did have a green cast and a black licorice flavor.  It was made with Anise Hyssop Vodka, Pernod, and Cava and garnished with a lemon peel, so in addition to the anise flavor it also had a light sparkling quality to it.  It was bright and had a palate cleansing quality to it.  I happen to like black licorice, so for me, this was a nice start.

For the first food course, we were served what was called a Pu Pu Platter.  What it was was a selection of contrasting bites and flavors.  Working from left to right, it started with Jellyfish and Duck Breast.  The jellyfish actually reminded me of crisp pickles by texture and taste and linguini by shape and size.  The duck breast was thinly sliced and very tender.  The two contrasting flavors actually complemented each other well.  Next in line was Smoked Tofu and Peanut that I might have called Smoked Tofu and Mushrooms because it actually had more Shiitake Mushrooms than Peanuts.  These all went together well.  The tofu brought smoke, the mushrooms had the earthy, mushroomy flavor that you might expect of mushrooms, and while the peanuts did add some flavor, I would say that they were more important as a textural element.  The third part to me was like a simple salad.  It was a combination of Romaine Stem and Granny Smith Apples and that is exactly what it tasted like.  It was a simple combination of lettuce and apples that tasted green and had a tart finish.  The last element was the one about which I was most curious.  It was called Mala Beef Tendon.  I would normally expect beef tendons to be pretty tough but these were a surprise.  It appeared as if they were unrolled and flattened and served with a savory sauce.  They had a crunch to them but they were actually pretty easy to eat and tasty as well.

While I was working my way through the appetizer plate, I was served another cocktail (on the house).  This was a combination of Muscatel and Cava served with Star Anise and Orange Peel so it also was sparkling and had a black licorice flavor, although this was a bit sweeter than the Green Fairy.

The second food course was the XO Oyster.  It was an Old 1871 Oyster, an Atlantic oyster bred in the brackish water at the edge of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia.  It was served with Black Beans and Cilantro and garnished with Romaine Lettuce leaves.  It was briny, and meaty with an earthy flavor and it was also very good.  It also set the stage for the next course, the Congee.

I had had Congee before and was pretty underwhelmed by it.  The congee I was served here though, was a different animal entirely.  At it's most basic, Congee is a rice porridge that is cooked to the point that the rice begins to disintegrate.  It is fairly rich but it can also be pretty bland unless something is added to it.  With this Congee, Lobster, Long Beans, Chinese Crullers, and Bacon were added.  It was rich, savory, hearty, and really good.  Most of the lobster meat was removed from the shells and the shell was added for flavor.  There was some meat round the leg joints witch was really tender.  The cruller was added to help absorb the moisture, the long beans added a vegetable crunch with flavor similar to green beans, and everything is better with bacon.

For the main course, we were served Red Braised Rabbit with Bok Choy, Turnips, Tofu Skin, and Sauce Superior, which is a combination of Reduced Chicken Stock and Jamon Iberico.  The rabbit was fall-off-the-bone tender and very flavorful and while it does have a lighter flavor, I would not say that it tastes like chicken although that also may have been due to the braising liquid.  The bok choy and turnips were fresh and flavorful and the tofu skin was interesting.  There were two of them and they were each rolled up and tied like parchment with a vegetable "string".  They were flavored with the Sauce Superior and had a nice chew.

The dessert, while it did have some Asian flavors, I would say was more French than Asian or Portuguese.  It was a Chocolate Pot de Creme with Orange, Persimmon, and Mint, and an Almondine Cookie.  A Pot de Creme is a loose custard served in a small custard dish.  I wouldn't have expected chocolate to go with orange but the persimmon, mint, and the almond cookie tied everything together.  I personally prefer my custards to be more "solid" than what a pot de creme is normally but the flavors and the flavor combinations made for a very good dish. and a good finish to the meal.  I again will say that I really like Fat Rice, they add a lot to the neighborhood, and the dinner was both a nice end to a great year in dining and the beginning of a great evening/New Year.  

Fat Rice

I have long bemoaned the fact that Chicago is sorely lacking a Portuguese restaurants.  Now I will grant that for an ethnic restaurant to survive, it really helps to have an ethnic population that would eat such cuisine.  While there isn't a Portuguese population as such, I am sure that there are Portuguese people here and there are people that have been to Portugal so I have thought that a Portuguese restaurant could succeed.  Last year, Fat Rice, a restaurant that serves the food of Macau, a Chinese district/territory/autonomous zone (like Honk Kong) on the coast of the Indian Ocean that was for a long time, a colony of Portugal.  The cuisine is a fusion of Portuguese and Chinese cuisines.  Both areas are on the coast, so there is a lot of seafood but there are many Asian spices like ginger and chilies and because it is a natural fusion, it doesn't feel forced.  Located on a corner, the entrance to the restaurant is on he corner of the building.  The dining room is relatively small but has two communal tables that seat about 10 people each, about 4 4-top tables, and a corner bar surrounding an open kitchen that will seat another 12 people.  The place has kind of a rustic look to it.  The place is done in dark wood and has old kitchen tools hanging on the walls.  Because the place is small and they seem to do a pretty good business, they have opened a separate waiting area which is also attached to the kitchen but diners have to leave and go to down two doors down the street to enter.  This room has a couple of benches with hinge-attached seating that swings around and a small bar where you can buy all of the drinks in the restaurant as well a small menu of bar snacks.  As I came without a reservation at a busy time, I did have to wait about 40 minutes but it was fine because serendipitously, a couple of my friends decided to try the restaurant at the same time.  I had a beer, they have a good selection of craft brews, and an order of Jamon Iberico Mangalica which was slices of Jamon Iberico, a cured ham that comes from pigs that live in the woods of Spain and Portugal and eat acorns and truffles for the last few months of their life.  It is very light and in addition to the excellent pork flavor, it also has a nutty and buttery flavor.  The jamon was served with Asian Pear, Garlic Almonds, and Mustard Sprouts.  The dish was very light and good and the pear went very well with the ham.  I am generally not a fan of ham but this was much less gritty than most pears normally are and was actually pretty good.  My friends ordered a mixed bowl of warm Mama's Nuts, which were also very good.

When I was seated, I was seated at the bar because I like to watch the goings on in the kitchen.  My friends, while they weren't with me, were seated very close.  Which while nice, the room was loud so it was hard to carry on a conversation unless you were next to each other.  For my appetizer, the first official course of my meal, I ordered Linguiça with Chili Cabbage (cabbage with piri piri peppers), Cilantro, Ginger, and Olives.  The sausage was cooked well and was juicy.  It kind of reminded me of kielbasa but it went well with the spicy cabbage and ginger.

The main courses at Fat Rice are large and are generally meant for two people.  One person could eat it but if they also got an appetizer and dessert, they would probably be pretty uncomfortable.  For my entree, I had a dish with a very descriptive name, Porco-Clamo, and that is exactly what it was.  Served in a clay pot it was a stew of slow cooked pork shoulder, littleneck clams, potatoes, olives, and more peppers in a natural jus.  This was very good and more than I was going to be able to comfortably eat.  The pork was served on the bone, but it was so tender that it easily slid off the bone when you took a knife to it.  This was all served with coconut rice which provided another good flavor to the mix.  I enjoyed what I could of this and took the rest home so I could also enjoy dessert.

For my dessert, I ordered what was called a Serradura and was a custard type dish like a flan or a panna cotta.  The custard was actually thinner than flan or panna cotta but it was sweet cream based and pretty good.  It was served with Guavas, Bananas, and topped with Almond Brickle Cookie Crumbs.  It was sweet and fruity with a variety of textures from the fruit, the creamy custard, and the layer of nutty cookie crumbs.  It was very good and a fitting end to a very good dinner.

I really enjoyed my meal here at Fat Rice.  The staff was friendly, the place was nice, and the food was really good.  While Chicago still does not have a Portuguese restaurant, they have come much closer with Fat Rice and I will definitely be back.