Fat Rice

Tonight, I dined with a friend and her almost 3 year-old daughter at Fat Rice in Logan Square at W Diversey Ave and Sacramento Ave. We had been planning to come to this place together for a few months, and were finally able to work out our different schedules to make it happen.

We showed up at 5:30 PM (opening time) on a Tuesday, and we were seated immediately without a reservation. They brought us a high chair for the little one. The restaurant is very small (40 seats), and though it's dimly lit, the lighting is pretty with multi-colored candle vases on each table and white rope lights. The restaurant completely filled up and had formed a line out the door before we had finished dining.

The hostesses and servers were very kind, and repeatedly complimented us on having a well-behaved, adorable kid with us. Now don't get me wrong, she is well-behaved and adorable, but a 2 year-old is still a 2 year-old. I thought everyone on the staff was very warm and inviting to all 3 of us. Even though I don't have a child of my own, nice dining establishments that are so warm and welcoming to children get extra stars in my book.

At each table, you get a fork, spoon, and chopsticks (plus a knife with certain menu orders). We used a combination of all of these. I didn't really know anything about the food of Macau, and took instructions from our servers on how to properly eat everything. The food from Macau is a mix of Portuguese, Chinese, Goan, African, and Malaysian influences. If you're not an adventurous eater, you'll surely be outside of your comfort zone, but if you're willing to give anything a try, there's some incredible cooking happening here. I also didn't totally know what everything on the menu was, but we came here to have an ambitious culinary experience and speak our best Portuguese, and indeed, we did.

First, we were brought a small complimentary bowl of Sichuan peppercorn pickled cabbage. We all liked it. I was a little surprised by that.



We came for the namesake dish, the Arroz Gordo (Fat Rice), so we ordered that straight away. It takes 30 minutes to cook. So in the meantime, we chose some 3 for $10 "bites". Our selections included boiled peanuts, eggplant, and a pig ear salad. The pig ear salad was probably my favorite. The pig ear was surprisingly soft, almost in noodle-like form, but surrounded by crunchy onions, peppers, and greens to balance out the texture of the bite. The kid was all about the boiled peanuts, which were served cold and topped with mushrooms. The eggplant was tasty, and I don't even like eggplant, but we all decided it was too spicy for us, so I brought the rest home for my partner to enjoy later. Somehow, spicy food doesn't make her nose run like crazy, like it does mine. She must be an alien. I've always half suspected that.



Then came the famous Arroz Gordo, a celebratory dish of Macau. Reminiscent of paella, it's a bountiful, home-style, layered rice dish that is usually prepared for family and friends on special occasions. It's a Jasmine rice laced with sofrito, delicious Chinese sausage, and salted duck. It's topped with Portuguese chicken thighs, char sui (barbeque) pork, linguiça sausage, fatty prawns, littleneck clams, hard-boiled tea eggs, and croutons. Then it's scattered with assorted pickles, olives, and sauces. It came with a mushroom soy sauce and Diablo ghost pepper sauce on the side. The rice is crispy on the bottom. That was one of my friend's favorite parts.



Our server's advice to us, and advice that I would pass on about this epic dish, is to dig to the bottom of the clay pot that the recipe is cooked and served in (it will still be hot to the touch, so be careful), and pull out the rice onto your plate immediately with the other stuff you want. Don't get totally focused on working top to bottom or side to middle. It's meant to be eaten as a whole, with each bite combining different flavors and textures. Be careful that the olives still have pits, and the prawns are still shelled with heads-on, and must be peeled.

I particularly liked the chicken thighs, which were boneless and more fatty than I'd usually have them. They were cooked to perfection, and still incredibly tender. Also, the linguiça sausage, which I can only compare to a chorizo, was enjoyed all around.

This is an unforgettable dining experience, and it's very unique as far as I've ever known. I've been called "a garbage disposal" by my partner because of my willingness to try to eat anything. My younger self would've never expected this. But for the adventurous foodie, and those interested in food cultures they don't know about, try this place out. It's probably unlike anything you've ever had.