I would
have never ordered the cold tofu ($9) without prompting from a friend… why
would I want something cold, especially if it’s tofu? But, as I bit into the
silky soy bean block, swimming in a salty Szechuan hot chili oil and topped
with onion frizzles, green onions, garlic, and peanuts, I wonder what inventive
thinker came up with such a delicious take on tofu. This isn't your regular
boring soy bean dish.
Make
sure you’ve finished your conversation before biting into the satay wrap ($11)…
once you start you just have to keep eating it as it’s impossible to put down
and if you wait too long, the filling will start sliding out. The seitan adds a
meaty texture against the delicate Bibb lettuce and the crunchy pickled
vegetables; it’s then drenched in a diluted peanut sauce that starts out
slightly sweet but ends with a spicy bite.
Even
before finishing the okonomiyaki ($13)
we were already contemplating if another order was needed. The light thin chewy
batter with the crispy edges is slathered with flavourful shallots and spicy
kewpie. On its own it would have been too heavy, but Fat Choi balanced the dish
off with raw crisp red cabbage and Brussels sprouts to create a slaw topping on
the savoury pancake. A dish that seems so simple but is surprisingly delicious.
In
general, all the flatbread-like dishes were tasty. The stuffed roti ($15)
consisted of two pan fried flaky roti sandwiching a spiced chickpea, onion, and
potato mixture. A curry garlic sauce comes with the hearty roti, which is
thinned and the spice level restrained.
Make
sure you get the nasi goreng ($16),
this Indonesian fried rice was oh so flavourful. To make it vegan, a tofu
crumble is added that still gives the fried rice an eggy texture, while bits of
okra and bell peppers provide a crunchy texture throughout the rice. I love the
black pepper bite to the rice… and the smell, oh the smell.
The no mapo no tofu ($17) is an interesting
dish incorporating the sweet, beany, spicy sauce you’d expect from the
traditional mapo tofu. However, the
name of no mapo and no tofu calls out
the fact that the dish contains no pork and no tofu. Instead, it’s replaced
with creamy eggplant with flecks of pickled vegetables, the sauce cooked so
long together that it becomes thick and caramelized; all sticky and sweet with
the rice. Served in clay pot, this would be even better if the rice was lightly
toasted so the bottom so that it develops a golden crispy crust – I can just imagine how
epic it’d be if the mapo sauce is enhanced
with crispy rice.
We
finished off with the daily nood, that evening a curried laksa ($18 for a large
bowl or $11 for individual portions). The smaller bowl is a great option as you
really need to dig in and have spoonfuls of the coconut and curry broth to
really augment the experience, although the soup should be a hotter temperature.
Pieces of smoked tofu gives an interesting heartiness to the noodles in place
of meat. In the past, I’ve had laksa with rice or egg noodles; at Fat Choi,
they use a combination of the thicker miki
noodle and a thin vermicelli, the mix reminiscent of a bowl of Fukien noodles
at Kim Po.
People
ask if I miss having meat during weekdays. Truthfully, we have such amazing
plant-based options in Toronto that no, I can happily forgo animal protein
Monday to Thursdays, with some exceptions. Fat Choi is an example of one of
these restaurants. When the vegetarian dishes are this good, who needs meat?
Overall mark - 8 out of 10
How To Find Them
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 94 Ossington Avenue
Address: 94 Ossington Avenue
Website: https://www.fatchoito.com/
Follow me on twitter to chat, be notified about new posts and more - https://twitter.com/GastroWorldBlog
____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
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