Fatty's Italian Fusion Cuisine just keeps on getting bigger
By Douglas Habecker
Translated by Anna Yang
259, GongYi Rd, Sec 2, Nantun Dist.
(04) 2251-3699
Hours: weekdays 11:30 am-10 pm, weekends 11 am-10 pm
English menu and parking lot available.
Credit cards accepted.
10% service charge.
Since its opening in 2000, Fatty's Italian Restaurant has occupied a sizable niche in Taichung's international dining scene, drawing a steady mix of Taiwanese and foreigners with its selection of pastas, pizzas and main entrees. Many restaurants might be content with that, but the current owners are using this success as a stepping stone to not only expand around Taiwan but also, most recently, broaden the menu in brand-new directions.
 
Right: "Exotic Soup Noodle" entree
Shrimp Tom Yung Kung with
Angel Hair Pasta (NT$400)
While loyal diners are no doubt mourning the closure of the original JingCheng Road branch after the lunar new year, this is merely a prelude to opening two more city branches, starting with a much-larger Chongde branch in early summer. These join a just-opened branch by Kaohsiung's Chengcing Lake and two existing Taipei locations.
The Kaohsiung branch and future Taichung store include two very non-Italian options--teppanyaki and healthy hot pots. In the meantime, the existing Taichung GongYi branch has also seen some interesting new menu additions over the past month that are definitely worth trying. Two that jump out are four new beef and chicken burgers (NT$250-280) and a truly unique Fatty's invention--three "Exotic Soup Noodle" entrees (NT$340-400) that combine angel hair pasta with, respectively, Western, Korean and Thai inspired soups.
  
Left: Texas Cheese Burger (NT$280)
Medium:
Weekday lunch entree King Trumpet Mushroom and
Filet Sauteed with Oyster Sauce (NT$390)
Right: New entree Seared Duck Breast with Truffle Risotto
and Drizzled with Balsamic Glaze (NT$460)
Almost every other category also sees old favorites joined by fresh additions, like new Vegetables and Mushrooms Gratin with Tomato Cream Sauce (NT$200) appetizer, French Onion Soup with Mini Pizza Bites (NT$160), and Korean Kimchi Chicken Risotto (NT$400). The pasta menu, still pairing eight different handmade noodle options with a topping choice, has been beefed up with items like Surf and Turf Pasta (NT$480) and Seafood Deluxe Pasta with Oriental Curry Sauce (NT$390), featuring a Japanese-style brown curry in contrast to Fatty's famed Seafood Deluxe Pasta with Thai Style Cream Sauce (NT$390).
Finally, there is a new weekday lunch menu (11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.) with six rice-based mostly-Asian entrees (NT$280-390), like Stewed Sea Bass with Sweet Rice Wine, all served with soup. |
January 2016
