Fatty Cow Seafood Hot Pot 小肥牛火鍋專門店

REVISIT POST ON FATTY COW SEAFOOD [HERE]

So… imagine this, a hungry starving girl around Victoria Drive, Main Street and Fraser Street at 9:00pm with no delicious places to eat. Might as well mention I am a picky eater too. Of course Yu Xiang Yuan is obviously my first and only choice (well, Golden House Seafood is pretty good too!) but both restaurants were closed.

So, avoiding the usual circling around for thirty minutes to an hour (no exaggeration), we went straight to Fatty Cow. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate Fatty Cow? I rather eat McDonalds than come here or just have ice cream for dinner. I remember Fatty Cow when the restaurant first opened and the food sucked. Anyways… this visit was on a Sunday and the restaurant was 70% full when we walked in. The manager kind of neglected us, which I did not take personal because I expected my experience to "meh" or pretty crappy. After waiting ten minutes unspoken to, we were seated as he cleared a table for us.

ADULT $19.95 CHILDREN (5-10) $13.95 [+$1.00 on weekends/holidays]

DOUBLE SOUP $8.50 SINGLE $7.00, POP $1.50

DOUBLE SOUP, CHICKEN HERB AND FATTY COW HOT & SPICY ($8.50).

Girl who does not want to be here + waiting twenty minutes for broth = not so happy. 

The chicken herb soup base tastes bland and very last minute. The soup base tastes like the chicken broth that is used to refill customers' hot pot with added herbal ingredients (wolfberries, dates, dried logan, huang qi and dang shen roots).

COMPLIMENTARY PEANUT SAUCE, SOY SAUCE, SATAY AND CILANTRO ($0.50).
There is a good amount of herbal ingredients but the broth does not taste herbal at all (which is not a big deal since the meats and vegetables provide enough taste later on). As for the other half, the hot and spicy soup base tastes pretty good; there is a nice settled mild to medium spiciness without tasting oily.

WONTON, MUSHROOM, PUFF TOFU, CORN, MUSSELS AND INSTANT NOODLES.

Everything tastes like what it is… but the corn is worth mentioning! The corn tastes sweet and not previously frozen. I did not try the wonton though, but am sure it tasted average.

WATERCRESS, TONG HO, BABY BAK CHOI AND SIU CHOY. SHRIMP BALLS, PORK BALLS AND BEEF BALLS.

I never eat any of the balls at hot pot, but I tried some this time because we randomly got them. The shrimp balls taste bouncy and slightly shrimpy. Next, the beef ball tastes really weird, unpleasant and awkwardly fowl. As for the pork balls, I did not have a chance to try those. Furthermore, despite not being a fan of these, I do like the smaller sized balls compared to other hot pot restaurants because they look more appealing.

BITTER MELON, PUMPKIN, BASA FILLET AND TARO. PORK SLICES AND LAMB.

After waiting thirty minutes of not eating because I wanted to wait for the seafood, I asked the manager if the seafood was coming. Turns out they overlooked our seafood order (and some sauces) and he placed a new order for us. We also forgot to order meat and he added some as well.  

Starting with the pork, the slices are a bit chewy and look thicker after cooking. Following, the lamb tastes tender with literally almost no chewing required but lacks that nice lamb flavour. Nevertheless, still enjoyable.

LIVE LOBSTER ($13.80) AND LIVE CRAB ($13.80).

The crab looks around 1 1/2lb and the lobster is a chick, probably a bit under 1lb. The prices for the seafood are very reasonable and worth it in my opinion. In addition, I do not suggest throwing the seafood in a spicy soup base because it would probably spoil the natural flavours.

GEODUCK ($13.80) AND PORK JOWL. 

The slices of geoduck are perfectly thin and after cooking, tastes slightly sweet with a soft crunch. I think there is around 1/2lb of geoduck a plate. Following, the pork belly tastes tender, fatty and pretty darn good.

BEEF SIRLOIN AND BEEF RIB EYE.

When the manager ordered the meats for us, he wrote down "3" for each order and we received one plate. I did the same thing for our second order but received three plates (justifying myself for the photo on the right!). Both meats taste extremely tender and really tasty, which surprises me. I thought Fatty Cow sucked? The restaurant has definitely improved and their meats are the tastiest out of pretty much any AYCE hot pot restaurant that I have been to. I rather come back here than any of the ones in Richmond.

POSITIVES

- Above average eats
- Open late night
- Friendly service

NEGATIVES
- Street parking can be limited during busier times
- Chinese herbal broth can improve

LITTLE THINGS
- Revisit post on Fatty Cow Seafood [here]
- Service may be inconsistent. The table beside us had to ask for napkins as well as water ten times before getting any
- Coconut pudding is given at the end of dinner but we forgot to grab them :(… Oh well, not like it was mango, then I would be complaining

Food: 3/5

Service: 2.5/5