Fat Choy, a Chinese vegan noodle spot in downtown Englewood, has the feel of an upscale Asian diner, with bright-turquoise booths and cheery red paper lanterns hanging along the wall. One of the reasons I chose to visit this restaurant is that one of my sons is a vegetarian, so at this place, he could comfortably order anything on the menu. The other reason is that Fat Choy was recently named one of the 50 places in the United States that New York Times critics are most excited about right now, so I had to check it out.
There are many interesting vegetarian/vegan choices on Fat Choy’s menu, such as General Lee’s cauliflower, which is battered, fried, sweet and crunchy, and impossible to stop eating. Also worth sampling are the pan-fried edamame dumplings and the Crispy Spicy Shrooms, which come with hon shimeji and oyster mushrooms and a spicy caramel sauce (my son doesn’t usually like mushrooms, but he loved these). The Singapore noodles could have used some more flavoring, but the Sichuan curly fries with a sweet-and-sour sauce were tasty. We fought over the Kung Pao Tots and Tofu, served with peanuts, chili and celery.
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Fat Choy offers nonalcoholic cocktails, which they call Elixirs, such as the Our Lady of Margarita, made with coastal botanicals, cucumber and jalapeno, and the Nojito, made with mint and lime. For dessert, don’t miss the banana Rangoon. This spot opened in August; CEO Jonathan Krieger teamed up with chef Justin Lee to revive the concept after its New York City restaurant closed. The owners plan to open several more locations in New Jersey soon.
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