I can only describe my experience here as wonderful. The food is so creative, yet it feels like a comforting meal to have with family. Some of the dishes I loved the most included: the spicy cucumber salad, the corn fritters, the charcoal grilled chicken, the spicy chili noodles, the spicy shrimp, and of course the egg tart! I want to go back immediately.
They have nice and cool interior design. I felt at peace when I came here since I like interior design. They have nice set up in their chair inside for dine in. If you want to feel the presence of air and enjoy the view outside you can enjoy their outside dining. They have nice and great customer service. There are staff who greet and welcome me when I enter and also when I order my food.One of my favorites that I like on their menu was Char Siu BBQ Berkshire Pork. It was so yummy. It was so amazing. It was marinated well. I can't get enough of it. The meat was soft and so tasty. I can have a lot of extra rice if I ate these BBQs. I really suggest this food. You will try these if you come here. I'm sure you'll enjoy this.
Takeaway:All-around great Chinese / Portuguese fusion with stand-out charcoal grilled proteins and an absolutely incredible egg tart (probably best in the city).I also want to flag the negative notoriety that owner Abe Conlon had garnered due to his workplaces practices and insensitive handling of DEI issues (most notably the cultural appropriation baked into the walls of this place). I'm focusing mostly on my personal experience in this review, but want to echo and acknowledge the many employees that have had poor (at-best) experiences under his management.Context:Dined in for dinner with two friends and did the meal for four. I haven't had a ton of Macau food before specifically (other than egg tarts), but have had plenty of Chinese food and a good amount of Portuguese.What I Got:Spicy Cucumbers (7.5/10)Cucumber salad (featuring wood ear mushrooms) tossed in a spicy sauce. I thought the sauce here was top-notch (and saved it the whole meal to mix with my rice later on), but the cucumbers themselves were perhaps a little bit disappointing. They were a bit too bitter for my taste and distracted from the overall great flavors (mushrooms were awesome though!)Ginger Cabbage Salad (6.5/10)Name kind of describes it all. This probably tastes exactly how you imagine it. Certainly not bad and a decent complement to the richer flavors that come later on, but nothing special by itself.Pork Dumplings (8/10)Thinly-wrapped ground pork dumplings served in a garlic & chili sauce - very reminiscent of a Sichuan-style chao shou with both the filling and the sauce. They did a great job at getting the perfect balance of savory and spicy with the sauce and you can really taste the quality of the pork they use. I could eat dozens of these.Smoked Tofu Fried Rice (7/10)Coconut rice stir-fried with tofu, curry sauce, and an array of different vegetables. While not something that could carry a meal on its own (which is how I feel about the vast majority of fried rice), I thought this was a great complement to the rest of the meal, particularly with the char siu (who doesn't love meat and rice). Put some of their chili oil on it if you can!Char Siu BBQ Berkshire Pork (8.5/10)Char siu over coconut rice with (uncooked?) scallions on the side. First of all, it's sort of weird that the scallions weren't better incorporated into the dish, but I'll just let it slide as decorative garnish I guess. The pork itself is great - tender in a way that is pretty different from most char siu I've had in the past. I don't know if I necessarily prefer it like this over the traditional way, but certainly appreciated the switch-up. Ultimately a pretty impressive char siu that doesn't stray too much from the classically sweet grilled pork that I've loved my whole life, while still being its own dish.Half Charcoal Chicken (8/10)Perfectly charcoal grilled chicken in a lemon / garlic / chili sauce over a bed of coconut rice - what more could you want? This was a wonderfully cooked half-chicken - the breast was a bit dry, but that's how grilled chicken breast almost always turns out. This reminded me heavily of a refined peri-peri chicken - perhaps there is a Macau-equivalent here, but that's all I was thinking about while eating this. Not that that's a bad thing - I adore peri-peri chicken. There's an undercurrent of spice here that is balanced by the various sources of rice that were provided.Egg Tart (9/10)Portuguese-style egg tarts, on-par with the best I've had in my life and certainly the top ones in Chicago. Perfectly flaky crust with a custard that's just the right balance of gooey and runny with a precise sweetness that will keep you craving more and more
We went for lunch on a Saturday and the place was pretty empty. The server was very friendly and the atmosphere was welcoming.We had the pulled pork sandwich, chicken fried rice and the fritters. Everything was delicious. I got their fruity soda water and it was very tasty.We'll definitely be back.
Had a deliiiicious solo lunch here!! The pork dumplings are flavorful and tender, and the sauce they’re served in is UNBELIEVABLE. With the corn fritters on the side, it was a perfect lunch! Fun music playing, and the staff were great. Can’t wait to come back and try more of the menu :)
Surprised by overwhelmingly positive reviews.Did not have very many noodle dishes for a place called noodle bird. Waitress informed me that they recently overhauled their menu.Got rice dishes and they were fine. A little expensive for what they were.Service was confusing. It seemed like a mostly do it yourself type of restaurant? But that wasn't very clear.. Which also makes it confusing on how to tip.. There was only one waitress, who only came over when we placed the order on our phones and to serve the food. It was hard to flag her down for anything else. We went at lunchtime on a Sunday and there was only one other group of two there.
Surprised by overwhelmingly positive reviews.Did not have very many noodle dishes for a place called noodle bird. Waitress informed me that they recently overhauled their menu.Got rice dishes and they were fine. A little expensive for what they were.Service was confusing. It seemed like a mostly do it yourself type of restaurant? But that wasn't very clear.. Which also makes it confusing on how to tip.. There was only one waitress, who only came over when we placed the order on our phones and to serve the food. It was hard to flag her down for anything else. We went at lunchtime on a Sunday and there was only one other group of two there.
I tried the noodles and the rice and they were good, but nothing extraordinary. Need to try more food maybe. However the egg tarts are soooo delicious. Better than any I tried in Macau, Shanghai or Chicago. I wish they were closer to my house, but I guess it's good since I would go broke and fat by eating them.
It was good overall, I tried two types of noodles one was good the other was okay. I do prefer more authentic and I didn’t see it as authentic that’s why I feel 4 star.But the guys are friendly
Wow! Noodle bird at Fat Rice has some of the best and quality Asian food I have had. It was easy to find a spot and an employee quickly came over to clean off our table. Since it was our first time here we went up to the counter and the employee explained that we have to order at the counter when we are ready and gave us some great recommendations. We ended up ordering shrimp dumplings, peanut noodles and spicy cucumbers. Everything was fantastic but my favorite was the homemade dumplings. Also they offer a variety of fun self serve hot sauces. The restaurant had street parking and isn’t very large, so plan accordingly. However, noodle bird at fat rice is well worth any wait and I would absolutely recommend it.