Fat Noodle Restaurant Review- Brisbane Treasury Casino & Hotel

Another restaurant review which has been held back for a while is the Fat Noodle Restaurant at the Treasury Casino, Brisbane. Personally, I feel that this restaurant has been overlooked and is very much worthy of a visit and has easily gained a spot in one of top Asian restaurants I love in Brisbane, which is unsurprising as it is the brain-child of Luke Nguyen.

Fairly quaint restaurant, and surprisingly quiet for a Saturday afternoon.

I've only noticed it this time round, I this is what makes the Fat Noodle, quaint. Do you see it?

No? They've hung hundreds of orange chopsticks and big woks!! XD

Upon arrival, we were greeted with friendly staff and since it was fairly quiet, we were able to choose where we wanted to sit and chose a table nearest to a window for view and optimal lighting for my photos! :) Within a couple of minutes, they brought us a pot of complimentary jasmine tea in a funky iron cast (I think it's iron cast or simply some stupidly heavy metal) teapot.

Small but heavy!

Someone is checking out his tea.

Me, happy to have lunch out on a Saturday!

Table-mat aka the menu.

This time round, I opted for the Hainanese Chicken Rice as I wanted a simple, light meal and James ordered the Fat Pho Noodles. Prior to ordering our food, we ordered beer! Definitely a Saturday pre-meal drink and what could be better than ice-cold draught beer?!

He is definitely looking happier with pints of beer!

My dish arrived first (simply cause it's chicken rice, and for chicken rice lovers, you know how fast they plate it up!) within minutes of ordering! Talk about prompt service! And James' came within a couple of minutes apart.

My awesome Hainanese Chicken Rice! Definitely one of the best presented chicken rice dish I've seen in like forever. 

As a sworn Hainanese Chicken Rice lover, I am impressed with the standard! The rice is nice and fragrant, with deep-fried, crunchy shallots on top. The chicken broth (as boring and plain as it looks) is surprisingly rich with chicken flavour. The only one thing that is a bit untraditional is the slight drizzle of kicap manis (sweetened, thick soy sauce) on the chicken and veggies. The chilli sauce and garlic paste was also awesome on its own but definitely enhanced the flavour of the dish (though the chilli sauce could have been a bit more sour than sweet, but hey, I am definitely not complaining too much about the chilli sauce! It's awesome!).

Chickennnn! The more I stare that this photo whilst writing this post, the hungrier I get. Stop salivating all over the keyboard, dammnit!

I'm a sauce-girl. No food is good without a good sauce! Now, stare at the garlic paste.

I must be so Asian right now - actually have a close-up photo of the rice wtf

Rich, beefy goodness of the pho! Pho power!! Out of all the pho places I've visited in Brisbane, this one is the best!

I love this restaurant and every time I've been there, their food standard still wows me. It is also surprisingly affordable (I still somehow associate high prices with casino restaurants). The chicken rice is $16AUD whilst the beef pho is $18AUD.

Another random reason I deem this place highly worthy, despite the somewhat low ratings on Urbanspoon, is the quality of the congee/porridge. Holy fudge, it's fucking awesome! On our first visit to the Fat Noodle, James ordered the seafood congee and I had seriously doubted the quality until I took a mouthful and declared to the world that I haven't found a congee/porridge anywhere I've been to in Australia that good! Okay, most Asians are biased when it comes to congee. Some like it watery with huge chunky bits of meat, but I like mine like the one served here! Thick, rich with flavour (seafood) and filled with fish, and other seafood. Huge thumbs up!

We had also tried the Chicken Pad Thai and Roasted Duck on other occasions and it was all good (I remembered the duck being slightly dry, but overall, the food is yummy!). I also went another time with an ex-friend of mine and she had the Caramelized Pork Ribs with Egg - it was wholly flavoursome but I found it a tad bit too sweet.

Verdict time!

• Presentation: 4.2/5 (Nicely presented but obviously not to a fine-dining standard; Good)
• Food/Taste: 4.5/5 (Awesome but I see an inconsistency in some of the dishes I ordered in the past. Fantastic nonetheless!)
• Service: 5/5 (Absolutely felt like I was sitting in a fancy, upper-class fine dining restaurant! Everything was quick and smooth.)
• Monetary value: 4.5/5 (I think it is uber awesome to get fantastic food without breaking the wallet)

Overall, I would definitely give it a 4.5/5! Fat Noodle, you've got me as a regular!

Asian Chow-time at:
Fat Noodle
130 William Street (Treasury Casno & Hotel)
Brisbane, Queensland 4007, Australia
(P): 07 3306 8888
(W): http://www.treasurybrisbane.com.au/Dining/Pages/Fat-Noodle-.aspx