Standout hole-in-the-wall Chinese food.

7.5/10

Fat dragon has been one of my go-to Chinese restaurants for a while now! It’s right off of 183 and is in a random shopping mall that’s easy to miss, but once you go I can promise it’ll be one of your staples too. It’s fairly affordable, is never too busy, and is super fast. Its a very self-serve vibe where you order at the counter, grab all your utensils and sauces from a counter, and they bring out your food as it’s ready–perfect for a casual meal. The obscure art on the wall (definitely done by the owners’ elementary school kids) is another interesting aspect to your dining experience.

They have a ton of different things on their menu, from ramen to shrimp stuffed tofu, and is your typical Chinese restaurant but so much better. I haven’t had a dish I didn’t enjoy and after going several times, I haven’t even gotten through a quarter of the menu.

If I had to pin point what brings me back, it has to be their dumplings. An entire page of their menu is filled with all sorts of different dumplings, from soup to pot stickers to dessert.

The potstickers/pan fried dumplings are insanely delicious. Not too crisp, super juicy, and the perfect ratio of meat/insides to outside. They have 5+ different types that you can get either pan fried or steamed, but my two favorites happen to be pork and chive and chicken cilantro.

I can confidently say their soup dumplings are comparable to Wu Chow and other top-notch chinese restaurants in Austin. Perfect ratio, really delicious soup, and served piping hot. They also have a couple different sauces that pair really well with all of the dumplings, like their garlic soy sauce.

Lastly, their dessert dumplings were unreal. Coconut cream “broth” with a melted chocolate center, the entire thing oozes in your mouth (or bursts across the table if you try and bite it in half…no I didn’t do that…) and is soooooo rich. The fun-size is the perfect portion and are so adorable haha. How can those not put a smile on your face?!

All in all, Fat Dragon seems like your average Chinese restaurant but is far superior. You aren’t gonna get the same experience as going to Wu Chow, but for the price (all of those dumplings were $40 and could serve 3 people), for an easy, casual meal when you’re super hungry (or not), and for the amazing dishes, this place is a must.

Let me know if you’ve tried Fat Dragon and if not, you should definitely go!!!

-Ari