I made an impromptu decision to try out Fatboy’s, on a Saturday night, as we were looking for dinner around Joo Chiat. I recalled seeing Fatboy’s around the area, and I vaguely remember reading reviews about their burgers.

Reservations are definitely recommended as the restaurant was pretty full for dinner on Saturday. The restaurant was so packed that service was quite poor. They seemed shorthanded and it was very difficult to catch the attention of the servers.

There were many combinations of burgers listed on the menu, as well as an option to create your own burger. There was also a vegetarian option, where the “patty” was made from Portobello mushroom. Other than burgers, they have other main courses like fish & chips, mac & cheese, grilled salmon and the usual American food. They do serve beers, alcoholic drinks and milkshakes too. There was also a dessert menu with typical American desserts like brownie or banana split.

For the burgers, the options were basically just beef (Australian chuck beef), lamb, pork or chicken, with different combinations of sauces, buns and other ingredients like mushrooms, fried egg, bacon or vegetables etc.

All burgers were to be served with fries. Salt was provided on each table, so that you can salt your own fries to your personal preference of saltines, which is quite a common practice.

Bushtucker – $14.00

Grilled beef chuck patty, extra thick bacon, melted emmenthal cheese, beets, topped with wild arugula and garlic aioli on a whole wheat bun

I chose this burger among all the options because it has rocket salad in it. Instead of the default medium well, I had my patty done medium. The patty was juicy and delicious. Indeed it wasn’t like the typical patties you get from fast food chains. This patty tasted fresher than those. However, I think I would have preferred the typical cheddar over emmenthal cheese as this cheese wasn’t as strong in taste as cheddar. I guess I could do without the bacons too as this was overloaded with protein. The whole wheat bun, however, was the best burger bun I ever had!

Swiss Shroom – $13.50

Hand crafted chuck patty, sauteed Shitake mushrooms, melted emmenthal cheese with garlic aioli on a sesame seed bun

My dining partner opted for the swiss shroom. He claimed that Carl’s Junior’s Portobello mushroom burger was better, but how could shitake compare to Portobello anyway? He also mentioned that the sesame bun was really good, better than my whole wheat bun, but I didn’t get to try it.

Overall, I feel that Fat Boy’s is a pretty inexpensive place to dine at. Price wise it’s comparable to Carl’s Junior (well, other than Carls Junior other fast food chains’ burgers basically are from a different league), and there’s no service charge or GST. The food’s pretty good for the price and it didn’t disappoint! A pretty good place for group gathering I’d say. However, I’ve not tried out the other gourmet burger restaurants in town yet, so I can’t be for sure whether or not this is one of the best around. But without comparing it to others, this was pretty good on its own.

*****

Ambiance: 6/10

Food: 8/10

Value: 8/10

Overall: one of the best burgers I’ve eaten!

*****

Fatboy’s The Burger Bar (Katong)

465 Joo Chiat Road,

Singapore 427677

Tel: 63466081

*****

Mon – Thu:    16:00 – 00:00

Fri – Sun:    12:00 – 00:00

*****

Getting There:

By Car:

Public carpark along Joo Chiat Road

By Bus:

10, 12, 14, 16, 32, 40