Fortune Restaurant

Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are.—Brillat-Savarin

It was on a snowy Monday night that my god-parents, the bf and I decided to head over to Fujiyama for some of the fine half priced sushi. Hoping that the restaurant was less packed than usual due to the bad weather, we trundled towards Fujiyama's doors only to find that there were many other sushi enthusiasts who were undaunted by the weather. Unbelievable! There was a 30 to 45 min wait to eat COLD food in winter (20 degree Farenheit weather and snowing to boot!) I thought only Penang people were that siow makan ( food crazy).

We decided not to wait and headed off the our favorite Chinese restaurant just across the street called Fortune Restaurant (West Allis).

Fortune serves some of the best Chinese food this side of the pond and is always busy, no matter the time of day. Fortunately, it was not as packed as Fujiyama and we were shown to a table immediately. It used to be that the service there was horrendous but nobody cared because the food was so good. Ever since I got adopted by my god parents who have been patronizing the restaurant for years, the service has improved tremendously and the wait staff has been nothing but nice. It pays to know the right people, I guess.

I had the privilege of ordering the food that night and all these dishes are tried and true palate pleasers. Oh one more thing, Fortune has 2 different menus. There is an American menu (read, fake crappy dishes like moo goo gai pan, chop suey, General Tso's chicken and other so called 'Chinese' dishes that I've never even heard off before coming to the US) and then there is the Chinese menu, pages and pages filled with exotic ingredients like tripe, salted fish and even jellyfish. I ALWAYS recommend ordering off the Chinese menu, even though you have no idea what it is. Regardless, will always taste good. So what if you get a dish with some exotic elements? Life (and dinner) is more fun when you're being adventurous and spontaneous. I am just kidding, the wait staff is always happy to recommend authentic dishes and identify suspicious looking ingredients/parts.

We had 5 dishes for 4 persons:

Beef tenderloin in Black Pepper Sauce: The dish came on a sizzling hot plate that launched a fragrant cloud of black pepper flavored steam into the air. It was just a pleasure sniffing the air in the booth.

Stir-fried Clams with Spicy Black Bean Sauce: A family favorite. It's a little spicy so for those of you who cannot take the heat, have a glass of cold water ready. For me, it's a just perfect counterbalance to the cold weather outside.

Hong Sue Tofu with Vegetables: Deep fried tofu with Chinese mushroom, bamboo shoots, pea pods and char siew (BBQ pork) in a savory garlic sauce.

Eggplant with Chicken and Salted Fish Cooked in a Claypot (acquired taste): It took me years to even touch, much less like salted fish, and I grew up in Asia! Now, I can't get enough of it. Isn't the purple color of the eggplant just gorgeous?

Salted Fish and Chicken Fried Rice: I kid you not. The taste of this dish is amazing. The rice was fried so well that each morsel of rice was coated evenly with seasoning and released such a fragrant aroma when chewed. The texture of the rice was perfectly al dente, with perfectly interspersed tiny pieces of chicken, salted fish, egg and crunchy lettuce.

We had plenty of leftovers to take home for another kick-ass meal. I just can't wait to warm up food containing salted fish in the microwave at work. Won't that be FUN?

Fortune Restaurant (West Allis)
2945 S 108th St
Milwaukee, WI 53227
(414) 328-9890