Expect Crispy Peking Duck at Phat Eatery’s New, Expansive Woodlands Restaurant

Fans of Katy Asian Town’s Malaysian restaurant Phat Eatery can expect double the food and fun in 2023.

Phat’s chef-owner Alex Au-Yeung, a 2022 James Beard Award semifinalist for the Best Chef: Texas category, plans to open a larger location in the Woodlands early next year with an expanded dim sum menu and Chinese-style barbecue, per a release.

Located at 2290 Buckthorne Place at the Grogan Mills Village outpost, the new location is set to serve up the same favorites as the Katy outpost, but with the ability to seat twice the amount of customers and will feature an open-concept kitchen.

The 7,800 square-foot restaurant will seat 180 guests in its dining room and will feature three private dining spaces — two that can be combined — and each seating anywhere between 12 and 80 people.

Designed by architecture firm Tramonte Design Studio, the Woodlands location is expected to include some nostalgic touches harkening back to the Katy Asian Town flagship, including similar wood elements, a wraparound bar, and some of the iconic night market signage seen at the original locale.

Street food-inspired dishes like Phat’s flaky roti canai, satay skewers, Kerabu prawns, and Malaysian curry chicken and beef randang will also carry over, but the restaurant will experiment with new dishes.

Au-Yeung plans to expand Phat’s dim sum offerings, adding steamed rice rolls and xiao long bao to the menu along with the classic har gow, siu mai, pork buns, and lotus leaf-wrapped sticky rice. The chef will also hone in on his training in Cantonese kitchens in Hong Kong, debuting Chinese style-barbecue at the Woodlands spot, offering delectable dishes like barbecue pork and Peking duck.

Lunch service will also see an additional feature for midday dining and to-go orders. Taking inspiration from Japanese bento boxes during Japan’s decades-long occupation of Taiwan, Au-Yeung will serve bian dang — a bento box-style lunch box featuring a main dish, like barbecue or stir fry, with rice and side dishes.

Along with beer, wine, and sake, cocktails are set to include Southeast Asian-inspired drinks to complement the menu.