Neil Kiley is a big guy, 6-foot-2 and 270. Played football in high school. Has a huge gray cat that weighs in at 32 pounds. Loves and adores food of all sorts. Put it all together and you've got The Fat Cat, a Quincy restaurant he opened just before Christmas.
The Fat Cat is a throw-back to pre-health food days: There are lots of sauces and creams on the menu. "It's not called 'The Skinny Cat,' " Kiley notes wryly.
Whatever, it makes for a good neighborhood gastropub where the fries come with dipping sauces, the burgers are gargantuan, and the mac 'n' cheese is loaded with lobster. Elastic-waist pants are your best bet here.
Kiley was born and raised in Quincy, where he still lives with his wife, Nicole, who helps manage the place. The chef is Tom Coleman, late of Fifty Three South in Norwell. Kiley has worked in the kitchen and in management at chain restaurants and mom-and-pops.
The 65-seat restaurant, in a historic building, has exposed brick walls and an industrial ceiling. A glass partition divides the long bar from the dining area; there are the usual flat-screen TVs - and a big sketch of a fat cat looking over the kitchen window.
Though the lobster mac 'n' cheese ($16 and enough for two) is the biggest seller, Kiley says he loves the loaded fat dog ($6), a "gourmet hot dog" - surely an oxymoron - with a choice of several toppings.
"I'm a fat kid at heart and always will be," says Kiley, whose parents called him "the condiment king" when he was a kid. "We'd have burgers at our house and it would take me seven minutes to assemble mine."
A basket of warm homemade rolls and cornbread appears with a saucer of black bean dip and an orb of sweet honey butter. Try the fried dill pickle slices ($6), lightly battered and served with Cajun remoulade. Then it's on to hot and crisp hand-cut fries ($7), which arrive in a conical basket. You choose the spice and sauce. We opt for garlic and parsley with blue cheese, delicious and piquant.
Fat Cat wings come the same way (10 wings for $7, 25 for $16, 50 for $30): pick mild, medium, or "XXX" heat and choose one of eight sauces. The wings are moist and spicy (ours have fajita sauce), with a nice kick.
The Fat Cat takes American food and adds a twist: Consider the barbecue pork nachos ($8), a platter with surprisingly sweet and smoky chopped barbecue and caramelized onions, roasted garlic, and gooey manchego and cheddar. Skipping from Southwest to New England, there are lobster-crab nachos ($10), which we pass on; lobster mac 'n' cheese is headed our way.
This signature dish contains generous lobster in a four-cheese sauce over corkscrew pasta with a scattering of panko crumbs and small grilled tomatoes. It's creamy, buttery, totally decadent, and enough for lunch the next day.
Grilled burgers ($7) are 10 ounces, stuffed into a thick ciabatta roll, and served with homemade fries. Toppings include avocado, fried onion rings, and cheeses (50 cents each). Tasty, but the dish is overkill: I'd go for a lighter roll.
Barbecued flank steak ($16), has a rather ordinary glaze. Instead, try baby-back ribs, slow-smoked, fall-off-the-bone tender (half rack $10, full $18). A side of cauliflower mash with garlic and Parmesan is memorable. Baked haddock ($16) in a lemony sauce is served with pancetta for a salty note, roasted corn for the sweet, and grape tomatoes with small red potatoes.
You won't have room for dessert (all $6), but don't let that stop you. There's a baker on the premises. The warm and fudgy thick-as-a-brick brownie sundae comes with vanilla ice cream, and butterscotch, raspberry, and chocolate drizzles.
A wine and beer list is respectable, but best are cat-theme cocktails ($8 each), such as Alley Cat and Cheshire Cat. Meow. Purr.
