fatty crab

I'm going to have to pay for tonight's Fatty Crab noshfest with a serious Bikram Yoga session tomorrow. For some reason that I still can't figure out, Fatty Crab had been off my radar until tonight. But now that I've popped my Fatty Crab cherry, you can bet I'll be coming back for more. We were celebrating our friend JM's birthday so we were a fairly large party, which meant lots and lots of food. 

We were all famished so the plates of Watermelon Pickle and Crispy Pork ($15) disappeared rather quickly. 

I love sweet and salty combos so I was definitely a fan of this dish. The contrast between the textures and tastes of the crispy fried pork and refreshing cubes of watermelon was a winner. Next came some Nasi Goreng ($16), spicy fried rice typical of Malaysia and Indonesia. Very tasty but those sliced chilis meant business.

Then came steamed pork buns ($9) so juicy and flavorful that I'd pick them over David Chang's any day. I especially liked the little coriander salad on the side, which added another dimension of flavor and texture to the pork buns.

I just realized that I didn't get to try the Lamb Shoulder Curry with that deliciously oily roti. Making my mouth water at 2AM when I have no business being hungry.

If there's one dish I would definitely come back for, it's the Fatty Duck ($17). It's fried to a delicate crispness, and is somehow not as greasy as I've come to expect duck to be. And the rice that it comes with ... Filipinos are already slaves to white rice, but when you add a crunch factor to it, I'm just done for.

Of course, we had to get some Fatty Crab cooked in chili sauce and served with white toast. Not a lot of people are willing to work for their dinner, so most of our party just dunked pieces of the toast in the chili sauce, which was quite good in itself. Other determined foodies like myself dug in with the claw crackers for the juicy prize within the shells. The crab meat I was able to salvage from the claws were very tender and juicy. But I wish they would take a cue from the brilliant folks in my country who serve just piles and piles of crab legs. So much more conducive for stuffing yourself silly.

Drink order tip: the Lachouffe Dobbelen Triple IPA ($10) turned out to be a great choice because it's slightly sweet so it always worked with and never against the spicy food. 

And with that, my food coma and I are going to bed ...

Fatty Crab is located at 643 Hudson Street (between Horatio and Gansevoort) and at 2170 Broadway (between 76th and 77th Streets), New York, NY. Tel. (212) 352-3592 (West Village) and (212) 496-CRAB (Upper West Side)