Fatty Crab (CLOSED)

I am always ready to cheer a new arrival on the UWS w/ so many closings and I was excited to have another option in a wasteland for asian of any sort. And having lived in Singapore for a while, was happy to have another food from home option. Boy. Howdy. Was this a let down. Hostess wont seat you at 5:30 on a Monday in an empty new restaurant "until your party of 2 has arrived" that will rely on walk ins..... satay with hunks of fatty skin which is layered liberally instead of a decent marinade... peanut sauce that broke my heart... sous vide hainanese chicken rice is just redundant and a stupid affectation- the entire reason for chicken rice is to gently simmer the damn chicken to softness then make the rice out of the broth- not a hint of pandan in the rice... and the dips? good lord ew.... From now on, plotting a chain of Singapore street food outlets because clearly, New York is still waiting for a little Newton Circus.

i Think this place is incredible. The food is like nothing in the city and the servers are knowledgeable and attentive. We hung at the bar and had one of the most unique dining experiences Ive ever had. I dont get the hostility in some of the other reviews. I guess some people just dont get it!

I am Malaysian, so if there is any food I can judge best, it is my soul food. I cook Malay dishes on a regular basis so i am familiar with a wide variety of Malaysian dishes - which is a fusion of Malay, Chinese and Indian. I was truly excited to check out the second Fatty Crab as the first one was too small and overpriced in my opinion. I was really disappointed to find that although the atmosphere and restaurany ambiance itself were great, the food was an attempt to be extremely Malaysian, in other words - overdone. I had the popular classic M'sian dish, nasi lemak and found that the rice was sticky and mushy. A raw egg had been cracked over the rice supposedly as part of the "authentic" and cheffy style. The sambal was too hot (they did not saute it enough - aka "tumis") and the curry had too much coconut and was not slimey. People who are not familiar with Malaysian food will get the idea that our food is heavy and oily which is not the case in reality. My friend had the Indo fried rice and we also had the Hok Kien Noodles. Both were drenched in sweet soy sauce which I fear is a way for this food to be "Malaysian." I was not impressed.....I had such high expectations, as I was told by the waitstaff that the chef had lived in Kuala Lumpur for a bit. Well, at least he tried.

I really wanted to like this place. It has an interesting sounding menu--for both food and drinks. But there is one central problem. Most of the drinks and dishes we tried, simply didn't taste good or were poorly cooked. The drinks were $12 and watery with off flavors. We had chcken satay--under cooked and over marinated--horrible taste and texture. The bok choy was a salty mess. I could go on. Nothing was good here. Sad, because we spent over $100 for 2 on poorly made food.

My husband and I were excited to try this place when it opened near us, based on a recommendation for the downtown location. We chose to go as a "date night" on a Saturday evening. The packed tables were a good sign, and the wait staff, though very casual and underdressed, were kind and courteous. However, the food was not good. We ordered four dishes (too much food, but server recommended 4-5), all of which she said were the best. Duck, short ribs, noodle dish, and a vegetable. For a total bill of $110, it was absolutely not worth it. I mean, I've never posted on menupages, but felt the need to spare others from this overpriced, subpar food. There were literally large chunks of animal fat in the noodle dish.

Two years ago, I visited Fatty Crab downtown and was impressed with their food, although the space (if you could call it that) was terrible: miniscule and un-airconditioned. So I was excited to pass by their new uptown venue and see that it looked quite comfortable. I was slightly put off by the menupages reviews below, several of which mentioned the loud noise. Noise is my prime bugaboo in restaurants these days. And they were right: even in the "back room" where the kindly hostess put us, the noise was just one decibel below a jet engine in your lap. But the food made it worthwhile. This is really astounding stuff. The flavors tend toward hot and sweet, but each dish we had was substantially different from the next. The duck, served with a sticky rice, was delightfully crunchy with a fairly high heat. The short ribs -- served shredded -- had an undertone of some wonderful, exotic herb. Not inexpensive, but this is some of the best food on the UWS at present. Highly recommended, despite the din.

Had been to Fatty Crab on UWS before for drinks before and had a good time. Went back for dinner and my hopes were not fulfilled. Service was kind, but every request took 2-3 asks. Binh mai ($12) was good. Chicken clay pot ($14) was flavorful; but rice and everything is separate. Chili Crab was small, tasty and messy as expected, but what I wasn't prepared for was the $42 price tag that equated to MP. I am not shocked at $42 for an entree, but when everything else on the menu is under $20, the $42 line item is a bit out of place. While it can be listed on the menu as MP, the price to be charged that day should be communicated either on the specials page or verbally by the server . Saving grace, $3 PBR cans.