Fatty Crab

Sat at bar and it took forever to get attention from bartender for a glass of wine. But I was in no hurry. Then he asked me if I was planning to eat — I said perhaps, give me a menu. After 10 minutes I finally found one myself. He talked me out of their «signature» dish — the chili crab, so I ordered the prawn. And a crab salad. The girl who brought the salad out gave me a description of it and then warned it had «heat» from chilis. Ok. The salad was more bland than a McDonalds salad. It was THE most lame excuse for a salad I have EVER had. ANYWHERE. I have been in Singapore. I have dined extensively there. This food is NOT Maylasian.

R.I.P. Fatty Crab
A review from the vaults…
First of all whoever did the flash animation to the intro of the web site, get at me because I think we can do some collabos together.
Two fatties going to Fatty Crab and getting seated right away, thanks BBB! Nice little setup where you can be eating right on top of the folks next to you and be served by kids in polo shirts and khakis who recommend ⁵⁄₆ plates to share between two people. We really enjoyed the Asian porn gallery in the bathroom and Snowflake liked listening to Jigga and Weezy in their as well. On to the food:
Scallop Satay — Proper! So good I used the wooden sticks as chop sticks inadvertently.
Wine — Snowflake keeping it classy… not used to not drinking half a bottle at a restaurant with me.
36 Chambers — Bobby!
Crab Tempura — Enjoyed holding that creature as much as I did eating it.
Egg Noodle with Shrimp and Steak — Very fulfilling for an ex-​fatter witch who couldn’t finish it.

I came here on a double date on a weekday night around 7pmish. It was fairly empty around that time, which was fine by me.
My favorite part of the night?!
My cocktail: the Chupacabra. It contains a chili-​infused tequila blanco, fresh watermelon juice and ginger liqueur. Absolutely delicious with a «kick» at the end. Yum! The drinks are not as strong as I like them– I am tiny and was only feeling a little buzzed after 3 drinks. :P
The food was good/​pretty good.
+ Steamed buns (veggie): The buns were another part of my favorite night. They felt like marshmallows. The filling + bun + sauce = yummy!
+ Green Mango and Papaya Salad: The ingredients were all there but the flavor was lacking.
+ Green Curry Veg with coconut rice and fried egg: I’ve had better but it was still good.
+ Chili Crab: Love the sauce but you know with crabs, you get very little «meat.»
All in all, I would just go back for the Chupacabra and the veggie steamed buns.

Malay food? Never had it until today. WOW– it’s delicious! It’s very similar to Burmese food, it’s got that rich, deep, savory flavors.
Fatty Crab is pretty trendy– cool venue, cool music, cool dishes. The dishes come out «family style/​tapas style», so it’s a very, «sharing is caring» moto.
We shared the crispy duck, fried pork belly, pork buns and the Lo Si Noodles with Chinese sausages (which is like a thick stew). OMG– so good. But, you definitely need some acid with that meal. Hella fatty! Or, some white rice to drown out some of that richness.
Okay Unilocalers… I have another tip for you. My review might get erased for saying this, but if you use «Savored,”– another app, you get a discount on your meals. We got 30% off our meal– that’s one heck of a deal.
Shhhh…don’t tell anyone, I told you that. ;)

The fatty crab in meatpacking is always crowded and impossible to find seats since they are literally a hole in the wall type of restaurant; but this one is spacious and big enough space for groups. There are table seats from the entrance, a decent size bar table at the back, and more tables to right right.
I have not sat down to eat at this place because I don’t take their food seriously. I like to think of them as asian far food. I normally order their pork buns and sliders at the bar and enjoy a beer or two. They are very tasty and fun snack food.
I decided to try their chicken clay pot. It was with white sauce, chicken and some vegetables. It’s an excellent dish with mild flavor. I would recommend it with some white rice and hot sauce for that extra kick.
It’s a chill place to just hang after work and grab couple of drinks.

Awesome atmosphere — perfect mix of cool and laid back. Friendly service.
Our group of 4 tried the sliders (really spicy!), watermelon crispy pork, short rib rendang, beef satay, and nasi goreng. The food was very good, but the flavors were unfortunately too bold and spicy for me, so I won’t be a regular here…

First I must say they have impeccable taste in music. They were channeling my personal playlist all night. Tribe Called Quest can serenade my meals anytime.
I went with my better half and another couple we know to get some drinks and high flavored food. This place came highly recommended and DID NOT LET US DOWN.
The food was INCREDIBLY tasty. I kept thinking about Thai street food and bold flavors as we ate our way through Malaysian fusion their menu. The pork sticky buns are AMAZING. It was agreed that we could have eaten just those all night and been satisfied. Other MVPs for our culinary venture were the pickled watermelon with pork belly and the infamous chili crab. Go ahead, enjoy yourself… get messy and use your hands. (And I was eating their coconut rice too… shhh)
You must understand how this place operates. It isn’t a family style establishment serving large plates at all. It is hip, stylish and they serve small plates so order the whole menu, heck order multiples from the whole menu. The prices were to be expected given the high quality of the ingredients and the area we were in. (I will pay anything for the perfect little bite)
On a side note: The cocktails were off the charts good. I went in with the intentions of sipping some brews all night but ended up getting a little saucy drinking cocktail after cocktail.
Everything previously stated in my review makes this place a «Davis Favorite» (obviously) but the cherry on top was when I saw the chefs come out of the kitchen and take several group shots to celebrate another successful service. They all had eclectic looks and were definitely enjoying their jobs. FYI: Happy people make happy food.
When I left I felt like a FATTY CRAB.

Phew, thank you Unilocalers for confirming it wasn’t just me that was far less than thrilled with this place. I work on the UWS and I feel like Fatty Crab is constantly coming up in conversations. I admit that before I went there I just assumed it was of some kind of southern friend greasy joint, that also featured crabs-​yes I am that literal. Apparently its upscale Malay and SE asian food, who knew!
I went for a quick drink with a coworker and immediately almost died from laughter when I saw a $ 5 PBR tallboy on the menu. Let me tell you how much PBR costs: $ 1. What if its a tall boy? Okay MAYBE $ 2. But as a former Chicagoan, surrogate home of PBR, I can tell you with absolute certainty that it is a crime to charge more than $ 2 for any kind of PBR anywhere. The bartender felt the need to inform me that I was in Manhattan, so that is how much drinks cost, that you GPS! The wings my friend recommended were bland and insanely sticky, her Manhattan, which so far as I could tell was not special in any way, was $ 13.
I had the Chinese broccoli with fried scallop bits and coconut rice, which I’ll admit was tasty, though I think there were probably about 1,000 more calories than needed to be in that dish because of the sauce. Hence the «Fatty» I guess? I’d rather travel back to the ghetto (Brooklyn) for cheaper drinks and friendlier pastures.

This particular location of Fatty Crab actually takes reservations which is nice as it makes for a nice hassle free experience compared to their village location.
Came here on a Monday night so not sure how it fares on busier days, but it certainly made for a nice low key and casual atmosphere. It wasn’t empty but it wasn’t packed and the pacing of the service made it perfect for another dinner spent catching up with a friend.
Started out with the pork belly and shrimp appetizer which was good but nothing spectacular. The flavoring and preparation of the shrimp was well done but it sat on such thin slices of belly that it made it difficult to appreciate the flavor from that.
Not content with just that I ended up getting the watermelon pickle and crispy pork which was surprisingly filling for what I thought looked like a relatively small portion.
The pickle itself was not what I was picturing when I was imagining a pickled watermelon, for one it wasn’t the rind and was a mild pickling of the actual red part of the melon. Definitely delicious though. The pork was very crispy but had a good texture throughout which was enjoyable.
Pricing is a bit on the higher side for what you’re getting, but given the great service and warm atmosphere it all plays into a worthwhile meal.

Hostess seemed bored and not interested when I walked in. She also seemed slightly inept like she didn’t know what to do with me so I took it into my own hands to wait for the other three people at the bar. The bartenders are really nice but I was a bit sad that happy hour only lasts from 4 to 6 on weekdays (not sure about weekends).
What I really like about this place are the flavors and textures of the food. The chef really understands what meshes well and I was really astounded when I was eating and when I left.
We ordered the Fatty Sliders, Nasi Lemak, Watermelon Pickle and Crispy Pork. All of them were great but out of the three of them I would HIGHLY recommend the Watermelon Pickle and Crispy Pork because the textures and flavors all meld together in a really unique way and it was definitely a very memorable dish.
Everything’s pretty expensive here and I would’ve given this place five stars if the portions were a little bigger but I also wasn’t at all disappointed in our dishes. Fatty Crab is one of those rare restaurants that appreciates the art of food in ALL its aspects, not just taste but texture too.

The food seemed much better the last time I came to Fatty Crab. This time, most of the dishes contained too much salt and the Nasi Lemak was spiced a lot more than normal. The mussels were good as was the chicken clay pot. The order of the dishes coming from the kitchen was strange. We didn’t receive any rice dish until we were almost done with the meal. Also one of the vegetable dishes came out 30 minutes after the last entrée. The steamed pork buns and the sliders were both good. However, if you want real Malay cuisine, there are better options.

Absolutely not. This is my first time giving such a low score, but I was SO underwhelmed by this place that it’s forcing me to write about it right away.
My friend had the Watermelon Pork Belly, which she liked, but she would not have been fed if she did not order a bowl of coconut rice to go with it. I had the Soft-​shell Crab Fry. For TWENTY-​SIX dollars, why did I get the puniest crab in the ocean?! It was soft and crunchy sure, but the dipping sauce was not as thick as it could be and basically once I finished the crab in oh say 2 bites, all I had left to feed on was the garnishes. To feel remotely full, I dumped some of my friend’s rice into the curry sauce and prayed my stomach enzymes would catch on that nothing else was coming its way.
When ordering, the waiter perhaps did try to warn us in code with: «have you been here before?» and «our portions are made for sharing» and «the price is an indicator of the size of the dish». Nothing could have prepared me for just how damn tiny these non-​appetizer dishes were. Their cause is not helped at all since I just had Nyonya two weeks ago and for the same price was full for two days.
I appreciated the attempt at focusing on Southeast Asia and the options for a few beers from the region that I had never been introduced to before (e.g. Laos beer). And when walking in, I suppose I liked the design and the concept. That is until the end of the night when I realized that this is «Asian» food for people whose tongues and wallets don’t know any better. There is nothing in the selection or preparation of these dishes that warrants the price tag for me, and there are just much more flavorful and filling options to be found elsewhere.
Serves me right for straying too far from downtown…
(Visit: May/​11)

I hate to be mean especially towards food from my own region aka South East Asia but with Malaysia being my country neighbor, the food at Fatty Crab brings out a «No no nooooo» cry in me.
There were five of us at the table. After 6 dishes wtih a 20% tip later, we were $ 204.75 poorer. I wasn’t even feeling satisfied less to say full from a ‘hearty meal’.
Let’s examine some of the dishes.
1) The Famous Fatty Crab Chilli Crab:
Aiyayayaya $ 55.00 for one skinny crab! The sauce was also diluted and tasted more watery than the thicker sauce I am used to in Malaysia. I understand it may not be as spicy to adapt to Westernized taste but to have it taste so diluted was not cool.
Plus the price tag on it! Which just so you know, you won’t know till you get your bill. It’s marked as MP = Market Price
2) Nasi Lemak: Whoaaaaaa $ 21 dollars for Nasi Lemak (Direct translation from Malay to English meaning Lemak = Fat Nasi = Rice, so Fatty rice) is an outright extortion.
In other Malaysian restuarants like Penang and Nyonya — it’s usually only around $ 5.95 to $ 7.00. In Malaysia, Nasi Lemaks are only about Ringgit Malaysia1.50 a packet which is equiavlent to USD $ 0.30. Yup 30 cents
If this was a super big helping and super delicious, then the price tag may be justified. But it isn’t! So there you go — can you imagine my disappointment.
3) Chicken Claypot: $ 16. It was very mediocre but probably one of the better dishes compared to the rest. Would help if it was slightly less salty or MSGed.
4) Vegetable Kang Kong: $ 11. I have never seen a smaller portion than the one serve in a tiny bowl (yeap those ½ size rice bowls with a shallow base) for $ 11! They don’t even bother to spread it out so you think there was more food! and it was really just OK — similar to all other Malaysian restaurants in town.
5) The rendang, satay and wings were ok which probably is the only saving grace for this restaurant.
Sigh.

UWS Fatty Crab was a little disappointing after my rave experience at the Village location. Came for a birthday and we ordered almost one of everything. The food seemed to be much spicier than i recalled — and not in a good way. The cauliflower was barely edible (not to mention a complete rip off). The clams were peppery, but not in a pleasant heat way, but in a «oops, the cap of the pepper mill is loose» way. The vegetables that accompanied the steak were completely inedible and seemed to only exist to mock us.
The appetizers were the best (chicken wings, sliders, and the dog). I would definitely consider coming back a ordering tapas style rather than suffering through mediocre entrees. With the exception of the chili crab, which is always good (but ridiculously messy). Value is pretty poor (it was the most expensive meal I had all weekend, and the one I left the least satisfied with). Meh.

Came all the way to NYC to have dungeness crab (probably from the Pacific), but it was SO GOOD! First of all their music selections were like my fave (Junior Boys rock my world). Also, their drink menu was great. Our waiter is a star of commercials — my friends recognized it and he confirmed. This added some novelty. Caveat: if you don’t like things drenched in tasty spicy sauces, look elswhere.
Here is our waiter!

The food here is Malaysian, but definitely not typical fare that you might find at other Malaysian restaurants. First, it’s far more expensive. And second, it does seem to have a bit of an upscale feel to the food. That doesn’t mean the food isn’t absolutely bangin’, because it is.
I decided to finally check it out during restaurant week, Han Style… Solo (ok, I stole that joke from How I Met Your Mother, and it probably still isn’t funny). The restaurant week dishes were some of the ones that I would have ordered anyway, so I don’t feel like I was forced to pick things I wouldn’t want to order.
Above, you can see the first course. A watermelon and crispy pork belly salad, though its not really a salad. Those regular readers know I can not resist pork belly. If its on the menu, I want it. The pork belly was melt in your mouth amazing. The watermelon could have been missing from the plate and I wouldn’t have cared. The thing that should have been missing was the picked watermelon rind.
The next dish was the fatty duck, with mustard greens, Thai chili, gula jawa. The duck was incredible. The skin was cooked to perfection. Crispy, juicy and not overcooked at all. The accompaniments were a bit like a sauce on top and was sopped up nicely by a side of rice (which they have the audacity to charge $ 3 for). The breast pieces were untouched and brought home for leftovers. Ill just have to broil them briefly to crisp up that skin.
The finale was a crispy banana with peanuts, jack fruit and gula jawa. I dont really know what that list thing is, but damn was it good. The sauce almost had a chocolate taste, but clearly wasn’t chocolate. It was sweet, but the banana and peanuts gave it more of a savory taste.
Overall, the Fatty Crab delivers on some amazing upscale Malaysian food. The prices are high, and without restaurant week, this meal would have been $ 45, but the lunch restaurant week special puts it at $ 24. Quite a steal and a huge amount of food enough for a second meal. I would suggest this place for groups to share a lot of dishes, as they are sort of family style, or at the very least, can be eaten that way.

I was craving for Fatty Crab this weekend and decided to pay my second visit. The new dishes we tried this time included Nasi Goreng, Watermelon Pickle and Crispy Pork, and Short Rib Rendang. They were all good but Watermelon picke and crispy pork was excellent… it is deep fried pork belly but it was not taste greasy at all. The other dishes like mango salad and steamed bun tasted better last time… but all good nonetheless.
20 points on Zagat (it deserve much more than that!).

Fatty Crab serves an casual atmosphere with delicious Malaysian fusion cuisine at a premium price. Normally, Malaysian food costs you little; if you go to Nyonya in Chinatown, you will be more than full with merely $ 20.
However, if you come to Fatty Crab, your wallet will no longer be fat. It will be at least $ 40 thinner. Is it worth it? I am not sure.
The food is delicious but sometimes overpriced. We tried the Watermelon Pickle and Crispy Pork, their signature Char Kway Teow, Fatty Duck, pork bun, sliders and short rib Rendang.
I personally disagrees with their «signature» noodle dish. It costs $ 27 and truth to be told I cannot taste the difference between this and the same dish from any other affordable Malaysian restaurants I have tried. They didn’t give me more nor did they uses better ingredients. They taste good but I think for $ 27, I might as well order some other meat dishes.
The portion is kind of small. The sliders and buns both come in two small servings. They were juicy and tender nonetheless.
I really like the Fatty Duck, Rendang and Watermelon with fried pork belly.
Just be ready to pay more than $ 40 easily.

Malaysian-​ish cooking on display at the Fatty Crab restaurants in Manhattan. In typical small-​plate fashion, diners are encouraged to share, and plates emerge from the open kitchen as they’re ready.
We ordered the following:
@The crispy pork belly with watermelon is a perfect blend of melt-​in-​your-​mouth meat and herbs with the sweetness of the watermelon ($ 15).
@The duck also just melts in your mouth with a perfect balance of spices and herbs, and the meat is cooked perfectly with a crispy exterior and explosively flavorful inside ($ 17).
@Whole Fish Bakar mixed with chili-​ginger sauce, soy dip $ 25
brace yourself because this fish was tiny and thinking back, it probably wasn’t worth the price tag.
@Fatty Sliders mini pork & beef burgers — $ 9 The best sliders I’ve EVER tasted, hands down.
@Nasi Goreng | house special fried rice | $ 16 — it was a bit dry so I’d pass up on this dish.
@The Chili Crab is also cooked in an out-​of-​this-​world sweet and spicy sauce, the contents of which my taste buds could not figure out. Only down-​side, we were surprised by the total: almost $ 100 per couple without alcohol. The crabs are a bit expensive so make sure you know the price since it’s by market price.

I came here not for the Malaysian stuff (we all know where to find real Malaysian around here), but for the fusioned dishes that «malaysianized» the western delicacies; sliders and dogs. The sliders are fantastic. A must have with every visit. The fatty dog holds its own against other gourmet dogs that exist, but if you are to have that and the sliders in the same sitting, start with the dog.
The chili crab, while delicious, lacks the meatiness of the mud crabs used in the real dish in singapore, but I must say the sauce comes pretty close, almost tasting the «special ketchup» they use there. Nasi goreng did a suitable job taking up the rest of the palate; again the real stuff in Singapore is much better, but it’s hard to find a satisfying reproduction here in the states.
The service was just adequate, our server did well to explain the dishes but our plates weren’t replaced in a timely manner, a concern while consuming a messy dish like the crabs.
A repeat visit of this place would necessitate the sliders, possibly the dog, but not much else, lest I was in a dire need for a singaporean/​malaysian food fix in the UWS.