A Gourmand's Life

I made my first visit last week to the Upper West Side outpost of The Fatty Crab, the restaurant that helped establish a beachhead for Malaysian food in New York City. Not that we are entirely lacking in good Malaysian restaurants, like we are in, say, Vietnamese – we have Sentosa and Restaurant Malaysia in Flushing and now Laut near Union Square – but Zak Pelaccio at The Fatty Crab was the first chef to modernize the cuisine by applying refined techniques and incorporating local produce and ingredients.


This location, which thoughtfully accepts reservations, just about doubles the size of the Hudson Street original, which is to say it’s not quite as small and uncomfortable. But all else is familiar - tables are still elbow-to-elbow, the servers are still scruffy, the music still blares and the food arrives in no particular logical order. But that food is still good, depending as much on the authenticity of its flavors as on the quality of its produce and the skill of the kitchen.

This is one of those increasingly annoying small plates restaurants, the kind that guarantee you will order not enough or way too much. Twice our group had to reconvene and order additional dishes, particularly repeats of the ones we liked best. The Watermelon Pickle with Crispy Pork, a signature dish from day one, is impossible to resist, even in January when you know the watermelon arrived on your plate after a long trip. Crispy, salty and refreshing, it is one of my favorite dishes here, the beautifully pickled melon a perfect foil for the rich pork belly.

More pork belly arrives in the Steamed Pork Buns, perhaps not quite as delicious as the ones at Momofuku Noodle Bar, but very good in their own right.



Surprisingly, the Fatty Crab handles traditional Malaysian dishes even better then it’s more original creations. Nasi Lemak, the national breakfast of Malaysia, is one of my favorite dishes, and Pelaccio and chef de cuisine Corwin Kave know not to mess with it. Stewed chicken in curry is plated next to coconut rice (rice soaked in coconut milk before steaming) and a myriad of condiments including dried fish, sambal and achar. This is one of the best versions of this dish that I have had.

Even better is the Kang Kong Belacan, or Chinese water spinach cooked with spicy shrimp paste, shallots and garlic. The flavors of this dish are extraordinarily complex. It is one of the most important dishes of Asian cuisine.



The Fried Chicken is a beautifully conceived dish, with the chicken pieces first seasoned in spices too numerous to mention, then brined, steamed and finally deep fried until crispy and tossed in a glaze made from fish sauce, young ginger, smoked shrimp paste and Thai chilies. It sounds great, and tastes wonderful too, but anytime you toss a deep fried item in a glaze you have to be careful not to soften the skin, lest you lose the textural contrast. This has a very complex flavor, but the chicken skin didn’t hold up.

The Fatty Sliders seem like an afterthought, an acknowledgment to the unfortunate fact that you cannot open a restaurant these days that appeals to a younger demographic without including a burger. This one is made from beef and pork and so must be cooked to medium. It has a nice peppery kick but is rather dry, and the flavors are wan compared to the other dishes.



I have worked my way through most of the dishes at The Fatty Crab, and for the most part they are terrific. The atmosphere may capture - sometimes too well - the zeitgeist of dining in New York these days, but the food manages to bridge the divide between authenticity and modernity without skipping a beat.