Almost a month ago, StB and I both read this post (having been linked through Eater’s Board Wrap). To date, my original post on Fatty Crab has garnered the most comments, hatred, and attention for this blog… So, after reading the horrifying story on eGullet, admittedly, I felt a bit justified in how much I’d disliked the restaurant, its service, and its super mediocre food.
However, also after reading that story, StB and I began to crave Dungeness crabs. Our email exchange went like this:
“That’s making me crave Dungeness crabs”
“I’ll go if you want, I could go for some of that”
“Where though? Fatty Crab is the first place that comes to mind”
“After I ripped them a new one and wrote “I will NEVER step foot in that place again?”… I don’t know, anywhere else?”
“Oh well we don’t have to have crabs today”
“No, we’ll go, I’ll have the crabs, we’ll play by “the rules” we were given, let’s see how it works out, and I’ll post about it again”
***Please note at the time of our email exchange I didn’t think to ask her if she wanted to trek to Flushing, Queens for Dungeness crabs, because she lives in Manhattan now. Later on, I found out she wouldn’t have minded, and I kicked myself the whole way home…
One of the “mistakes” we’d made last time included not ordering this dish- pickled watermelon and pork, according to most people who have been. Well, I have to say, I was extremely happy with this dish – the watermelon slightly briny but cooling, and bursting with juice, while the pork just melted in my mouth. I have to say you can’t go wrong with pork fat, but the addition of watermelon to cut through the fat in your mouth was just excellent.
And the main event, the crab. It was spicier than I’d expected (when we’d gone last time, a friend of mine who doesn’t eat spicy food that much ate hers without complaint; we used to [and apparently now do not] have the same level of tolerance for spicy foods), which isn’t a bad thing exactly, though I did think at one point I wouldn’t be able to finish it from the spiciness. The crab itself was just okay. It didn’t have the crab-essence flavor I’ve come to expect from eating Dungeness crab, and something was lacking. The tomalley perhaps?
I ate my crab but I didn’t think it was anything particularly special. It’s not something I will go back for, and now that I’ve had the crab at Fatty Crab, it’s unlikely I’ll go there again… except maybe to pick up pork/watermelon to go.
The service was pretty standard, though they didn’t ask us the dreaded “Have you eaten here before?” question mentioned in the eGullet link. Our waiter was pretty attentive and friendly, actually, and most of the waiters around the restaurant seemed to be the same. However, we did hear a waiter ask our neighbors “Have you eaten here before?” and I still don’t like sitting that close to other diners, having to listen to their terrible conversation about Sex and the City and who they think they are most similar to (being seated next to vapid airheads: not the fault of the restaurant; being at a table the restaurant has chosen to shove right next to another table: totally the restaurant’s doing).
My last complaint is, again, the prices are inaccurate on their own website and I found inconsistencies from the paper print out menu to the check.
Otherwise, this place is just barely satisfactory.
Yvo says: Bah. Still mostly hype. Not a big deal. Still overpriced. Meh, meh, meh. I’ll be kind and remove the “don’t EVER go here, EVER EVER EVER” but it’s not a place I’d recommend or go to on purpose.
meh.
Kelly says
Wow. Just read the comments on your first posting. It’s just a restaurant, people — unless you own it, get over it. One bad review on a blog is not going to make or break the place. Secondly, I wanted to thank you for the fun writing style. My friends and I live Flushing, Kew Gardens, and Manhattan, and I have to say, we’ve agreed with most of your opinions so far. I know you said you moved, but if you go anywhere else in Flushing and feel like writing about it — please do! I’d like to find some more good local places! 🙂
Anonymous says
just so u know !!! the restaurant fatty crab in new york and the one in petaling jaya, malaysia is not the same. The owner of the branch in new york fatty crab practically stole the name without permission from the rightfull owner. The fatty crab in malaysia is and will forver be the best.
see yah.