Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Fatty Meats at Fatty Crab

I was already fan of the Fatty empire on my first visit to Fatty Cue in Brooklyn about 18 months ago. First, it was the super strong but well-balanced cocktails at the bar. Then, it was the intoxicating smokiness in the dining room that filled my head with visions of blissful backyard barbeques and farmland smokehouses. Then it was the food -- the noodles with meat juices, the fried bacon, the spicy pork ribs. 

Fatty Crab holds the same philosophy in meat, fusion and flavors, but with less of an emphasis on pork and more of hints of fusion -- in this case, Malaysian. While Fatty Cue is like Fette Sau in a hipster's tuxedo, Fatty Crab leans heavier in the Southeast direction.

My first trip to the West Village location on Sunday night lent itself to four types of meat. The beef rendang reminded me of Srirpraphai's beef penang curry, with tender, meaty and fatty short ribs melting over heaps of spicy coconut rice. The mussels were slightly sweet with yuzu. The bone-in duck was perfectly cooked, medium rare. But the stand-out was the crispy pork belly with watermelon, both with a crunch, with sweet and vinegary watermelon a refreshing reprieve to the saltiness of the hot pork. 




 Next time, I'd like to try the crab.


643 Hudson Street
(between Horatio and Gansevoort)


Jazz Fest Food: Hydration

This is the last post about Jazz Fest, I promise. There was plenty of beer for the afternoon, but the morning required a good combination of caffeine and cool refreshments to keep our thirst down in the sun.

The best drink by far was the strawberry lemonade. People lined up for this longer than any other food or drink item at the festival. More sweet than tart, with fresh strawberries floating on top. For $5, you get a pretty giant cup large enough to sip on for over an hour. And that's the crazy part. You can sip as slow as you want and the last few slurps aren't watered down or undrinkable. In fact, its still cold -- and still good! -- much later than you would expect. Not sure how they pulled this off.






The iced teas were good, but not as good as the lemonade. They offered rose mint and mandarin -- both fun to try once, but not worth heading back to.




And, of course, our morning cafe au laits, creamy and sweet, from either Cafe du Monde or the New Orleans Coffee Company. A pretty awesome way to start any day in the Big Easy.



Strawberry Lemonade
Café Reconcile

New Orleans, LA

Rosemint Iced Tea, Mandarin Orange Iced Tea
Sunshine Concessions

Covington, LA

Café Au Lait
New Orleans Coffee Company

New Orleans, LA