Fatty Crab

One wintry day in January, as I was trying to pick a place to eat that I haven't eaten at before, I searched in my memory for a restaurant that I've always wanted to try...That's when my thoughts went back to my days at Macquarie and my former manager. Instantly, I decided to finally listen to my former manager's advice and went to Fatty Crab, for some excellent Chili Crab (Singaporean/Malaysian Chili Crab).

I've been to Singapore twice already.. and at the expense of my company, have had the pleasure of eating wonderfully prepared Singaporean Chili Crab and Blackpepper Crab. In addition, they were Sri Lanken crab.... oh so huge and oh so good!

So I headed off to Fatty Crab with Hungry Kitten (my part-time food photographer and long time friend). Though the trip down to the West Village was frigid and wrought with perils (black ice!), we somehow found the small but not quaint restaurant.

Though the restaurant was tight, there were seats available and we were seated promptly. Then came the hard part, deciding what to eat. Now if any of you know Hungry Kitten, you'll know she's a bit indecisive and likes variety....and being that Dungeoness crab is expensive but our wallets small, it limited the variety part of our meal. In the end, we decided to share the Short Rib Rendang, Chili Crab, and a bowl of chicken (flavored) rice, as well as a liter of Asahi. I was a bit disappointed there were no Black Pepper Crab on the menu, but hey, I can live without it.

The Ribs came out first, after a pretty long wait. While we were waiting for our food, all Hungry Kitten and I could do was drool at our neighbor's food and talk about food and daydream about food... but when they finally got here, boy, were those short ribs satisfying. They were tender, juicy, and full of delicious Asian flavor....and a touch of kaffir lime. Superb!

But then they were gone, along with half a glass of beer...and then we proceeded to wait again. Finally, after another 20 mins, our crab finally came out. Kids--be careful, this is where I rip into the crab, literally and figuratively.

There was only one crab, one small, expensive Dungeoness crab. The bread that came with it, it was just toast. JUST TOAASSTT! Real Singaporean Chili crab comes with special buns that you dip in the wonderful sauce.... Anyway, most of the crab was not pre-cracked either, so it made eating the crab awfully difficult. Hungry Kitten and I spent nearly 30 mins to devour one crab between the two of us




....and taste... let's not even talk about taste. Imagine your parents telling you that they are taking you to Disney World, the happiest place on earth, and you end up in a box with stickers of Disney characters on it in your back yard.... that's exactly how I felt. The crab I ate was not fit to be called Chili Crab. Yes, it was spicy and in a red sauce, but that's all. Where was the tomato paste, onions, garlic, sweet chilies?? WHERE?! Chili Crab is suppose to be a touch salty, sweet, spicy.. with the chunky texture of the onions and garlic. The only thing, as I emphasize again, that was there was spicy red water over a small crab.

While struggling to eat the crab and trying to not have my mouth catch on fire, I kept wondering, where is my chicken rice... and I was left to wonder for a long time because I had to request for it. The rice, it's not even worth mentioning. It's pretty much something I can make in my rice cooker...

Overall Rating (1-5 scale)
Fatty Crab:2.6

Food: 2.5 (the short ribs saved the horrid Chili Crab
Decor/Space: 3 (Tight it works and is typically of NYC)
Service: 2.5 (Besides ordering and giving us food, not too much interaction with the waiter)
Other (Explain): 2.5 Menu--small selection, though I appreciate it sometimes, definitely not when the Chili Crab sucked...


Hangry Index (1-5 scale, 1 being not hangry, 5 being hangriest!)
4 --Pretty Darn Hangry.....!

Searching for the best ramen on Earth (Episode 1)

Having lived in NYC for over 1.5 years now, you would think that I would have begun my search for the best ramen in the city ages ago.... but no. I was stubborn, and I made a habit of going to Men Kui Tei... over and over and over again. However, as my last days in New York approach (I'm leaving to go live at home with my parents in Philly...), I find myself needing to satisfy my taste buds one last time.

"Isn't the food in Philly good?", you ask. Yes, food is Philly is awesome. There are plenty of good restaurants in Philly, and it's not just the cheesesteaks and pretzels. But when I have a hankering for a hot bowl of deep pork bone broth with chewy noodles... Philly can't deliver.

Let me start off first by saying, I love Men Kui Tei. I like the variety of ramen and other dishes there. But sadly Men Kui Tei, as piping hot and full of flavor your broth sometimes is... you can be really inconsistent in the flavor of your broth....and I know, just know, that somewhere, out there (and outside of Japan), there exists mind blowing ramen.

Method: Look for highly rated ramen shop. Try the usual shio, shoyu, or tonkotsu shoyu ramen at every ramen shop visited (to make a fair comparison!)

Rai Rai Ken

On a snowy January Sunday, I made the trip to Rai Rai Ken, even though I was sick. After looking it up on Yelp, I thought it'd be interesting to give it a try (that and the wait at Ippudo was 40 mins). It was only when I was right outside the door to Rai Rai Ken, that I noticed how small it was. The restaurant seats about 15 people at a stool bar. It was full when we got there, so we (the bf and I) waited for 10-15 mins, trying not to get in the way of people slurping and gulping down gyoza.

In the middle of waiting for seats, the bf and I noticed it at the same time. The chefs weren't Japanese. They were in fact Shanghainese. This caught our attention as we typically don't like to go to ramen places with people who weren't "familiar" with the food...Anyway......

When there were finally two spots open next to each other, we ran to grab it, as a short line was starting to form outside the restaurant. We were promptly given glasses of water, but not a word was exchanged between us and the chefs/servers. The menu had the traditional ramen broths--shoyu, shio, and miso. In addition, on the menu, there were the typical Japanese sides--fried rice, gyoza, etc. The bf and I stuck to our favorite broths (shoyu and shio) and had nothing else. I mean, we were there for the ramen, not the fried rice...

While we waited for our ramen, the bf took the chance to speak to the chef (in Shanghainese) and ask about his background. Seems the chefs lived and cooked in Japan for a while (confidence and anticipation in the ramen came back). It didn't too long after to get our bowls of ramen, but we were starving by then anyway.

The first thing I did was dip my spoon in and take a sip of the broth. Mine, the shoyu ramen, was okay, not too salty, not too bland, but lacking a bit of depth. Maybe it was just because it wasn't tonkotsu shoyu ramen....Anyhoo, when I tried shio ramen, I swear I could not taste anything. The bf said it was because I was sick and my tastebuds were off, but I'm pretty sure it was just not up to par.

Back to my bowl...The noodles had a good texture and the toppings were the normal (pork, scallions, bamboo, egg, seaweed, and corn that I added). The pork could have been a bit more tender, but the eggs, which looked like it had been marinated or cooked in soy, was enough to make up for it. Overall, the (shoyu) ramen was good but not memorable.

Rating (1-5 scale)

Rai Rai Ken Shoyu Ramen: 3.6

Broth (flavor, color, consistency): 4

Noodes (consistency): 4

Yakibuta/Nibuta (pork flavor, consistency): 2.5

Toppings, other: 4 (5 for the egg, 3 for everything else)

Hangry Index (1-5 scale, 1 being not hangry, 5 being hangriest!)

2 --Didn't have to wait long for the ramen, just had to wait long to decide on where to eat.