Not so the skate panggang, a tender wing served on a banana leaf with a healthy dose of fishy sambal smeared on top. If that’s too pungent for you, you might also steer clear of the Chinese broccoli, or at least eat around the chunks of salted fish that come with it. Noodles and soup selections have a lot more going on than the menu makes out: Clay-pot chicken is a corn-starch-enriched casserole with tofu and more salted fish. Java mee is a beautifully spiced curry with shrimp, chewy egg noodles, and those tiny dried anchovies the kitchen’s so fond of.
The wine list teems with enticing German and Austrian selections, but many seem overpriced for such a low-key joint. The few desserts—fried bananas, a couple variations on flavored ice—come off as a bit of an afterthought, but it’s hard to compete with (or even complement) the powerful flavors that precede them. Fatty Crab, in all its non-fusion, food-focused glory, is a bone-gnawing, crab-leg-sucking kind of place. Even a scene, in its own way—and ours.
Email
Print
Why You Should Know Who Michael Shannon Is
Review: David Denby's Snark Misses the Point
Waltz With Bashir Makes War Feverishly Real
My Morning Jacket's Happy New Year 
The Simpler Pleasures: 
Three New Men's Stores Test the Waters
Rating Ice-skating Rinks
Look Book: The Stylist 
Tony Blair Settles Into His American Afterlife
Laid-Off New Yorkers Speak Out 
The Young and Beautiful Arrive in The City
Bush and Barack, Not-So-Strange Bedfellows?
