Fatty Crab:Glitz on the Upper West Side

The lovely wife stopped by the new Fatty Crab at 2170 Broadway (Tel: 212.496.CRAB) before we went away and made a dinner reservation for 8! people for when we came back.  Which meant that we ate there last night.  Actually 9 of us ate there.  I have to admit to admiring the lovely wife's forethought: I wanted to go and the idea of having many people at such a restaurant seemed like a great idea.  And in fact, I had a great time with my friends last night.  But that's despite the food at Fatty Crab. 

Fatty Crab is cool looking, but so noisy that no one in their fifth decade of life could hear the person next to them.  The servers are all extremely friendly, but, at least last night, they didn't have their stuff together.  Utensils arrived well after the food.  And the food...well the food is fine but nothing to run back for.  Almost everything tastes like dan dan noodles from a Schiuan restaurant at considerably more cost.  Some of the good things included Chinese Broccoli with salted fish, the short rib Rendang, and the wonton Mee.  The "Fatty Crab" I found to be greasy and overcooked.  Other dishes, such as the pork buns, were overpowered by heat.  

So, while I had a great evening, and the place is fun (even if you can't hear a thing) I am not running back.  I'll head downtown to 229 9th Avenue (24th Street) to Grand Sichuan, or if I can, out to Queens!