The Fat Radish

17 Orchard St., Chinatown, NY

8.0

map & more

Neighborhood
Chinatown
Lower East Side

212-300-4053

Official Website

By Chris Stang
November 23, 2010

It’s pretty amazing when you think about it. We actually walked by The Fat Radish a few weeks ago. That’s how we found out about it. Why is that amazing? Because this new restaurant is on Orchard Street, just north of Canal – a dark, cold, sketchy looking block on the fringe of Chinatown that happens to be home to one terrible dive bar, and also probably a black market poultry trade. What were we doing there? Don’t you worry about it. All you need to know is that we strolled by, peeked our heads in, and decided that it looked every bit like an Infatuation style eatery. Dinner wasn’t on the agenda that particular night, but it would be soon.

By the time we made it back to The Fat Radish, on a Saturday a few weeks later (apparently only a month into their existence), we found the place packed to the tune of an hour and a half wait. That’s strange for a brand new restaurant that had no noticeable advance press and all the foot traffic of a small town main street at 2am. Nonetheless, The Radish was running over capacity, and was full of hot people. We managed to sit much more quickly than expected and had a great meal, feeling a bit like we just walked into sexy Twilight Zone.

After some extensive research (google), we learned that The Fat Radish is the first restaurant venture from Silkstone, a catering and events company that focuses on sustainable foods. The principals are young, British and apparently well connected, which might explain all the European guys and tall blonde girls running around the place. At least that’s better than our initial theory, which was that they were hosting a state sponsored exchange program for Swedish dudes to meet girls from California.

Still curious and pleased with ourselves for being so on top of sh*t, we quickly made a follow up visit, and can now confidently tell you that we like The Fat Radish quite a bit. It’s a hidden gem on this random block, and everything about it, from ambiance, to service, to crowd and of course food, is impressive. The farm-to-table focus makes for some incredible vegetable based dishes, but we also loved the seafood offerings, the burger and the grilled cheese. What a random place for a good little restaurant. Hopefully The Fat Radish hangs around.

Food Rundown:

Heirloom Carrots, Crispy Kale & Hijiki Seaweed
An incredibly tasty plate of heirloom carrots that will remind you how good a simple plate of veggies can be. The crispy kale adds some nice texture. Your doctor would be proud of you.

Blue Cheese Pork Pie
Just kidding, no he wouldn’t. I’m pretty sure this has since been renamed, but it’s still exactly what you think it is – delicious pork and blue cheese in a puff pastry pie crust.

Romanesco Cauliflower with Curried Yoghurt Dressing
This place does excellent work with vegetables, and this cauliflower dish is no exception. Rich and flavorful, but still light and healthy.

Beet Crumble, Goat Cheese, Aged Cheddar, Hazelnuts & Oats
This comes out in a warm bread tin, sort of like a brick, and wrapped in a bar towel. What you reveal when undressing it is what looks like a cobbler, but made with beets and creamy cheese. Really delicious.

Grilled Cheese and Pickles
A small sandwich to be sure, but this thing is awesome, and we don’t even exactly know why. Order it.

Monkfish Vindaloo, Wild Rice and Bean Chutney
This is a fantastic plate of fish, with Indian flavors and set atop wild rice. A must order.

Day Boat Scallops, Golden Beet & Sweet Potato Mash
These scallops come cooked perfectly, but what makes this interesting is that sweet potato mash. Can’t say we’ve ever had that combo, but we liked it.

Cheeseburger with Thick Cut Chips
Nice to see a place like this can do a good burger. This one comes with some crispy thin bacon, and a good crumbly cheddar cheese on top. Not too shabby. We like our fries thin and crispy but we also don’t call them chips. I suppose that’s a draw.