Immaculate Infatuation

Our discovery of Nyonya was ultimately the result of a discussion over dinner at Fatty Crab. I was eating there with friends well versed in Malaysian cuisine, and they insisted that while Fatty Crab may be good, it’s a travesty to enjoy it without knowing the real deal. Hence, a Nyonya dinner was put on the books, and the experts were going to show us the way. We’re glad they did.

Nyonya is well known as one of the few real Malasyian restaurants in New York City. It is loved equally among people who were raised on food like this, and those that more casually enjoy cuisine of the region. The menu is huge, and you will find traditional Malaysian dishes like Nasi Lamak and Prawn Mee, but you’ll also see Phad Thai and other more well known regional items. The food is excellent, and everything is cheap, which means plenty of room left in your budget for Tiger beers. After a few visits, we’ve decided our friends were right. We won’t exactly be running back to Fatty Crab to drop four times the money on an “interpretation” of the real thing.

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You know that friend of yours who was really crazy in her twenties and went out clubbing every night, but then she got a boyfriend and sort of went off the grid, but now she’s single again and looking to party? Yeah, that girl goes to Double Crown like, all the time.

Double Crown is a bar and restaurant where people who have outgrown the club scene hang out. At least this crowd knows it and doesn’t still wait in line outside of Greenhouse on the weekends. Or maybe they do, but they just eat here first. Either way, the place is a scene, but one with pretty good food. The short description of the menu at Double Crown is that it’s Colonial Asian, meaning the cuisine that resulted from British expansion into Southeast Asia. We’ll go ahead and just call it Pan-Asian, and we had some dishes that were very good. It’s a bit on the pricey side for sure, but the cheaper things on the menu tend to be the better choices, and the $35 Sunday Nyonya Dinner is a good deal. As for the atmosphere, the room basically looks like a west side mega-club with better lighting, but it’s tasteful and doesn’t feel too kitschy. I’m pretty sure this restaurant is exactly what Shang was supposed to be, just with customers and food that doesn’t taste like poison.

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I usually have a keen sense for the exact moment when something is going to take a turn for the worse. Just like any time a big name rapper appears in the opening credits to a blockbuster action film, sometimes you just know things are about to suck. I found myself confronted with exactly such a moment when I made my recent trip to Fatty Crab in the West Village. I rolled in with a party of six, and was initially told my table would be ready in ten minutes. Twenty passed, and then came the “wait, Common is in this?” moment. The host explained that the table of two he was expecting to leave just ordered an extra vegetable and some beers. At this point, I had to be at a show in forty minutes and had no choice but to wait it out or head to the Highline hungry. I chose the former, and waited for my table, now convinced that my rushed dinner would be a huge disappointment. Luckily, I was wrong. Once we finally sat, our waitress hit the ground hustling and made sure we not only got out of there in time, but also had a killer meal. Fatty Crab is not for everyone. The food is Malaysian, and the flavors aggressive. However, if that sounds like your style, you are in serious business. The chili crab is fantastic, and the watermelon pickle and crispy pork salad belongs in the pork dish hall of fame. I did happen to be with a friend who travels to the region often, and he made it clear that while Fatty Crab is good, there are other authentic joints in Manhattan that do excellent Malaysian food for a fraction of the price … sounds like we’ve got some research to do.

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