The Fat Radish – LES, NYC

Sister pup Iris got in late after a broken plane delay on US Airways. Typical. After some work commitments and a business meeting gone long, it was 9:30pm on Sunday night and I still had yet to have dinner! I was haaaaaaangry! Like The Hulk hangry! And when you get that desperately hungry, you can’t focus on what you want to eat…just that you want to eat!

So, we opted for the closest proven option – The Fat Radish – a fancy, British gastropub. I had never been but both my sister and cousin proclaimed its greatness. We speed walked the 2 blocks in an effort to beat the clock as the listed hours for Sunday showed a closing time of 10pm. Once there, the host worked his magic and squeezed us into the bar. Luckily, the friendly bartender, Lucas – though preoccupied – ably served me a lovely Tempranillo Rioja ($12/glass) and my sister had the special cocktail of the night, a Pisco (cross between a French martini and pisco sour).

I got the Spring Sweet Pea Pot Pie which was…well, a lot of peas! I am an admitted veggie avoider. In fact, I am like a child and prefer my veggies to be disguised in such a way that I don’t even realize I’m eating them – like mashed to the consistency of a starch. Unfortunately, this pie had the freshest crunchy peas ever. I gave it to my vegetarian cousin, Christina. The crust was sinfully buttery and the pie itself was served piping hot – just the way I like it! But its woeful lack of creamy innards and obvious presentation as a bucket of veggies was such a turn off to me that I just couldn’t do it. 🙁

Sweet Spring Pea Pot Pie!

Look at all those…peas. 🙁

For my entree, I ordered the Sunday roast which was a bavette with roasted potatoes, salsa verde and broccoli rabe. I ordered this for myself…and then, Lucas said that the bavette was for two…to which I replied, “Okay” and pointed to Stacey as my 2nd (though she was only there as company and was not actually hungry). I don’t understand what is so odd about a petite Asian woman ordering a meal for multiples…for herself.

And frankly, let’s take a look at the portion; it is totally the proper size for one person. Okay, albeit, one American person…from the midwest. But still! C’mon!

Bavette for 2? More like 1…1 small, Asian girl.

Everything was seasoned well but my salty palate always clamors for more, so, of course I added the proffered sea salt. I didn’t feel the salsa verde really added much to the dish. But the bitter broccoli rabe and small roasted potatoes were an absolutely perfect accompaniment to the rich bavette which was cooked on point, medium rare.

Cousin Christina got the trout with red cous cous. While it was, again, seasoned perfectly, the skin could’ve been crispier.

She indulged in the truffle fries which were more like potato wedges. The truffle sauce tasted like a creme fraiche with truffle oil and we proceeded to order buckets of the sauce. It was more like an order of truffle sauce with a bit of fries.

It was so good, we ordered another order of them with dessert.

Lucas also claimed that the banoffee pie was his favorite dessert of all time. Having no idea what that was, he explained it was a combination of banana…and well, we stopped listening at “banana” as half of us hated bananas. But, my sister, ever the rebel, proclaimed she wanted it bananas and all.

Banoffee Pie with bananas and stuff.

Frankly, the banoffee pie was actually pretty good. I could barely taste bananas. But the texture was still obviously banana which of course, grossed me out. But the whipped cream topping and crumbly dark chocolate crust helped to offset the offensive banana.

I also go the doughnuts which were light, fluffy and not the least bit oily. They were filled with an almost liquid like jam…more of a syrup, really. They were so light, I didn’t even feel stuffed after eating 2 out of 3 of them. Ooops.  🙂

Apple syrup…I mean “jam”…filled doughnuts!

My wine was topped off a couple times which I much appreciated it. And at the end of the night, the bill was more than reasonable at $155 for 4 people (2 entrees, 1 appetizer, 2 glasses of wine, 1 cocktail and 2 desserts). The amount of food ordered would probably be more akin to a 2 person date (if 1 person were ordering the “2 person bavette” to himself), so, if you fancy taking a lady out for the evening to Fat Radish, factor in about $75/person.

I loved the vibe of the place. It was a hopping neighborhood joint with that cool factor of the Lower East Side and a hip crowd who felt more effortless than trendy hipster. The music was a current mix of the indie scene and more than anything, I really appreciated that they kept the volume at a level still appropriate for the low lighting and intimate, conversational scene. I will definitely be back!