The Fat Radish

The Fat Radish

17 Orchard Street

New York City, NY 10002

(212) 300-4053

We weren't sure what to expect, but I had seen so many lovely photos of the restaurant and now I knew why. We walked in to a small foyer decorated with bikes, wine bottles, plates, plants, and bouquets. White subway tiles alone one wall with a large sink and cabinets. Opened shelves, exposed brick, and chalkboards. The bar appeared as we ventured in with swing-out chairs and then a simple and airy dining room. There's some natural light from the sun roof, window shutters, and easy lighting along the walls with greenery peeking in. Everything looks rustic, casual, and fashionable. At one point, Howard mentions that it does feel like we're eating in an enclosed park or garden.

The food here is known to be created with well-sourced, seasonal ingredients and there isn't any particular focus as we spot naan, curry, and soba among scotch egg, celery root pot pie, and kale Caesar salad.

Service wasn't the greatest. We stood by the bar, unsure if we were supposed to grab a table ourselves or if we were to be seated. Even though the bartender spotted us, she made no effort to help or call someone over. Finally, one of the servers came over to seat us and later came back with the menus. Things started to get better once we ordered as our meals, I even spotted a few smiles from our server. Then the food arrived!

I love seared tuna salads so I went ahead and ordered the Seared Block Island Tuna with watermelon, cucumber, and thai chili vinaigrette. This was light, refreshing, and delicious. I enjoyed the sweet flavours from the watermelon, the crunch from the cucumber, and the sweet and salty vinaigrette with just a little kick of heat. My only quibble would be that the presentation could have been improved on and that the tuna could have been cleanly sliced.

Howard ordered the Bacon Cheeseburger with duck fat fries and house pickles. The burger was pretty good, I was lucky enough to have a bite of it - just one before it was quickly taken away from me. But those fries! I liked the fries the best! Fries, wedges, whatever you want to call them, I enjoyed stealing about half of them and dunking it in the upside-down white top hat ketchup holder.

A lovely spot for lunch or brunch, the Fat Radish turned out to be the first restaurant where Howard and I ate as an engaged couple! To celebrate, we clinked our glasses of water together. Of course, I had no idea this would happen when I made the reservation the previous week!