This rustic Malaysian cantina showcases the exciting cuisine of chef Zak Pelaccio, who spent years cooking at famous French restaurants before escaping to Southeast Asia, where he fell in love with the flavors of the region. Start with the addictive pickled watermelon and crispy pork salad, an improbable combination that is refreshing and decadent. The can't-miss signature dish is chili crab—cracked Dungeness crab in a pool of rich, spicy chili sauce, served with bread for dipping. It's messy for sure, but worth rolling up your sleeves for.
Reviewed by Jel212 from New York City on 7/17/08
I'd go back one more time. Maybe.
Go for the wonderfully-fatty pork-belly pork buns, into which you stuff pickled veggies/cilantro. AMAZING, decadent, to be savored. By the time we got to the porkbelly salad (we wanted to dig into the hot food first), the pork was hard on the edges – I don’t know why – and I didn’t like the pickled watermelon, whch was funny b/c I’d been waiting to try that one dish for over a year. Our waitress waited way too long to bring the dipping toast that I ordered halfway through our mussels, so at that point the leftover broth was cooled and slightly congealed. Based on the slightly-overpriced prices (and $3 for plain rice on the side!?) that was really lame
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