I don't think I've ever done more research on one restaurant than I did on Salt and Fat, located in the low-key neighborhood of Sunnyside, Queens. The restaurant is situated on a stereotypical outer-borough street that seemed pretty abandoned for a Saturday evening. My friend and I waited impatiently for a seat by the front window where the backdrop was the setting sun met with an occasional passing 7 train.
Cold popcorn with bacon drippings, in place of bread and butter, opened the meal. The taste of pig fat was faint. I'm don't particularly like popcorn but these would have been enjoyable had they been warm.
I'm always in the mood for seafood, especially a hearty plate of shellfish, but the mussels clearly weren't fresh. The disks of chinese sausage, which is much sweeter and denser than Italian sausage or franks, added sweet, smoky richness to the dashi broth, which we sopped up with our ever-present charred sourdough slices.
I didn't think this dish was deserving of its popularity. The oxtail terrine arrived looking like a burnt brownie. The meat was bland and ropy; not tender. The roasted mushrooms underneath were bland as was the caramelized onion puree, which added unnecessary sweetness to the meat.
It found it odd that this giant portion hadn't satisfied my fried chicken craving, and now I realize it was because there was minimal grease, although the skin was delightfully crispy. We spent twenty minutes shamelessly tearing apart the juicy chicken with our fingers and dunking it in the chilled citrusy herb ranch.
Tender scallops, pungent truffled corn, zippy fried capers, and silky carrot puree was delightful. Corn tops my list of most despised foods but I think I enjoyed the truffled corn salsa more than I did the seared scallops.
The consistency of the dessert, lychee panna cotta was more of a jelly snack than a memorable dessert. The lychee flavoring was too subtle, the texture too firm. But the yuzu sorbet. That bracingly tart sorbet in its grapefruit sweet orange deliciousness more than compensated.
"You should know what these are," our waitress smiled and said. Complementary korean tart yogurt shots finished a overall satisfying meal.
Salt and Fat
41-16 Queens Blvd
Sunnyside, NY 11104
