Salt & Fat

Great place for tapas-​style dining. I went here one weekday night with my boyfriend for a small bite. The parking wasn’t too hard to find near the restaurant, however, I’m sure weekends would be a problem. On a side note, the waiter was extremely attentive to our needs and very personable. The service was also very good! The food was delicious. that is of course, if you don’t snack your whole night away on the delicious bacon popcorn! I will definitely recommend the bao buns along with the hanger steak and the Brussel sprouts. They were all delicious.

the winter citrus salad was very nice and refreshing
the fried ricotta salad was kind of overdone and messy
the uni cracker was good but average at the same time
the re-​constructed tamale, passable
the oxtail square, rich and tasty
the dessert a bit sloppy
attentive service very nice waitress, sort of desolate and depressive ambience, 2 cold, 2 dark
cuisine a touch pretentious with some good moments but overall expensive for what it is

Walking by this place and being reminded of it everytime I am passing left me no choice but to review!
Came here a few months ago with my mom just to check it out since it was the hype of our neighborhood.
Its weird to have a high-​class restaurant in the sunnyside area in my opinion, since every other restaurant is not as quite expensive as this one.
Definitely your typical HIGH PRICE — SMALL PORTION type of restaurant.
Ambiance is very peaceful and servers were young and going beyond to ensure customer satisfaction.
My mom had some kind of pasta, portion was VERY average noodles were well cooked and sauce was creamy which was a good thing. My mom enjoyed her food.
I had the roast duck which was one of the more expensive items on the menu, it came as HUGE surprise how LITTLE they gave me. It was supported by some mushrooms and veggies which didnt trick me into thinking its pretty nor bigger.
When I order roast duck, I dont expect a huge portion, but I definitely don’t expect like 3 thin slices of meat. Come on we pay way over necessary for this.
I feel quality of food was forced to be good meaning we paid good money so we tell ourselves it was worth.
They have popcorn to start off (pretty darn good actually) and they end your meal with some korean style mini yogurt drinks!
I honestly don’t know how this place keeps open. It must be the manhattanites that Unilocal queens restaurants and this is on the higher end,
JUST A GUESS DOE.
SAVE YOUR MONEY & GO SOMEWHERE.
Sorry Salt&Fat, I give you 1 star for ambiance, 1 star for store name creativity, 1 star for attracting customers even at your pricing!
Swindle for days (:

I knew I would love this place. I knew it.
I’m a sucker for popcorn and ever since I heard they served bacon popcorn, I knew I had to go! I was so excited when my friend suggested this place for dinner. When we got seated, we were served our complimentary bag of popcorn cooked in bacon oil. It was delicious and I could have ate it all night…
My friend recommended the scallops (3 for $ 12), and they were the tenderest scallops I’ve ever had! It was paired with a sweet carrot purée, truffled corn salsa, topped with capers! It was like eating jello.
It is a small plates restaurant but the food is delicious, and solid for a nice, semi-​splurge dinner.

I love Salt & Fat, and I’ve been going there periodically since they first opened in 2011. In the past, everything I ordered was outstanding, but I have to say my last meal did not live up to expectations. Maybe because I had such high standards due to the fact that every meal I’ve eaten at Salt & Fat left me craving more, whereas this one left me feeling mildly disappointed. Here’s why:
1. The menu and prices on the website have not been updated in quite a while. There are a bunch of new dishes, which I was excited to see. However, I was not thrilled about the price differences. I remember everything being at least $ 2 cheaper so I was a bit surprised to get there and feel a bit deceived about the pricing. It’s understandable that over time prices will go up but it should at least be reflected on the website menu, otherwise it feels like a typical bait and switch. I don’t think this was their intention, but nonetheless the website menu definitely needs to be updated ASAP.
2. Most of the newer dishes that we tried were not that great. With the exception of the uni toast (AMAZING) and pork belly baos (also delicious), the duck wings were overcooked and not very meaty, and the short rib was meh. I would not order either of those again.
With all of that said, I would still return to Salt & Fat again, as I don’t want to give up on one of my favorite restaurants. I look forward to trying the other new dishes and hope they’ll be better than what I’ve tried so far!

Everything we got was tasty! We also couldn’t stop eating their complimentary bacon popcorn. Their name describes their food exactly salty and fatty– yum!
Minus one star bc I didn’t really like their scallop dish– the corn underneath was sour (not sure if this is on purpose or if it was spoiled), and they had a purée spread that looked and tasted like baby food. Also the prices look really good online but it was actually because the dishes are tapas size. I always find this as an excuse to upcharge an appetizer dish. :/

Great food, but my only gripe is that all the food came
in orders of 3. All seating in the restaurant was for 2 or 4ppl. All orders should’ve came with 4 pieces and not 3 especially for the pricey meals.

When people say «good fats» they mean tasty, right? Because that’s what my duck was– tasty.
I had a completely different idea of what this place would look like. I mean, it’s called «Salt & Fat». You’d expect something more along the lines of gritty and owned by a man with a gold necklace and visible body hair, but Queens is classier than that.
Before ordering, you’re treated to complimentary popcorn dipped in, wait for it… SALT & FAT! Good job guys. Bacon fat to be exact. I’d honestly order that if it were on the menu. Hehe can’t complain about free food. Their drinks menu was more extensive than their actual menu. And you know, for once I didn’t mind paying for a whole bottle of Cabernet. A good dining experience deserves a good bottle of wine. Plus, I was catching up with a friend, so libations are always complicit. The cabernet was great by the way; there wasn’t a strong pungent aftertaste for $ 38.
While we were ordering drinks, the waiter described the entrees as «shareable». HA! Honestly, is anything «shareable» when it’s described that way? One entrée per person sir. While aesthetically appealing, the purple octopus appetizer doesn’t hold a candle to the foie gras. It’s foie gras though, not a lot can beat a liver pumped with fat. But the center stage belonged to the Long Island Duck Breast. *Grunt* It was all fat and juicy, like a steak… but bird. My friend had a piece of my bird and you can see a sudden regret in his face. Sure, Artic Char soooooounds good but so did the letting Christopher Columbus set camp; we all know how that turned out for the Native Americans.

For the name «Salt» and Fat, I surely needed that salt shaker more than a few times. They have good concepts for dishes, but the seasoning is completely off. Protein dishes are a bit overpriced. Restaurant was freezing cold. Scallop looks like it was basted in dirty oil/​dirty pan. Poached egg with Brussels was beautifully sous-​vide cooked, and the hanger steak had no gradient with delicious bark, had to have been sous vide cooked.
They need to step up their game with the finishing salt and maybe their food would pop more.
Thank good for the tables candle, my date and I were able to warm hands in between tiny plates.
Over all, amuse of bacon popcorn was the best thing to hit the table and it was free…

I’ve been eyeing this place for a while. But it’s kinda out of my way & when I am in the area it’s not open. But this past Saturday I was pleasantly surprised by a cancelled Unilocal meet up at the last minute. I was on my way to NYC when I got the text that it wasn’t happening. Sooooo Steve & I decided where we were gonna turn around to hit this place up since we were in the area.
It’s a small plates restaurant. VERY small plates of what we had but don’t let that scare you. The food was outrageously delicious! Pertaining to the portion size I think we just ordered the wrong dishes to get full because the duck wings that was going by our table looked awesomely delicious.
When we got seated we were served a complimentary bag of bacon fat popcorn. Very good!
We ordered the:
Uni Toast on Brioche, Yuzu, Lardo, Truffle Oil, & Mache. This dish was a close second favorite to the Foie Gras & I do mean close! The Uni was mild & buttery with a slight saline on the back end. The lardo was sliced so thin it melted when it hit your tongue and tasted like pork butter. The Mache was perfect with this dish. I must remember to use it the next time I roast bone marrow.
Korean Barbecue of Marinated Hangar Steak, pickled Daikon, Fried Onions, Ssamjang
The steak was tender & deliciously marinated. I liked the pickled Daikon & the Ssamjang was deliciously spicy. A bit too spicy for Steve but he braved through it. But I got to eat most of it because Black Pepper makes him sweat. LOL.
Foie Gras Cinnamon Gastrique, On Brioche, Bacon, & Seasonal Fruit. So heavenly decadent. Seared to perfection, it melted on your tongue and was served with a delicious fruit glacé that was the perfect accompaniment. It turned Steve into a Foie Gras lover & he hates liver.
Every last thing was executed perfectly. Do go and try this place. It’s small but the service was impeccable. Just like their dishes. Highly recommend this place. Please try it if you want to try quality food done well.

AMAZING! A 5-​star party in my mouth.
First of, what a great name, I’m not sure if I should laugh at it or praise the owners, it’s definitely memorable regardless.
This place offered by far one of the best meals I’ve had in NYC since moving here from LA. I loved the unique-​ness to each dish, and how every plate is crafted with a mesh of flavors that somehow all complement each other.
Everything we ordered surpassed my expectations, from the presentation to the taste. My favorites were the Yellowtail Tartare and the Foie Gras, I definitely recommend ordering these two. The octopus was scrumptious as well. My least favorite was the duck breast, I felt that the flavors were more bland compared to the other dishes and the desserts were nothing to rave about. For two people, I recommend getting at least 4 – 5 dishes to share.
The décor/​atmosphere has a bit of a romantic feel, it feels very intimate with all the small tables, candles and the classical music. Basically, Salt and Fat meets all the requirements for a perfect date-​night restaurant. Girls — get you baes to take you here pronto!
The only downside is that, it’s located in Queens, and maybe take a little longer to get to if you live in Manhattan, but believe me it’s worth it!
It’s OK to splurge a little to satisfy those taste buds! ;)

I’ve had a couple of fun meals here, and I appreciate that Salt & Fat exists in Sunnyside — it’s definitely very different from the other offerings in the hood.
First, the bacon popcorn that they give you as an amuse bouche is so good that I end up tipping the remnants at the bottom of the bag straight into my mouth, dinner companions and manners be damned. That stuff is crack. I’m thinking about it now and my mouth is watering. It’s like bacon essence on delicious popcorn.
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that the savory foods are generally better executed than the desserts, and the small plates are superior to the entrees. They do the tapas style dishes really well, and they make shareable portions so that you can be social with your dining mates.
We had a charred octopus here that I still think about a year later, and generally, I’ve been pretty happy with all my seafood dishes at Salt & Fat. I really like the uni toast, but it does have a lot going on – it’s extremely rich and you have to focus pretty hard to separate the uni flavor from the other tastes in there. Vegetable dishes are generally well-​balanced with sauce and texture, and they pay attention to plating and aesthetics, as well. I had a delicious pappardelle with poached egg here, and the pasta was fresh, flavorful, and perfectly al dente; brussels sprouts are likewise awesome. Don’t miss the yellowtail tartare; it’s a light, fresh treat and a well-​executed dish. But skip the pork buns, because you can have more exciting versions of this elsewhere.
Service is friendly but not overbearing, and this is a pretty efficiently-​run joint with a well-​curated beverage menu. I’m happy to have it around — and can’t wait to eat more of that popcorn!

3.5 stars.
Nice night out with my favorite family members. The 4 of us Ordered 8 dishes and favorite of the night was the yellowtail tartare and Korean bbq lettuce wrap with marinated steak. Did not particularly love the burrata dish (wish it was warm but served as a cold dish) or short rib over masa pancakes. Came once before quite a while ago and disappointed I didn’t see the fried chicken on the menu and pained they ran out of Uni for the night!!! I would skip the Rice Krispies dessert. Not too exciting.
Overall, lovely neighborhood spot and great service. Loved the complimentary bacon fat popcorn. Nice touch from the waiters who gave us extra without asking.

I think I hyped up Salt & Fat in my head too much– both from Unilocal reviews and the winning name. The dishes were all good but not extraordinary. I thought the scallops with roasted carrot purée and steak with roasted potatoes were both delicious. We also tried a mixed squid salad from what I could remember. Over salty, chewy and just not worth the money. That alone dropped the overall experience by a star. Overall, good but not amazing. You could probably get more bang for your buck elsewhere.

Interesting place. They gave us a small bag of popcorn for the table that was bacon flavor. I ordered some type of steak lettuce wrap. My husband got the steak which was pretty good.
I also tried the mussels which had bacon pieces in them. I wasn’t crazy about the bacon but the mussels were pretty good. I don’t think I would return, wasn’t really my type of food– however it was pretty good just not for me.

Disappointing. This restaurant used to be one of my favorites, but now it’s not the same anymore.
I ordered the Korean BBQ lettuce wraps, the pork belly pork buns, and the pork chops. The meat in the Korean BBQ lettuce wraps was so charred that I couldn’t taste the flavor of the beef and the sauce with the wraps was sour — it was not a pleasant flavor combination. The pork buns were delicious as always. The pork chop seemed unevenly cooked — some parts being a little dry and some parts being quite moist. These flavors didn’t seem to mesh so well.
I remember when I used to order blindly and everything was amazing. I’m not sure if the chefs/​management have changed, but the prices have also increased significantly with the portions being much smaller. I spent $ 50 on only 3 dishes. The service was also incredibly slow between dishes.
How unfortunate. This restaurant is no longer one of my favorites.

Salt & Fat, you tickle my taste buds with more flavors than that! (…is fat considered an honorary flavor?)
Their bacon popcorn is a delicious upgrade from your typical movie theater popcorn. It’s infused with all the salty goodness of the bacon but not very greasy on the fingers (yay). I also ordered a bottle of Kombrewcha, which is a fermented tea with very low alcoholic content. It’s refreshing with an interesting yeast flavor and went well with the rest of the tapas!
For 3 people, we ordered 6 tapas plus 1 dessert. Each tapa is around $ 10 – 22. Our favorites were the House-​Cured Salmon and Yellowtail Tartare. The fish were fresh and served with different garnishes, including the crumbs from the Everything Bagel for the salmon tapa! How creative is that?! I also loved the juicy, medium-​rare Duck Breast which came with burnt eggplant and chimichurri sauce. The sauce had the richness of a chicken liver but made entirely from garlic and herbs! Scallops tapa was very flavorful as well when eaten with the corn and capers.
I wasn’t a big fan of our other two tapas. The Baby Beets with goat cheese, mint, and cacao nibs didn’t deliver much flavor asides from the mint leaves. The sweetened goat cheese was unpleasant on the taste buds. The marinated hanger steak in the Korean Barbecue tapa was tough to chew and slightly overcooked unless the strong smokey aftertaste was the intention of the dish. But the bbq sauce was amazing and the lettuce wrappings were fresh.
For desserts, we went with the Chef’s Rotating Dessert. Our plate came with pieces of oatmeal cookies, peanut butter droppings, and rich chocolate flowers around a single scoop of marshmallow ice cream. The oatmeal cookies were my favorites, they tasted more like soft butter cookies and went well with the rest of the plate. But for a special dessert, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed.

Wow.
Flavortown train has pulled into the station! What I was looking for was a new replacement of Traif. The three of my amigos said no way and this place wasn’t better than Traif. Guess what?
I’m the Unilocal Elite with over 1500 reviews so sit back and get ready for this here review!
First, what the HELL is with the artwork? For sale no less. Very provocative… I’m still laughing, my brother in law sat under a picture of a naked dude with his wang over his head. ha!
The restaurant has tapas style choices, which makes the eatery great with many choices to sample all the unique and fun offerings. I’m going to start with the mind blowing and then work down.
1-​Foie Gras
I think I shed a tear after the first bite. The Foie Gras was so rich and decadent, I actually went back into the kitchen after my meal and thanked the chefs. The best I ever had. Ever.
2-​Duck Breast
Cooked perfectly with apricots. Another flavorful dish that was perfectly executed.
3−(2) dishes Burrata with fried green tomatoes
The FGT has a very light cornmeal crust that made the dish really enjoyable. Paired with the fresh burrata, this was another unforgettable dish
4-​Scallops
Oh boy. From the pickled corn salsa to carrot purée, this dish is a must order. I have to point out, the scallops were cooked perfectly.
5-​Duck wings
I liked them, everyone complained they were too spicy. I loved the favor and ate three by myself. More fa me!
6-​Tacos/​lettuce wraps/​ricotta tart
They were all ok, we should have ordered 2 Dishes of Duck Breast and Scallops instead.
My biggest issue with Traif, they had a lot of cooking mistakes like overcooked scallops.
Salt and Fat? Everything and I do mean everything was cooked and executed well.
I left Salt and Fat full and happy. I thought my meal last night was 5 Unilocal stars worthy, it’s a fun place to enjoy lots of flavorful and unique dishes

My first dining experience with my wife on this current trip to NYC happened to be here at Salt & Fat. Arriving at 6 pm (opening time) without reservations, seating was quick. By 7pm the restaurant was packed.
The staff seemed very attentive to us despite how busy it eventually got. We ordered quite a few entrees and they brought the dishes out one by one in quick succession as we finished the previous dish.
The yellowtail tartare was the perfect dish to start the evening. The entrée pictured was meant to be mixed and could be eaten with the provided chips. Quite possibly the best yellowtail dish I’ve tried to date.
Next came the pan seared scallops. Cooked to perfection. Four pieces of deliciousness coupled with fried capers, a roasted carrot purée, and truffled corn salsa. Very beautifully plated and my wife enjoyed it very much as did I.
Next in line were the tacos. Apparently the filling changes nightly and we want to think we lucked out as it was lobster night! Three lobster filled soft tacos hit our palate and they were pretty good but still the weakest of the dishes we tried. Not sure what the sauce was with the tacos but it dripped from both ends so rolling this up and eating it was messier than it had to be.
The foie gras I ordered came next. Plated with cinnamon, brioche, bacon, and rhubarb, it was quite a steal for the price. However, it was not the best foie quality. Great seared foie gras to me cuts like butter. This was a bit more tough and not melt in your mouth good. Despite that, overall a solid dish.
We ended the entrees with Sweet and Sour Confit Duck Wings. Well cooked with a nice flavor, came with 5 pieces. I felt like it could have been plated better. The other half of the plate was just empty white space (see picture).
Our dessert was the marshmallow rice krispie treats with vanilla ice cream. A little too much rice krispie treats and/​or not enough vanilla ice cream. Not really worth the $ 6.
Overall, great food. Would have liked to try the oxtail terrine which was off the menu this time around. (Server said it will be seasonal). I would definitely come back for the yellowtail if I’m in the area again.

Why did i wait so long to finally come to Salt and Fat? I cant believe I have been missing out all these years. This place blew me away in every single way, from the atmosphere to the service to the food they truly deserve 5 stars in my book.
The restaurant is really roomy and comfortable, we came at 6:15 on saturday night and were seated at a window seat. I ordered a glass of cabernet which was excellent! Since it was our first time our waitress explained their menu to us and suggested we order 3 – 4 dishes to share. We got the yellowtail tartar, scallops, foie gras and duck breasts and they were all outstanding, each dish is a combination of different flavors (salty, sour and sweet) and they all compliment each other so well. They also gave you free bacon fat popcorn which was very addicting and definitely not good for your wasteline! At the end of your meal they gave us free korean yogurt drink which is definitely a nice gesture!
I think salt and fat has become my new favorite spot in queens and I am dying to try the other dishes on the menu, i will sure be back!