Fat Goose

Looks like a manager don’t want to see extra action saturday, after 9.30pm. Waitstaff was nice. Maybe that’s why not a lot of tables full on a busy weekend. Sorry.

This is going to be added to my rotation of last-​minute brunching in Williamsburg. It sits a corner away from Café Mogador, but Fat Goose is without the 90 minute, cramped seating and the SoHo girls who traversed the L over the weekend.
In comparison, Fat Goose is more quiet. I met up with an old colleague to revel in the fact that we had left the former gig before it imploded from incestous mismanagement and the dining room was maybe only half-​occupied on a lovely Sunday afternoon. For some this is concerning, for others it’s great. I was a smidge concerned until the food came out.
I ordered the macchiato, a salmon tartine and a side of seasonal fruit. The seasonal fruit surprised me the most — refreshing, crisp, sweet. My friend ordered the wild mushrooms with a sunnyside egg. The dishes were presented beautifully, the portion sizes a little on the small end, and tasted as expected. The ambiance was forgettable; neither exceptional nor bad.

Very nice place to go for a nice time with friends. Start off with a order of scones and you are smiling. Very clean lots of room, tables are not on top of each other. Food is very good and the service is friendly and attentive.

An interesting spot towards the end of civilization in Williamsburg near the East River.
An open space with table seating for 25 and bar spots for another 15. The corner location has large plate glass windows looking out on Wythe Ave & N 8^th St not far from Brooklyn Brewing Co.
The entrée menu is simple and covers the proteins well — pork, beef, chicken, fish and a vegetarian option. One preparation of each, none of which are particularly creative. That said, simple done well is the play and it works well. An appetizer section is confused and jumps from Mediterranean to Italian to South American influences.
A hearty bread is served with soft butter and fennel seed. The crunch of the seeds with the soft bread and thick butter is unusual and a successful party trick.
Hand torn pasta with wild mushrooms and grated parmesan is a hearty vegetarian dish. That said, it would benefit greatly from the use of chicken broth in it’s preparation and a dash of salt. The pasta itself soaked up the broth nicely and the mushrooms lent an deep earthy flavor that was piqued by the sharp cheese. Swiss chard binds the thin broth and the pasta.
The seared duck breast atop a lentil pomegranate salad with pureed celeriac is a variation of the dish that is virtually a the restaurants name sake — except its the wrong kind of waterfowl. Ultra crips skin is removed, crisped up even more and then used to hide the medium rare preparation of the sliced duck breast. Sitting to the side but carrying the duck throughout is a confit preparation of pulled duck in the shape of a hockey puck. Luscious, the meat clings to the celeriac purée.
The meal takes a long time to arrive and there is an even longer time inbetween appetizers and entrees. The reason this is so strange is that the restaurants was virtually empty while we were there — two other tables. None the less, the service was polite and friendly.
I do see why the place is empty though — the owners seem to disagree with and dispute in a rather snarky way any feedback left on Unilocal.That’s totally the wrong way to fix something as opposed to further training of your team and thanking a customer for the feedback while pretending that nothing happened. Oh well. We all have to learn some how.

Overall, the restaurant was great and exceeded my expectations. Based on other reviews, quality and service seemed inconsistent, so it’s possible that your experience could be very different from mine.
**Appetizer**
Calamari — Definitely get (even if you don’t like calamari). Tomatoes really enhanced the dish and added to the texture and flavor of the dish
Summer corn — Recommend getting
Seared foie gras — Recommend getting. Eat everything all together to get all of the flavors all at once. (Save some bread)
Octopus — Recommend getting
Fresh pasta — based on other Unilocal reviews, it seemed inconsistently made and so we preferred to try other dishes
Salads — we just didn’t want to get salads
**Dinner**
Duck breast — my favorite entrée of all of the ones that we ordered. The duck was well cooked and the crispy skin on top so good. You couldn’t really taste the cocoa or the celariac, which was mashed, but it (as well as the pomegranate) went very well with the entrée
Pork shoulder — didn’t eat too much of it, but the meat was well cooked and was tender
Market fish (tile fish) — I’m not a fish person, but it was good. Bok choy was well cooked. Didn’t really like the turnip flavor
Strip steak — fried potatoes were amazing. Steak was a little overcooked than medium rare (which is what we asked for). Based on reviews, this seems like the safest (most consistent thing to order)
If I came here again, I would definitely order the calamari and the summer corn (or pretty much all of the apps again). As an entrée, I would probably order the duck breast again.
**Price**
$$$ (with wine, apps, and dinner)
Apps $ 10 — 16
Dinner $ 23 — 28

We wandered in here at 9:30 on Halloween night, and were seated immediately in a quiet corner of the restaurant that included our party of three and two empty tables. YES — a quiet table, we were happy.
We had drinks, and set about a three course meal, beginning with an ample tasting of the three cheeses on the menu, with some sort of nuts, and some stewed/marinated…prunes? Not sure, but great with the cheese and toast. Oh! Also great bread on the table with seasoned butter — a little different, and delish.
We tried three appetizers, and split them all among us:
Corn and cheese sort of salad — tasty, not skimpy
Foie Gras (I know, I know) — well cooked, excellent sauce, weird cookie pieces on the side
Octopus with tomato jam and breadcrumbs — probably my favorite dish we had that night — the tomato jam was out of this world (If you put it in jars, I’d buy a case)
We all had our own entrees, and my husband said his was the best chicken he’s ever had — the other two of us did NOT get a bite, heh. Steak was good, cooked to temperature, and featured a type of potato I’m told was good. The fish of the day had a nice crust on it, the bok choy was a little undercooked, but there was a ridiculously tasty cream substance underneath everything — turnip? Rutabaga? Whatever it was, it was awesome.
Excellent service, right there when we needed something, great about refills on water, and paced everything very well. Super friendly and helpful, explained everything we had questions about, and rocked some super sweet costumes like pros. Thanks for such a great evening!
We would go back for a special occasion, or if we’re just in the area again and hungry. Definitely a solid choice.

Excellent food! Best octopus I’ve ever had, super tender. Foie gras was also excellent and steak was super unique. All-​around a great culinary experience.

Good service and farm inspired decorations
The lavender lemonade lacked the lavender aspect.
Pork was good but could have been a little bit more roasted for my taste.
Smoked salmon tartine was great. Generous with the salmon.
The scones are a must have. They’re so moist and flavorful and crunchy on the outside.

Came here on a sunday afternoon for brunch and the place was completely empty, which was perfect for our group of 8. I initially thought if a place this big is empty on a sunday, the food might be mediocre, but i was wrong. I had the braised chicken thigh sandwich which was delicious. It was almost like a rotisserie chicken sandwich with added goodies like avocado and caramelized onions. The mimosa was okay, not too strong, and the overall décor and atmosphere of the place was really chill and laid back. I’d come back to try more options on the menu.

Cute space and the food was nice. Interesting décor but nothing to rave home about. Maybe I’ll try again if the menu changes?

What a lovely find! We came across this place after being fed up waiting for a table elsewhere and were pleasantly surprised by this lovely spot. The service was excellent and the quality of our meal was very good.

The experience at Fat was wildly underwhelming and extremely disjointed.
I don’t understand the confused traditional décor paired with the post modern minimalist plating. I’m not sure why the designer chose a khaki granite bar top, that’s cold and way too big and long for the room. The dining room looks as if it were from stolen from a mom and pop café from 1996 in suburban Connecticut. The décor and ambiance made the experience confusing from the get go.
For being such a chef driven restaurant, there isn’t mention of his or her name on the website or any piece of press identifying this «chef». It’s like they have something to hide or something probably because of an unstable back of house?
Anyways, let’s talk about the food and service.
While the lady who served us was pleasant and polite from the get go, after 15 minutes I found her to be obnoxious and over abrasive. She was a tad OCD/​obsessive compulsive for my liking. She was though extremely knowledgeable about the menu although I wish she would have give us a little time to breathe. I think she re watered our glass after every sip.
For the first course we started off with the fresh pasta which was texture less and served in a bowl of flavorless broth. I’m typically a sucker for home made pasta, but this pasta really missed the mark.
For my main course I tried the market fish, which was Salmon served with fava beans and black garlic.
Aesthetically, this plate was beautiful. The contrast in colors really was really the only bright spot of this dining experience, but then I took a bite.
The Salmon, was an extremely small portion and had no crispy texture which was the first thing I was looking forward too. Who orders an expensive Salmon just for the skin to be cooked improperly? I will say the flavor was fine though, but nothing extraordinary. The fava beans were under cooked and the black garlic overwhelmed my pallet.
After the disappointment with the first two courses, we opted out of ordering dessert.
If they change the décor and obtain a reputable chef with at least a James Beard nomination under his belt, I will come back with open arms and an empty stomach.
But until then, I feel they will need a drastic capital infusion to overhaul the front of house including revamping their service team in order to succeed in an extremely competitive Williamsburg restaurant market.

We came here before heading to the Brooklyn Bazaar and it was a great way to start the night. This place has comfortable seating and the food still makes my mouth water now. The drink, the Old Maid, also did not disappoint the young maidens.

We are here right after watching a skate boarding show. Right timing it suddenly started to pour when we stepped out the playground. Great stumble upon with light dish siting next to window of this wine bar watching people rushing in rain. I like the place. Very Brooklyn which I like.

Fresh, inventive, wholesome food in a charming, relaxed environment. Skip the hipster hangouts — unless you want that sort of thing — and head here for gracious service and a quiet meal.
The snap pea salad, dressed with sesame and just the right amount of chili, is delicious. As well the salmon with morels. (Though the salmon skin could be crispier.)
I’m a local and perplexed as to why this place isn’t more crowded. Despite loving the quiet, I want the establishment to do well because it genuinely is great. So — go there! Oh the cocktails are great, too.

Amazing! I don’t know if I was soaking in the hipster atmosphere of the location but something honestly made me feel better then everyone else when I ate here.
The food was beautifully prepared and the ingredients were fresh and local. The waitress was all smiles and possibly the sweetest person I’ve ever met. I got the duck and was a little thrown when they asked me how I liked it cooked, I didn’t know duck had that option, but I went with the chef’s recommendation and I was happy as a clam.
Cute place, definitely recommend it to all!

I read way back to the earlier reviews of this place, and it sounds like they suffered from a misguided chef and bad management, not to mention a C food safety rating (yikes). That seems to have turned around. I went last night for the first time, and would NEVER have thought it had had such problems.
First off, I checked online, and they now have an A grade. Secondly, the food was really good. I loved the creative plating, and everything my husband and I had was really tasty. We shared the cheese fondue (not a traditional fondue but very very good), the house made pickles (a nice start), the brussels sprouts and sausage salad (with house made sausage that was delicious), the papardelle with cauliflower (maybe a tad under-​seasoned, but the parmesan flavor was really nice), and the pork with celeriac and prunes (really delicious).
The service was good.
I think that this place suffers because Brooklynites like to sit almost on top of one another at restaurants. This place is a little spacious and sort of austerely decorated, like many Polish-​owned restaurants in Greenpoint that attract families and older people as opposed to 22 year olds. I actually really loved that there was space to breathe.
I’m optimistic that this place is on the right track, and if it continues to get overflow from Colette’s and Café Mogador, people will discover that it’s actually quite good.

Wonderful, quaint little Williamsburg brunch spot. It’s quiet, beautiful on the inside, has some rustic charm. It’s a nice little break (coming from a Manhattanite). Their menu is pretty minimalistic, but nonetheless has delicious options to choose from. Wait staff was very friendly and helpful, seeing as one of the people in our party was gluten-​intolerant.
I got their eggs with wild mushrooms, and seeing as I am a HUGE mushroom fanatic, it was mouth-​wateringly good. Perfectly cooked eggs, with some nice crispy bacon on the side — can’t go wrong! They also have some great cocktails for a cold fall morning. And a few of us got hot toddys. YUM! I definitely recommend this place for a cozy, intimate but fun brunch spot in Brooklyn. One of my favorites in the neighborhood.

While i am not in general a fan of recent day WB, this place makes me want to brave the weekend hordes of hipsters and tourists on Bedford Ave more often. A couple friends and I dropped in on Sunday for a brunch sans reservations and were seated immediately.
We shared the plate of scones, which were 2 very nicely textured and light apricot dill scones with a side of lightly whipped chream. They were just perfect in texture, sweetness and density, with the subtle complexity resulting from the unique pairing of flavors.
I enjoyed my entrée of homemeade sausage, which was basically one link, cut into thirds and artfully arranged atop a celeriac purée and wild assorted mushrooms, and complemented by a perfect poached egg. I was warned about its petite size, (commensurate with the low price of $ 10) but felt that the richness of the dish and variety of flavors adequately sated me.
Those with bigger appetites will no doubt love the pork loin, rabe and fried egg. It’s still a bargain at $ 11. It looked amazing. My friend’s iceberg wedge salad with pork belly also looked tasty.
Iced coffee was perfectly robust and flavorful.
All this, for just $ 20, including tip.
I will be back.

Weird place, and our service wasn’t great, but I really liked almost everyone of the 6 dishes I tried. I can’t remember each plate, but I thought that overall it was pretty interesting/​creative food. We had a rabbit terrine of some kind, which was very nice, and some roasted carrots with a grain, I think. Must have been some seafood in the mix. At any rate, after trying so many plates, I can say that most food here must be pretty good.
We had the Sunday night prix fixe. It was a pretty good deal.
I don’t love the atmosphere of the place though, so I would come back for the food, but wouldn’t bring a date or someone looking for a restaurant experience. Kind of odd décor, not great colors, etc.