Smorgasburg (Williamsburg)
East River State Park
90 Kent Avenue at N. 7th Street
Website: http://www.smorgasburg.com/
I love food markets. Whenever I'm
traveling and visiting different cities, I always try to put food
markets on the list of places to visit. It's always nice to visit the
local markets just to get a feel of what locals eat and do. Smorgasburg
is practically heaven because it's a whole big group of vendors who get
together in one place to cook and they sure know how to do it well. It's
all about the eating here - street food and basically casual dining
under the big open skies which also means that it can be quite a downer
if it rains. It was also where we found the infamous Ramen Burger which
shook up the whole burger scene just like how the Cronut did to the
world of doughnuts.
We got into Smorgasburg slightly early while the
vendors were still setting up and saw that there were people sitting
around the sides probably waiting for the market to start. But I was
wrong. R and I later found out that it was a line for the Ramen Burger!
And since the line wasn't snaking to the ends of the earth, we joined in
to find out what the latest (then) food craze was all about. And this
was probably half an hour after R asked if I would bother queuing for
the Ramen Burger if i had to wait 45min. My answer was "hell noooooo!".
We waited an hour...
That hour came in useful since we needed time to
digest our breakfast from the nearby Egg but I reckon that if we had
empty stomachs that day, the hour would have been better spent browsing
around and eating at the other fantastic stalls around. I don't really
get the hype. Sure, it might be a novel idea but it ain't the tastiest
burger around. We went for the Original Shoyu flavour. The ramen "buns"
didn't really have any much flavour, the beef patty wasn't dry but it
needed more seasoning and the burger was just in need of more sauce in
my opinion. The proportion of noodles to everything else just meant that
there needed to be much more flavour to everything that was sandwiched
in between.
We also had the Beef Brisket Sandwich from Mighty
Quinn's Barbeque which was much more successful. Succulent, smoky and
juicy pieces of brisket topped with some sliced chillis, cucumbers and
cabbage sandwiched in a bun was just difficult to resist.
The best treat I had that day was at the Milk Truck
which specialises in Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. I have a love affair
with melted cheese that began when I was a kid. I was not the regular
'jam and peanut butter' type of child. When I was growing up, I would
have a slice of cheese melted on a piece of bread in the toasted oven
for breakfast, snack or whenever. So when I see anything on the menu
that has the words 'melt' and 'cheese' together in one line, it's
usually more than likely that I end up ordering it.
I ended up going for a simple Grilled Cheese
Sandwich with Caramelised Onions although they did have fancier options
on offer. It was so addictive - the onions were so sweet and paired
perfectly with the salty and ooey-gooey cheese. To die for really. I was
so full and promised to eat only half of the sandwich but ended up
almost polishing off the whole thing.
R and I also had plenty of delicious beverages and
the best and most memorable of all was the Maple Lemonade which was
essentially lemonade sweetened with maple syrup (genius!). We also had
the tasty juices from Brooklyn Soda Works who make delicious fresh
juices and carbonate it to make it a thirst quenching treat for the hot
summer and an Arnold Palmer slushie. An Arnold Palmer is not normally a
drink you see much of outside of the US. Anyhow, it is also known as a
'Half & Half' which comprises of iced tea and lemonade - a
combination I really like.
There was a lot more to explore and eat around the
market such as lobster rolls, fresh oysters etc. but I could only have
so much in one morning. If you're in NYC during a weekend and you're in the mood for some eating, this might be the place for you.
Note: Smorgasburg is also available on Sundays. Please visit their website for more information.
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