Mad. Sq. Eats

After leaving the Nutella Bar and wandering through Eataly a bit, S and I decided that we should perhaps eat something that was not comprised of hazelnut and chocolate for dinner.  She suggested Mad. Sq. Eats (Madison Square Eats), a pop-up food market that just happened to be perched on the square across the street from Madison Square Park, right on Eataly's doorstep and within view of the Flatiron Building.

Food stalls lined either side of the square, and tables with colorful umbrellas were set up in the middle under twinkling strands of fairy lights.

We took a quick meander around all the stalls to see what the options were.

Crazy hot dogs and fun cocktails.
Huge soft pretzels with interesting flavors.

Macarons in every shade of the rainbow.

Unique meatballs (gotta love the name).

Donuts and arancini.

Asian street food.

Chocolates.

After a thorough perusal of the pickings, we decided to start at the Nunu Chocolates stand, which along with sweets, offered a nice selection of beer and wine.

We couldn't pass up the frozen white wine sangria.

As we sipped, we wandered to the Hong Kong Street Cart stand, where the pork buns had caught our eyes.

As we waited for our buns, we admired the stand's maneki-neko collection.

These beckoning cats are supposed to be the bearers of good luck, and they certainly were for us, because look what was soon placed into our waiting hands:






















Juicy pork belly dripping with a delicious sauce, onions, and cucumbers in a bun that seemed like a cross between a hamburger bun and your traditional steamed bun.  I could have eaten about 17 of these.

But there were tacos to be had, so I refrained, and we moved on to Calexico's stand.  

They have apparently been rated among the best tacos in the city, and I can at least vouch for the deliciousness of their Baja Fish taco.

Crispy beer battered fish, spicy slaw, mango salsa, chipotle "crack" sauce (it was fiery and amazing) and lime piled on top of corn tortillas.  If your taste buds are in need of some excitement, go grab one of these zesty buggers.

At this point, after all of the nutella, wine, sangria, and market food, S and I were ready to throw in the eating towel, so we finished our sangrias and admired the twinkling of the fairy lights as dusk descended.

 If you want to check out Mad. Sq. Eats, get over to Madison Square Park before May 30th, when it wraps  up.  A full list of vendors can be found here.  Just be sure to bring your appetite.

And if you aren't able to make it before the end of the month, don't despair.  Many of the stands have either brick and mortar locations or food carts throughout the city, so just go to their websites to check out their locations and hours. 

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