Smorgasburg

Ever since I moved to New York, my friend S and I have been talking about going to Smorgasburg.  A flea food market that is open on Saturdays and Sundays in Brooklyn, it brims with unique cuisine and is a food lover's dream.  Naturally, I wanted to go and a few Saturdays ago, I joined S and N at East River State Park to get our eating on.  I started to get excited as I approached and could see a bunch of white and blue tents, framed by the Manhattan skyline.

 Once inside the gates, we took a spin around the vendors to see what was on offer.

There were lots of traditional options and well as some combinations that I would have never dreamt up.

Breads and pastries.

Internationally inspired meals in a muffin.
 

Filipino spring rolls.

Fried anchovies and fish sandwiches.

Fruity drinks.

Caribbean specialties.

Cheesy cornbread.

Bolivian delicacies.

Tacos, of course!

Mini cheesecakes.

The options were endless, so we decided to get right down to it and try a bit of everything.  N started with the takoyaki octopus balls from Mimi and Coco and passed them around for all of us to try.

 

I've heard people rave about octopus, but I wasn't blown away by these, so I feel like I need to try it again sometime in a different incarnation.

S and I then moved on to Bite Size Kitchen, because we couldn't resist the call of the braised pork belly bun.

 I have yet to meet a pork bun that I don't like, but these were especially full of melt-in-your-mouth fatty deliciousness.

After that, we felt like we needed something sweet, so we wandered over to Dough's stand to peruse the donuts.

I came away with the Dulce de Leche donut with slivered almonds.

Next, we decided to get a few things to share and take a break on the grass.  I grabbed the wonton sampler (crab rangoon, roasted eggplant and cauliflower, and pork) from Brooklyn Wok Shop....

 while S got the Duck confit dumplings (also from Brooklyn Wok Shop)....

 and the Tso Chinese Fried Chicken from Martha.

We ate our picnic and then stayed on the grass for a bit, enjoying the view and giving ourselves a bit of a break before pressing on with the eating.

Feeling re-energized, I decided that it was mac and cheese o'clock, so we got in line at Milk Truck Grilled Cheese.

The mac and cheese is made with farfalle and cheddar, gruyere, and asiago cheeses, and then topped with mozarella and breadcrumbs.  You can also add a number of extra toppings, so I went with scallions.

The serving was huge and definitely sharable, so we wandered into the beer garden in the center of the ring of vendors and got some summery beverages to wash down the mac and cheese.

After S and N finished their beers and I downed my tequila fresca, we agreed that we were rather full, but still could be talked into dessert.  Earlier, I had noticed The Good Batch ice cream sandwich stand and so we wandered back in its direction to check out the offerings.

 

As you probably know, I am obsessed with Nutella, but for some reason, the Brown Butter Coffee Caramel sandwich caught my eye.

It was huge.  And absolutely delicious.  The salty cookies, caramel cream, and coffee ice cream with espresso beans proved to be a match made in ice cream sandwich heaven.  It was the perfect cherry on top of a wonderful eating experience. 

 

At this point, S and N and I were all completely stuffed and agreed that we probably wouldn't need to eat again for about a week.  We left and made our way back to the subway, but I couldn't resist a few backward-gazing snaps on the way.

If you enjoy food, then you will love Smorgasburg.  There are so many options that even the pickiest of eaters could find something that they liked there.  It runs from now until November on Saturdays at East River State Park and Sundays at Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 5.  A full list of vendors can be found here.  Start planning your foodie plan of attack now and when the weekend rolls around, get yourself to Brooklyn!

 

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