The best part of the Brooklyn Flea was always the food, so when the Flea organizers decided to open another market solely for food, needless to say we were thrilled!Brownie and I went to Smorgasburg in East River Park in Williamsburg one Saturday, arriving around 10:30 am when the crowds were still thin. We first did the rounds of the purveyors of food products to take home (more on those goodies later in the post), then when our friend arrived, we got serious about the eating. Others had the same idea - by 11 am, the crowds were starting to show up.
We tried to not duplicate going to vendors we'd had before at the Flea, but we just couldn't resist getting a pupusa from Solber (from the Red Hook ball fields). It did not disappoint - in fact it was still probably the best thing we had - the pickled cabbage slaw is just the perfect accompaniment to the hot crispy-soft masa of the pupusa.
The second best thing we ate was Mimi and Coco's spin on Japanese takoyaki. We tried all 3 flavors - sausage, shrimp, and potato. I loved the sausage and shrimp, but could pass on potato (starch wrapped in starch).
We were disappointed by the bahn xeo from Queen's Dahn Tu. The crepe wasn't crispy, the filling was bland. Next time, I think I'll try the other Vietnamese vendor Bep.
We were also disappointed by the "dumpling pancakes" from Bite Size Kitchen. Despite the name, they were basically bing filled with pork, but I think because of trying to turn them out quickly, they were just gummy inside. They made us miss Roll & Dough. I also decided I should just make them at home (don't worry Brownie, when I do, I'll bring some over for you).
We were hoping for more baked good vendors, but we did get a few great things - one was this fig and onion hamentashen from Weekend Girls, washed down by their refreshing cucumber juice.
We also got a great vegan bar from SCRATCHBread. Their take on sticky buns (served as mini buns in a cone) looked interesting, but a little too much given our grazing.I did bring home a Momofuku corn cookie for later, plus a coconut donut from Dough for Redneckhunter. Not as good as Doughnut Plant was his surmisal.
I also brought home Rhubarb Hibiscus jam from Anarchy in a Jar. Brownie opted for the super-fresh and delicious strawberry balsamic. We also were surprisingly pleased with the Spiced Beer Jelly that we tasted.I was also happy that the Hudson Valley Duck Farm had a booth, so I could bring home a smoked breast and tub of rillettes. Along with some cheese from Bardwell Farm, and a roast pork sandwich from Porchetta, Redneckhunter and I had a nice dinner.
Next time, I'd like to try a biscuit with either fried chicken or sausage gravy from King's Crumbs, and get some bacon from Landhaus (they were only selling BLTs at this point, but told me they'd sell slabs of bacon later on this summer).
