http://www.brooklynflea.com/smorgasburg/
Never have I had an entire day that revolved solely around food. And never have I been so full in my LIFE after visiting the Smorgasburg Brooklyn Flea Market. My mom, dad, and I originally planned to spend the day in Brooklyn going to each of the different flea markets, but we ended up actually spending the majority of our time there at Smorgasburg. This was definitely my favorite Flea Market of all time…how can you NOT love walking through and tasting tons and tons of food from a variety of different unique vendors?
The amount of things that we tried at the flea market was absurd. But keep in mind, portions were small and we were sharing!!!! ;) Warning: this post may cause severe hunger.
Here are the booths we tried:
DOUGH
Dough Doughnuts are based out of Brooklyn, New York, and offers a very diverse selection of doughnut flavors, from traditional to more uncommon and creative flavors.
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| Between the 3 of us, we tried the Dulce de Leche doughnut. It was topped with almonds adding a small crunch factor. It was super light and soft, and did not disappoint. |
Filipino lumpia (loom-pee-ah), or fried spring rolls, are featured at Lumpia shack. They are one of the culture's most popular snacks.
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| Since we were being adventurous, we decided to try our first ever lumpia. We ordered the Peking Duck lumpia, with ginger scallions, hoisin and siracha sauce. I enjoyed these spring rolls. They were really crispy and full of flavor. They also served a nice portion size. |
Their motto: "Making Cheese, and Smashing Cakes," Bite Me Cheesecakes offers adorable bite-sized cheesecakes to easily satisfy a sweet tooth. The co-founders are Michigan natives, so obviously we had to offer our support!
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| My dad tried the Limoncello Meringue. It's topped with a Limoncello curd, encased in toasted meringue. They describe this flavor as the closet thing to crack, and I would agree! It definitely would be addictive. Their signature crust is sweet and buttery and plain awesome. The lemon curd was tangy and made this mini-cheesecake perfectly bittersweet. Definitely one of the day's favorites. |
PARANTHA ALLEY
My parents being huge fans of Indian food, the food at Parantha Alley definitely was intriguing. Paranthas are pan fried Indian flatbreads, and at this booth, they offered different fillings for the paranthas.
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| We decided to try 2 of them:the Keema, which was filled with chicken and spices, and the weekly special, filled with yummy figs and goat cheese. From just looking, one might think they are nothing but plain flatbread. But they would be wrong. The flatbreads were actually bursting with flavor. The special of the week was my favorite of the two--it was both sweet and savory, and really delicious. They were served alongside three sauces for dipping: a yogurt sauce, chutney, and mango pickle. This was one of my parents' favorite stops of the day. |
NEW YORK NATURALS: RAW VEGAN KALE CHIPS
I LOVE Kale chips. I think they are a great alternative to potato chips or any unhealthy snack food for that matter. New York Naturals offers raw vegan kale chips made with all natural ingredients. These chips are even as healthy as eating a kale salad, but add lots of fun and yummy flavors.
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| I tasted both the salt and vinegar and vegan "cheese" flavors and they were both so good! In fact, they were so good that my mom bought 2 packs to bring back home to Michigan. The salt and vinegar was tangy and added a nice salty touch, and obviously I'm always on board for anything cheesy-tasting. I definitely recommend trying these out, as they are hand-made, super healthy, and extremely addictive! |
ANARCHY IN A JAR
Anarchy in a Jar specializes in making homemade jams, and has over 14 varieties of jams, jellies, chutneys and marmalades. Everything is cooked by hand, and everything is all natural.
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| HOW can you resist homemade pop tarts?!? |
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| I'm trying this one next time... |
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| We all shared the 3 Berry Pop Tart, which was filled with a sweet berry jam filling. Well, I'm sure your not surprised to hear that these knock regular pop tarts FAR out of the park. The outer crust was buttery and flaky, and was awesome with the jam. Such a great pastry splurge. |
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| My parents loved the first pop tart so much that they went back to try one more. Or two. They tried one of each of the mini pop tart flavors: Spicy Pear and Hot Pepper and Goat Cheese. They thought they were both absolutely delicious, but being a bigger fan of sweeter pastries, the Spicy Pear took the cake. |
KELVIN NATURAL SLUSH CO.
Kelvin Natural Slushies was the one food vendor that had a long line waiting to be served. Why might you ask? Being that it was extremely hot and humid and felt like it was 200 degrees, anyone in their right mind would go for a delicious refreshing slushy. What better of a place than Kelvin, serving all-natural intricate flavors for a cold, refreshing slush.
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| We got the Arnold Palmer slush, with a raspberry mix in. This was the ultimate refresher. It was ice cold and had excellent flavor. The raspberry added additional sweetness and really complimented the lemonade and iced tea. We downed this one fast. |
ROB & ANNA'S
It's just bananas! Genius!!!! My family and I are huge banana lovers, and so the soft serve bananas at Rob & Anna's were calling our names. This nutritional dessert alternative is just bananas. That's it. No sugar added and no preservatives. It looks and tastes just like ice cream, without all the mysterious and unhealthy ingredients.
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| We got the Banana Soft Serve (duh) and topped it off with a little hot fudge so it would resemble a chocolate covered banana. And it tasted just like one. The banana soft serve was unbelievably soft and smooth, and honestly, I think I may like it better than traditional ice cream or froyo. The flavor is so simple and delicious, and the texture cannot be beat. I would come back just for a LAARGE helping of this. |
YUJI RAMEN
Yuji Ramen serves a certain style of Ramen which is served without broth. Huh?! Don't worry…it's still full of flavor with its sauces and toppings. The noodles are also served chilled, which was nice under the blazing NYC heat.
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| The array of vegetable toppings, spices, and sauces. |
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| Our Ramen Noodle Bowl, with freshly grilled zucchini and squash, chili flakes, a seasoning mixture, and spicy tuna. It was actually surprisingly good to eat chilled, and I liked all the seasoning flavors on top. |
After having tried my first steamed bun on our vacation to California this past winter, I am now a huge fan. At Smorgasburg the vender Bite Size Kitchen served steamed buns with a variety of different fillings.
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| We tried the Red Curry Coconut Chicken bun with toasted crushed peanuts, cilantro, and lime. This was sooo good! The bun was warm and soft and I liked the subtle coconut essence to the chicken. The sauce was bright and flavorful and the whole thing was great. |
SCHNITZE
We came to a general consensus that Schnitze might have been one of our favorite vendors of the day. They offer different chicken Schnitzel sandwiches on pretzel rolls. Not sure how it can be any better than that.
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| OUR SCHNITZEL!!!!! We got the Bamburg Schnitze, which had parsley and panko bread crumbs, caramelized onion, pickled cucumbers, daikon, ginger, shallots, and mustard with basil and cumin. That DEFINITELY has to be the most sophisticated schnitzel I have ever eaten. It was sOoOo good. There were so many different flavors packed into that pretzel roll that made it truly the ultimate sandwich. |
One of the booths had I had been eying since the beginning was Handome Hank's. They serve different fried seafood varieties that have a zesty twist. The different options on their menu seemed perfectly appealing while we were already on a roll with our eating.
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| My mom and I decided on the soft-shell crab, that was served alongside a generous portion of creamy cole slaw. Although we don't tend to have fried food very often, this was definitely an exception. The crab was so crispy and perfectly seasoned. This was actually my first time eating soft-shell crab, and I really enjoyed it. The coleslaw was perfect to compliment the richer flavor of the crab. |
SALUD
After all the different foods we had been eating throughout the day, a refreshing and HEALTHY smoothie was extremely necessary.
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| After skimming the options with cute and clever names, we decided on "You Are Berry Nice," made with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, bananas, and oatmeal. Seriously after all the junk we had been eating all day, something semi-nutritious was spot-on. The smoothie was really good and wasn't too strong in flavor. It was cold yummy and refreshing. |
THE GOOD BATCH
One very last thing before we left: a cookie ice cream sandwich from The Good Batch. At this point I wasn't even hungry, but we still decided to get one, for good luck of course.
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| We went straight for the Goodwich: an oat chocolate chip cookie with sea salt, drizzled fudge, and filled with vanilla ice cream. The cookie was so good because of the sweet and salty contrast. Then adding a little bit more sweet with the ice cream, the whole ice cream sandwich was perfection. |
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Aside from what we got this time around, there were still plenty of other booths and vendors that we didn't get a chance to try (this time, at least). Here is a taste of some of the other foods that Smorgasburg had to offer:
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So basically, our day at the Smorgasburg flea market was quite a success. Such a success that we went straight to the gym afterwards. It's hard to believe, looking back, how many different types of food we got to try, and really how much we ate. I got a taste of so many fun places in New York that I never would've known about otherwise. I am planning on heading back soon because I don't think I can leave this city without trying some of the food from the other vendors, and of course trying some of the same things a second time. Since Brooklyn tends to be a hotspot for flea markets, Smorgasburg should definitely be a priority for those who go.
XOXO,
Danielle
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