Madison Square Eats

Madison Square Eats is part of the Urban Space initiative where city spaces are transformed with pop up markets and fairs to showcase popular eateries and other local makers. It only runs from September 5 to October 2 so I wanted to make sure I catch it before it goes away! It's a rather small space and I don't really think its a MUST visit but it was an enjoyable and lively lunch. The food that I had was yummy and I didn't try too much because I was not super hungry and W also had been here multiple times so she told me what was good or bad. I think it is definitely a good place to grab lunch if you work in the area but it does get quite busy. I also think this is great if you want to have a big selection of different types of food or if you are with a group of people who all want different things.

Calexico - Baja Fish: Beer Battered Fish, Spicy Slaw, Fresh Mango, Chipotle "Crack" Sauce
The fish was flakey and tender and the batter was very crispy. I really loved the fresh mango which elevated the entire taco. It got super messy so make sure you have tissues! 

Melt Bakery - Cinnamax: Snickledoodles + Cinnamon Ice Cream
Ohhhh my god this was heavenly. The ice cream had great cinnamon flavor without being overpowering and the snickerdoodles were perfectly soft and delicious. W kept making fun of me because I could not stop talking about how good it was while we were walking around. The cookie could be SLIGHTLY softer but it would be hard because these ice cream sandwiches are premade and stored in the freezer. But seriously that is a teeeeny complaint and I absolutely LOVED it. I will definitely be hitting up the actual bakery to try all their flavors. 

Madison Square Eats 

Madison Square Park

Flatiron

New York

NY10010

Taste Talks All-Star BBQ

Taste Talks is a 3 day food festival that takes place in Brooklyn and Chicago. The festival include food fairs, talks by chefs and other food industry professionals, workshops, and expos. W had a code for free tickets to the All-Star BBQ Event and of course I would never pass up such a great deal! Without the code it would be $40 per ticket. Apart from the items listed in the official menu, there were also little treats such as the oyster. Unfortunately the veggie burgers and the charred lamb tongue ran out :( I was also unable to get the dessert because I was too busy getting other food!

It was such a fun Sunday activity and it was just perfect to be with friends savoring yummy bites with great weather also! It was pretty packed but the lines moved along quickly and we soon got into a nice rhythm of getting food from one vendor and then quickly moving into the next line. I had such a great time and can't wait to explore more food festival/events!

Each vendor will check you off to make sure you only get one of each dish! 

DANNY BOWIEN | Mission Chinese & Mission Cantina & JAMIE BISSONNETTE | Chef/Owner of Coppa (Boston), and Toro (Boston and New York)
MISSION CHINESE SPECIAL
This lamb tartare was a great start! The flavors were fresh and exciting and tasted very fresh. I loved the little crispy cups and the scallions on top were great!

IVAN ORKIN | Ivan Ramen
GRILLED DUCK HEARTS | with a summer corn XO sauce
This was probably one of my favorite dishes of the day. And luckily for me a few of my friends don't eat innards so I ate their share also hehe. The duck was nicely charred and meaty and the corn was SO good. It was sweet but also has that hint of OX spiciness. It went perfectly with the little duck hearts... I WANT MORE. 

ACTION BRONSON | Musician & MICHAEL WHITE | Osteria Morini 
PORCHETTA "KRA PROW" TIGELLE | Thai spiced "Porchetta Kra Prow", crispy watercress, tigelle
This was pretty normal and was not memorable at all. It wasn't bad but just didn't seem very creative or special. I did enjoy the mixture of herb in the herb salad however as it provided a nice fresh and foresty mixture of flavors along with the fatty pork. 

DAVID SANTOS | Louro & JONATHAN WU | Fung Tu 
PIG HEAD SALAD | with green mango, cabbage, cilantro, mint, maLa vinaigrette and fish powder
I did enjoy how fatty the pig head was and it went really well with the tangy green mango. I think I got a nostril or something because I did find a tube like structure with some hairs in it (ew!), I still took a bite haha... might as well be adventurous! 

DANIEL DELANEY | Delaney BBQ - BrisketTown 
TEXAS HOT GUT SAUSAGE
I thought this sausage was quite good, bold flavors and had a nice bite to it. I also enjoyed the pickled cabbage on top of it but this was not particularly memorable. 

Yum! A nice and refreshing break from all the grilled meats. 

MAX SUSSMAN | The Cleveland & ELI SUSSMAN | Mile End 
GRILLED CHICKEN KEBAB | with Szechuan pepper zhug on flatbread
This was alright, the chicken kind of had a strange texture like it was too chopped up.

WILL HOROWITZ | Ducks Eatery SMOKED 
CHAR SUI LONG ISLAND EEL | fermented corn, sassafras root & crab roe creme
I loved the wonderful smokey flavor of the eel and the corn added a great crunch. I could have used more of the crab roe creme though as it didn't even really notice it until I read the menu. I really wish that the bread was soggy... if it was crispy this would have been GREAT. 

MATT RUDOFKER | Ssam Bar 
GRILLED BLUE WHALE OYSTER | shaoxing, brown butter, ramps
This was pretty good but it was a bit too sweet. But I did enjoy the different way of preparation for oysters. 

ANDY RICKER | Pok Pok 
BOAR COLLAR MEAT | rubbed with garlic, coriander root and black pepper, glazed with soy and sugar, grilled over charcoal and served with chilled mustard greens and a spicy chili/lime/garlic sauce
This was pretty disappointing, I thought the collar meat would be quite juicy and tender but it was quite tough and the flavor was also quite uninspired. Maybe it's also the asian in me but eating the "gai lan" cold and barely cooked was strange. 

ROB NEWTON | Wilma Jean and Nightingale 9 & OLIVER STRAND | New York Times 
BARBECUE DUCK | with sorghum, ginger and five-spice flat bread
This was the last dish that I had and it did not disappoint! The duck was nicely roasted and it all went together well into a rich and decadent bite. 

All-Star BBQ

East River State Park

Brooklyn

New York

Smorgasburg

Smorgasburg is a food and flee market that happens in Brooklyn over the weekend. According to the website:

"Smorgasburg happens in two locations every weekend: Saturdays at East River State Park—Kent Ave. and N. 7 St.—on the Williamsburg waterfront; and Sundays at Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 5. Both locations are open from 11am to 6pm, and feature packaged and prepared foods, beverages, and more from purveyors from New York City and across the region, for a total of 75-100 vendors. The markets are always open rain or shine."

This is also the place where the infamous Ramen Burger was debuted. We did not get to eat that but we did have a lot of other yummy food. T and I decided to check it out when he visited and we had such a great time. Overall, there wasn't any dish that I was completely blown away by (just being picky), I did not have any life changing moments, but I really loved the atmosphere and the food was delicious. We also didn't try too many different things as we got full but we had oysters (fresh and tasty), Mighty Quinn's BBQ (they ran out of something :( but what we got was quite yummy, some bits were a little dry though!), and a fish taco (delish, loved it). I would love to try more dishes the next time I go. I really loved how we were able to get a bit of everything and the people there were all nice and friendly.

I highly highly recommend everyone going, remember to bring cash! I think T also bought a jar of pickles and he seems to enjoy it! The one thing that I am upset about was that I did not get to have my ice cream sandwich. I was saving it for last and when I happily went over to the stall to get it they were closed....

We also took the subway over which was fine but I hear that you get to enjoy the Manhattan skyline if you take the ferry. I will try that next time. I will definitely be returning so I know I will get that ice cream sandwich sooner or later!

Cute little anime thing I saw before heading to the subway

Smorgasburg 

East River State Park

90 Kent Ave

27 N 6th Street

Williamsburg

Brooklyn

NY11211