Brooklyn Flea

I was recently at Brooklyn Flea for the SOS Bake Sale and took the opportunity to eat my way through the market. 

At the Red Hook Lobster Pound’s stand, I tried unsuccessfully first to get lobster grits (sold out!), and then went back a short bit later to get some chowder, but in the meantime, they’d sold out of that as well!  Boo!  Someone told me they use the tomalley in the grits, which means I TOTALLY have to get my butt there earlier to get some.  I love lobster (and crab) guts.  Essence of the animal, if you ask me… *drool

SpB told me she and the girls had really enjoyed Asia Dog when they’d gone a few months ago (I’d unfortunately had to miss the excursion – was it because of school or I was away, I’m not entirely sure…).  So we headed over there and grabbed two dogs. 

I’m pretty sure SpB got the Sidney, which she loved and told me I had to try (next time; I don’t want to share hot dogs!).  I personally opted for the Wangding because um, it has pork belly on it.  But I thought mine was only alright; looking at the menu, next time I really need to try the Vinh too!  Banh mi style!  Either way, though, I think $3.50 for a hot dog is a bit outrageous… at a stand… but I think that’s just me being a grumpy bee-yotch because I’m sure I’ll pay more when I get to Hot Doug’s or if I ever go to Crif Dog’s to actually eat. 

We both wanted elotes because something about eating coated corn on the cob while wandering around a flea market… I don’t know, it makes me feel all cozy inside.  Perfectly spiced – not too much, not too little, the kick was there which was nice on this slightly chilly day (what wasn’t nice? the stuff falling off and flying everywhere… into my hair… haha).  NOM!  I think that was $2. 

Next up, these delectable prosciutto+homemade ricotta open face sammies from Salvatore Brooklyn.  Generous prosciutto slices, arugula spicing the sandwich nicely, a drizzle of olive oil, all atop a slice of crusty bread… but wait, what’s this?  HOMEMADE RICOTTA.  Insanely soft, fluffy in my mouth, this amazingly creamy texture… I wanted to buy a big tub of it just to bathe in.  I wanted to make lasagna.  I wanted.  I WANTED IT.  But then I thought it would be a waste to actually cook this ricotta, so amazing was it on its own… I could just drizzle a bit of really good honey (no, not clover, ugh) over it and stuff it in my mouth, big spoonfuls of it, big overflowing honkin’ spoonfuls… over and over again… till the whole tub was gone… and that was when I realized that I should not purchase a tub unless my BF was there to pry it from my fingers before I cleaned it out.  So I didn’t 🙁

As we were preparing to leave the market, SpB and I noticed meatloaf sandwiches.  Um, you know how I feel about meatloaf sandwiches. 

This one was atop a brioche bun and boasted bacon ketchup.  WTF?  Yes, please!  SpB and I split one, and it was absolutely delicious.  Cheap, too – I think it was $5 or 6?  I wish I remembered the name of the purveyor, but I do not… but I promise you, you need to get this.  Perfectly cooked; not overly juicy (I mean, it’s on a bun, I don’t want it running down my hand while I’m at a market!), and not quite hamburger-like – this is definitely meatloaf – awesome.  Plus they wrapped it nicely for us when we said we were leaving.  Great people! 

Last, and sort of least, we picked up two cannolis from the same place as the open sammies – yes, the ricotta people, since cannolis are filled with ricotta.  I was really excited for BF to try this, but it turned out that he didn’t like it that much, saying that the ricotta didn’t taste right.  I’m going to go ahead and guess that what I loved about the ricotta in the sandwich application is what didn’t work for him: too fresh, too soft, not what he was expecting in a cannoli (since most cannoli places probably don’t use super fresh ricotta).  Oh well.  Can’t win them all. 

Yvo says: I’m not big on shopping at flea markets but I will definitely be back to this one, just to eat my way through the entire market, omg!  So good!  Pretty cheap, too; most things seemed to be in the $5ish range (or less, really).  Awesome!
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Brooklyn Flea for location details