Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Food
Spaghetti Donuts & Ube Dragon Fruit Bowls Among The Amazing New Dishes Coming To Smorgasburg This Weekend
By
Scott Lynch
Published Mar 30, 2017
Modified Mar 30, 2017
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Scott Lynch/Gothamist
View all 21
By
Scott Lynch
Published Mar 30, 2017
Modified Mar 30, 2017
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Every day since Christmas, Team Smorgasburg has held tastings in their Crown Heights office—about 75 in all, culled from some 300 initial applicants—to determine who would be joining the still-insanely-popular weekend food market, opening this Saturday in Williamsburg and on Sunday in Prospect Park. In the end, 26 new vendors made the cut, most of whom were on hand at Berg'n last night for a sneak preview.
As usual, I tried everything. Here are a few highlights:
• The Burger Supreme, which you may know from its stint as a pop-up at Mission Chinese, is serving a simple but perfect "griddle-steamed" Fleishers beef patty, cooked medium rare, with melted American cheese and a mustard-based sauce on a potato roll. Nothing flashy, totally delicious.
• Ube Kitchen has several Filipino classics on offer, but the one you'll be seeing all over your Instagram feed is the Classic Halo Halo, a hollowed-out dragon-fruit shell filled with ube ice cream, blackberries, mangos, dragon fruit chunks, tapioca, jackfruit, red mung beans, toasted coconut flakes and a coconut milk sauce. It's sweet, refreshing, and bursting with bold flavors.
• The Wisconsin natives behind Baked Cheese Haus ship in wheels of homemade stinky stuff from their native land for a first-rate Raclette sandwich, melted to order of course, and paired with a nice gamey prosciutto, cornichons, and scallions on a crusty roll.
• Belmere Catering is making several traditional Haitian dishes, including a rich and fiery pumpkin Freedom Soup and "Pigs on a Stick," which is basically deep-fried fatty chunks of well-seasoned pork belly.
• John's Juice serves pulpy beverages made by sticking a pulverizer right inside a whole piece of fruit—dragon fruit, orange, pineapple, grapefruit, and watermelon are all planned—smashing the hell out of it, squeezing in a bit of simple sugar, agave, or ginger syrup, putting in a straw, and done. It is indeed, "All Juice, No Cups".
• The duo behind Strange Flavor Burger is branching out from their shack in Bushwick's The Johnsons to feed Smorgasburg goers an excellent Mapo Brisket sandwich, topped with tofu crisps and served on a chewy sesame roll, among other full-flavored, decadent delights.
• Rutte's Dutch Waffles offers wonderfully large stroopwafels served just-made, fresh, warm, and gooey for maximum happiness.
Horchata Churro Ice Cream Sandwich from Dulcinea Churros (Scott Lynch/Gothamist)
Other new dishes of note include Spaghetti Donuts from Pop Pasta, which are gimmicky to be sure, but also taste good and are fun to eat; ice cream sandwiches from Dulcinea Churros (I had the horchata ice cream with a generous squirt of dulce de leche on a sweet churro "bun"); Cambodian street food from Kreung, including a memorable fermented fish paste called Prahok, served with rice and various root vegetables for dipping; and Prodigy from Mobb Deep's Commissary Kitchen, which cooks up dishes inspired by his three years in prison, teamed here with Eddie Huang's Baohaus crew.
This summer both the Smorgasburg and Brooklyn Flea markets will be "zero waste" events, said co-founder Eric Demby, which means all dishes and utensils are compostable, with no cans or plastic bottles allowed. So instead of vendors selling bottled water, there will be free filtered water filling stations located around the park.
And remember, as tempting as it may be to make fun of ramen burgers, raindrop cakes, and spaghetti donuts, these are all mom-and-pop-style small businesses, the kind everyone always complains there aren't enough of anymore in our city. Smorgasburg will feature some 100 different vendors every Saturday and Sunday, none of whom are getting rich by busting their ass out there trying to make something good in less-than-ideal cooking conditions, but all of whom are pursuing some sort of dream.
Smorgasburg Williamsburg is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. every Saturday beginning April 1, and is located at 90 Kent Avenue in East River State Park. Smorgasburg Prospect Park is open 11 to 6 every Sunday beginning April 2, and is located at Breeze Hill near East Drive and Lincoln Road.
Tagged
brooklyn flea
smorgasburg
spaghetti donuts
ube illin
original
Scott Lynch
Photojournalist, food writer, preschool receptionist. Love NYC.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE food
10 dishes that demonstrate the delicious diversity of curry in New York City
The global dish is shapeshifting and ubiquitous.
By
Robert Sietsema
Published Sep 12, 2026
Frozen yogurt is back in New York City. So are the super long lines.
Is it worth the high price and ridiculous wait? Gothamist needed to find out.
By
Sonia Rao
Food
Frozen yogurt is back in New York City. So are the super long lines.
Is it worth the high price and ridiculous wait? Gothamist needed to find out.
By
Sonia Rao
5 NYC banana puddings as good as Magnolia's
By
Hannah Frishberg
Where to eat in Greenpoint, Brooklyn right now, from Polish to Sichuan to Iberian
By
Robert Sietsema
Can a congressional candidate's dumpling diplomacy win over Queens’ immigrant communities?
By
Caroline Shin
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .