Today was a beautiful sunny day in the 60s. What a gorgeous day to go to Hester Street Market in the Lower Eastside of Manhattan by Chinatown. Every Saturday, from May to October, this market will have several booths offering young designer's creative products from jewelry, clothing and even cupcake and pie shaped soaps. But most of all, I love to try new entrepreneurs creating new twists on food.
When we arrived at Hester Street Market, we first went around to see what food vendors were are participating this year. The first one at the entrance was the cookie ice cream sandwich booth. That'll be good on the way out. So, we checked out the different vendors and decided to eat our first course for lunch at Mighty Balls.
This booth makes pork, beef, or vegetable balls and put them in mini buns for sliders. You can choose which sauce and cheese to put in your meatball slider.
On the right is the menu board of Mighty Balls.
I've always had a quest for a real good empanada. Growing up, I remember empanadas with flaky dough filled with either beef, pork, tuna or chicken. Only once, when I used to live in Chicago, have I had the empanadas as flaky as I remember them growing up. Since then, I've had good empanada filling (which I can make) but have not had this flaky crust even in my recent visit to the Philippines or even Argentina!
So, I had to try this.
Before the end of the day, we couldn't leave without trying
Melt Bakery has 5 different ice cream cookies to choose from. We were stuffed so we only sampled one.
http://www.kittyleethomassweets.com/
When we arrived at Hester Street Market, we first went around to see what food vendors were are participating this year. The first one at the entrance was the cookie ice cream sandwich booth. That'll be good on the way out. So, we checked out the different vendors and decided to eat our first course for lunch at Mighty Balls.
This booth makes pork, beef, or vegetable balls and put them in mini buns for sliders. You can choose which sauce and cheese to put in your meatball slider.
On the right is the menu board of Mighty Balls.
To the Left is the pork meatball slider with spicy feta cheese and African onion Jalapeno.
To the right is the beef meatball slider with blue cheese and Not Your Average Brown Sauce
I highly recommend to try these.
The next booth we tried was Brooklyn Taco. They made their own fresh soft tortilla and looked quite good.
Left: I chose Chilorio Brisket which was delicious with some mangoes in it.
Right: Cola + Citrus braised Pork, also served with lime on the side, cheese and mango - which was equally good.
We were there for the afternoon so we couldn't resist to try the next booth: LA SONRISA. They specialized in empanadas.
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| La Sonrisa Menu Board |
So, I had to try this.
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| After a bite of the empanada, THIS is the closest to my empanada quest. They serve them fresh (not cold which ruins it). When it cooled down, I took a bite and I was delighted how thin the crust was! The filling was so juicy, that you better grab more napkins to eat them. They had some hot sauce on the side for those who like them a little spicy. |
With all that spicy sauce, you should try their homemade lemonade with cucumber and mint:
Luke Lobster was one of the food vendors who is there too. I've had Luke Lobster in a bun before, which I love. But with so much to try, I skipped it this time. (If you've never had Luke Lobster's lobster sandwich, it's definitely a cut above most lobster sandwiches. They not only have claw meat in them but also the tail.) You can read more about Luke Lobster from one of my other posts. You can use the search bar for lobsters or Luke's Lobster.
It was time for some sweets. I'm a big fan of macarons. I had to stop at Macaron Parlour's booth. Simon Tung and his partner are the chefs or baker.
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| Their macarons are distributed to Saks Fifth Avenue's food area. HERE IS THEIR MENU  BUT WHAT CAUGHT OUR EYE IS THEIR NEW FLAVOR CARAMELIZED BACON   |
Above, is what the bacon macaron looks like when split.
Before the end of the day, we couldn't leave without trying
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| This is the Banana-Nana Split from Melt Bakery |
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| This booth was not edible but it fit right in. They made soaps in the shape of cupcakes, pies, and mini bundt cakes. |
Don't miss the opportunity to stop by at Hester Street Market. http://www.hesterstreetfair.com/
How to get there? By subway, the nearest stop is Delancey Street where the F, J, & M is a block away.
Or, you can take the M15 on 2nd Avenue (take the Select Bus if you can - it's faster and stops right at Hester Street) - otherwise, the regular M15 bus stops at Grand Street.
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| A new addition to Hester Street Market for 2012 is Kitty Lee Thomas Sweets |
Kitty Lee Thomas Sweets specializes in flavored marshmallows. Some of them are enrobed in either milk chocolate or dark chocolate with studs of various nuts they feel like adding on. For Cinco de Mayo, they made a lime based "peeps" and a vanilla bourbon hat.
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| The green lime "cactus" shaped marshmallows were delicious. And on the left is the jar containing the vanlla bourbon Mexican shaped hat marshmallos |
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| Kitty Lee Thomas takes orders and can cater but does not have an official storefront. |
Hester Street Market is on Hester Street and Essex. Don't forget, it's only there on Saturdays!
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