76 replies to this topic

[TaliesinNYC]

OK. The 2nd picture is from the Ohio Renaissance festival.

lmao

I was all set to believe otherwise until you spoiled it.

Brooklyn is a magical, fantastical land populated with all sorts of unique creatures found nowhere else in the universe.

[Lex]

Brooklyn is a magical, fantastical land populated with all sorts of unique creatures found nowhere else in the universe.

[Sneakeater]

[Lex]

Lex just must be living for the Great GoogaMooga.

You know me well.

I mean, it's not like these giant food festivals don't have a track record. That big BBQ fest down by Madison Square Park. Ozersky's Meatopia. There are a bunch of other ones. The crowds are insane, the lines are long, the ambiance is unpleasant and the consensus is that they just aren't worth it. Sure, there are sometimes ways to game the system. Showing up really early seems to work but who the hell wants to chow down on big portions of BBQ at 10AM?

Really, the whole concept is fundamentally uncivilized. There's a really good reason why most of the people who attend these things are in their 20s. Once you get older most people have learned their lesson. They just won't put up with shit like that any more.

I called it. GoogaMooga is a gigantic shitshow.

[StephanieL]

Lex just must be living for the Great GoogaMooga.

You know me well.

I mean, it's not like these giant food festivals don't have a track record. That big BBQ fest down by Madison Square Park. Ozersky's Meatopia. There are a bunch of other ones. The crowds are insane, the lines are long, the ambiance is unpleasant and the consensus is that they just aren't worth it. Sure, there are sometimes ways to game the system. Showing up really early seems to work but who the hell wants to chow down on big portions of BBQ at 10AM?

Really, the whole concept is fundamentally uncivilized. There's a really good reason why most of the people who attend these things are in their 20s. Once you get older most people have learned their lesson. They just won't put up with shit like that any more.

I called it. GoogaMooga is a gigantic shitshow.

Not as bad as all that IF you went early. That was key. Plenty of food, plus all of the Port-o-Sans were spotless.

[Lex]

Yelpers are scathing about GM as well.

[Lex]

We went back to Smorgasburg yesterday. GoogaMooga wasn't the only place with long lines. I shot some video.



Yep. A 20 minute line to buy slushies.



At least they didn't run out.

[Abbylovi]

I don't know if it's changed from when it first started but Smorgasburg is basically the same as Brooklyn Flea. Small number of food vendors with a larger ratio of flea vendors. At least it was last Sunday. I got a spicy tuna taco from one vendor ($6 for a bite!) and a lobster roll from the Red Hook Lobster Pound. The lobster roll is definitely in my top 3 from the city. Bun perfectly fresh, lightly toasted with butter, great ratio of mayo in the lobster salad, with the salad itself not too cold.

Mile End was there too, no lines at around 1:30ish.

[Lex]

We've been back to Smorgasburg twice since my original post. Let me be clear - most of the vendors are selling perfectly reasonable items. Jerk chicken, Moroccan food, tempeh, Ethiopian delicacies. But the zanies are far mare fun to write about.

A few weeks ago we found that Mighty Quinn had run out of brisket. Instead they were selling $6 sausage sandwiches. They cut a standard sausage into about 5 slices, put them on a sandwich roll, and then poured on a giant ladle of beans. It was hideous -



Make me eat this. I dare you.

It gets better. We spied a stand called Brooklyn Piggies selling that well known gourmet treat, pigs in a blanket.



I rubbed my eyes. Then I rubbed them again. The sign was still there. Three pigs for $5.



Are you fucking kidding me? I think we have a winner in the precious overhyped overpriced category, at least until someone starts selling saltines with Cheez Wiz for $3 each.

ETA - Wait, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for the price. The piggies are "natural." Someone foraged for them on the banks of the Gowanus canal.

[splinky]

We've been back to Smorgasburg twice since my original post. Let me be clear - most of the vendors are selling perfectly reasonable items. Jerk chicken, Moroccan food, tempeh, Ethiopian delicacies. But the zanies are far mare fun to write about.

A few weeks ago we found that Mighty Quinn had run out of brisket. Instead they were selling $6 sausage sandwiches. They cut a standard sausage into about 5 slices and then poured on a giant ladle of beans. It was hideous -



Make me eat this. I dare you.

It gets better. We spied a stand called Brooklyn Piggies selling that well known gourmet treat, pigs in a blanket.



I rubbed my eyes. Then I rubbed them again. The sign was still there. Three pigs for $5.



Are you fucking kidding me? I think we have a winner in the precious overhyped overpriced category, at least until someone starts selling saltines with Cheez Wiz for $3 each.

ETA - Wait, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for the price. The piggies are "natural." Someone foraged for them on the banks of the Gowanus canal.

have i shown you my business plan for a stand selling ritz crackers topped with a portion of a slice of american cheese, a piece of olive loaf and a swirl of dijonaise? you have to make it sexy

[Sneakeater]

Didn't Gabrielle Hamilton already do that?

[Suzanne F]

Triscuits are much ritzier than Ritz. And remember, sardines aren't for sissies. (or some such.)

[Lex]

Smorgasburg re-opened last weekend and Serious Eats has a slideshow.  There is good news for afficionados of artisanal PIABs.

 

 

[mitchells]

The ones I had at a Bar Mitzvah Saturday night looked better than those.

[Lex]

There's good news.  Seriously.  They've relocated away from the dust plain.