Smorgasburg Queens | Chopsticks and Marrow

09/02/15 12:01pm

A Tale of Two Extreme—And Extremely American—Sandwiches

The Austin Ramen Cho features brisket, bacon, cheese, and kimchi.

When I was growing up the closest thing to an extreme sandwich was something called a Dagwood. It was septuple-decker and was only eaten in comic strips by an absurdly thin man. To be sure there were Philly cheesesteaks around, I just never ate one. Today there are all kinds of extreme sandwiches, including the Puma from Tortas Neza, which is bigger than your head and contains a chorizo omelet among other things. The Puma is the Dagwood of Mexican sandwiches. It’s a sandwich fueled by the twin engines of Mexican pride and team spirit for football club Los Pumas de la UNAM. It is also at its heart an American sandwich, embracing Mexican foodways and turning them up several dozen notches. (more…)

America, Astoria, Austin Ramen Cho, Bareburger, Burnside Biscuits, closed, Keizo Shimamoto, Kimchi Smoke, Long Island City, Ramen Burger, Robert Austin Cho, sandwiches, Smorgasburg, Smorgasburg Queens, Superiority Burger

C+M Asks . . .

by Joe DiStefano

08/07/15 11:52am

What’s Your Favorite Thing to Eat at Smorgasburg Queens?

by Joe DiStefano

1 Comment

Keizo Shimamoto’s Ramen Shack, one of my Smorgasburg Queens favorites.

PLEASE NOTE THIS VENUE IS CLOSED

Curating Smorgasburg Queens with its melting pot of international vendors ranging from The Arepa Lady and Celebes Bakar Indonesian Grill to luxe offerings like the lobster rolls from Brine by Danny Brown has been a real hoot. What’s even more fun for me though is eating there.

One Saturday I went full on Andrew Zimmern: balut from Papa’s Kitchen for starters, papaya salad with black crab from Qi, Snowy Durian from my friends at KULU Desserts. While I’m partial to the hallacas—sweet and savory Ecuadorean tamales—from Son Foods, my favorite eating experience at Smorgasburg Queens has to be Keizo Shimamoto’s Ramen Shack.

To step behind the curtain and take a seat at Keizo’s counter is to enter another world, somewhat more serene than the rest of the market, but no less delicious. Both of the hot soups I have tried have been most excellent, but my top pick might be the seafood broth based cold noodles. So, tell me, what’s your favorite thing to eat at Smorgasburg Queens?

Smorgasburg Queens, 43-29 Crescent St., Long Island City

Andrew Zimmern, Brine by Danny Brown, Celebes Bakar Indonesian Grill, closed, Colombian, Ecuadorean, Filipino, Indonesian, Japanese, Keizo Shimamoto, Kulu Desserts, Long Island City, Papa’s Kitchen, ramen, Ramen Shack, Smorgasburg Queens, Son Foods, The Arepa Lady

Sandwich Wednesday

by Joe DiStefano

07/22/15 10:07am

R’A’R’s Offalicious Head Cheese Slider Hits Smorg Queens

by Joe DiStefano

1 Comment

Surely the best head cheese slider in Queens.

The amount of times I’ve wandered into Astoria’s Muncan Food Corp. to ogle all the various cuts of burnished charcuterie without purchasing anything numbers in the hundreds. OK fine, sometimes I grab a bag of jumeri, warm nuggets of crackling made from hog jowls. So I was very pleased to learn that there’s a new sandwich in town that takes many of the old world Romanian butcher’s fine products and places them on a bun. (more…)

charcuterie, Long Island City, Muncan Food Corp., offal, Rèst Âü Ránt., Rockaway Brewing Co., sandwiches, Singlecut Beersmiths, Smorgasburg, Smorgasburg Queens, Tina Stipanovic

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