Asia Dog
Mobile vending at various locations.
Check their website for schedule.

With time still to kill before lunch & done with our HNH BBQ brisket sandwich, we decided one more Brooklyn Flea food vendor was in order.

Someone is selling “hot dogs with Asian-inspired toppings” & one of the toppings is Chinese Pork Belly, you just have to know I’m buying. The Wangding is an organic beef dog topped with chopped onions & fried pork belly. Somewhat an Asian cousin to Crif Dog’s Spicy Red Neck without the hillbilly edge. The pork belly added a richer flavor to the dog than any plain bacon wrapped dog I’ve ever had. My only criticism is I wanted more pork to dog ratio.

Looking forward to a return trip to the Flea to try more of these dogs & their limeade sodas.

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HNH BBQ
Mobile vending at various Brooklyn locations.
Check their website for a schedule.

Our final day of Meat Coma NYC 2010 took us across the river to Brooklyn. Our plan was to hit Smoke Joint in our old Fort Greene neighborhood then swing by Fete Sau in WIlliamsburg for the meaty finale. Cherie had made plans to meet an old friend at Smoke Joint & as we arrived early we had some time to kill.

We decided to wander around the old hood for a bit checking out what had changed (quite a bit actually) & what had not (the dreadful Chinese take-out was still there. REALLY!?!?) Along the wander, we ran into the Brooklyn Flea – a weekly flea market & street food extravaganza organized by the folks at Brownstoner. If we had known this existed, I guarantee we would have skipped Smoke Joint & spent most of the day eating our way through the fabulous street food here.

Rounding the corner of one of the food aisles, I saw the big “BBQ” banner & knew I was going to be eating before lunch. HNH BBQ is run by crew of young Texas transplants cranking out amazing brisket on a Weber Smoker. As we were heading off to a full lunch, we decided to just split a sandwich & skip the sides. We’re hoping to make a return visit to shop the flea market for Hut decorations & sample more of HNH’s food.

I consider myself a brisket fanatic. Up until the 2010 NY Meat Tour, I was beginning to believe I knew nothing about brisket & it was supposed to taste like roast beef. Thankfully, visits to Capital Q Smokehouse, Hill Country, Fete Sau & the folks at HNH BBQ proved this wrong. Brisket tastes like brisket if done right.

And HNH BBQ is doing brisket right.

Moist tender & a beautiful smoke ring, it’s simply seasoned with salt, crushed peppercorns & (I’m guessing here) a bit of cayenne. Excellent bark & a lucious meaty flavor. Cherie thought it was a bit too salty (I dig salty) but we both agree the cracked pepper added a great punch.

I am certain no brisket will ever beat HIll Country brisket (until I make the trip to Texas), but HNH BBQ is certainly in my Top 5. If you’re a brisket fan anywhere near Brooklyn, do yourself a favor & seek out HNH BBQ when they are vending. You’ll be glad you did.

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Crif Dog
113 Saint Mark’s Place
New York, NY 10009
(212) 614-2728

Following a mega noodle feast at Minca Ramen Factory, we took a walk around the East Village in the hopes of perhaps NOT falling asleep at 8pm. We had clearly decided we were done eating for the day, but perhaps we could find a quite place to drink.

We chose a little upscale Irish pub names Mary O’s. A handful of older folks hanging at the bar, a chill atmosphere & decent beer on tap seemed like a good way to kill a few hours. Plus – the ladies celebrating a birthday & flirting with the bartender added a nice floor show.

Finally deciding to call it a night, we headed back to our friend’s apartment to crash, but along the way I got hungry. Drinking tends to do that to me. Thankfully, we were staying right next to perhaps the best damn hot dog place in NYC: Crif Dog. It’s a walk down kinda divey place turning out a variety of excellent dog combos & cheap beer. Always the perfect fix after a night of drinking.

I went with two Spicy Red Necks: a dog wrapped in bacon & topped with chili, slaw & jalapenos. Also went with a Dr. Pepper – which I usually do at Crif Dog. Not really sure why. Needless to say – it hit the spot & capped “Day Two: Pork but not BBQ Pork Day” perfectly.

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Minca Ramen Factory
536 East 5th Street,
New York, NY, 10009
(Between Avenue A and Avenue B)
(212) 505-8001

One of our friends recommended we try Minca Ramen Factory & as dinner approached on Day Two of Meat Coma 2010 with the day’s theme of “All pork but no BBQ pork” we decided perhaps a nice bowl of noodles would be a bit lighter than the mega-meat fare we’d consumed in the last 24 hours.

To me – if the noodle shop is so tiny you’re basically sitting on the stove to eat – you’re in for good noodles. Minca is very much a tiny noodle shop. A handful of tables with a few stools essentially right on top of the cook line. Every noodle dish comes with pork char though you can request to substitute chicken. As a member of the International Pork Mafia, I have to love a place where basically everything contains pork. Also love how they make “pork char”. When the noodles are finshed being assembled, pieces of sliced roast pork are placed in the bowl. Then one of the cooks lights up a kitchen torch & blowtorches the pork. Sort of like pork brulee. Truly wonderful.

I went with the spicy noodles (pictured above) & Cherie the regular broth. Wonderfully rich broth with a nice mix of veggie & a half boil egg. I wish there had been more pork as it was delicious, but as it was this was a major noodle meal. What was planned as a light noodle meal turned into more of a noodle feast. Staggered out into the night with a slightly drowsy noodle coma.

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Spitzer’s Corner
101 Rivington Street
New York, NY 10002-2203
(212) 228-0027

Full of Porchetta porky goodness, we headed south into Soho/Lower East Side to see what was new & check out the Essex Street Market. The market is amazing – but more on that another time.

Having wandered for a bit & with NYC still somewhat August blazing (I believe the temperature was about 85°F), we decided to look for a place to get out of the sun & have a beer. Cherie noticed an open front bar at the corner of Ludlow & Rivington. First impression was it was targeted at the eurotrash & wanna be hipster douchebags that stay at THOR. Perhaps it is. In any case, it had 40 craft beer taps & a very friendly helpful bartender – so we took a seat. Sometimes looks can be deceiving.

Spitzer’s claims to be a gastropub – a term I find a bit obnoxious. If you’re a pub & serve food – you’re still a pub. The “gastro” generally serves no purpose other than to add 25% to very item price. The menu reflected that. Much of it was a bit too over the top & over priced to be decent pub grub. Beer prices were in the usual craft range ($7 or so for a pint). We had decided to have a couple of beers & skip food until we noticed one appetizer priced at a reasonable $5:

Pork Fat Edamame

Given we had decided the day would be devoted to pork – foregoing BBQ for other porcine delights – we were basically obligated to order this dish.

Rather than steaming and/or blanching the edamame, Spitzer’s sautes them in pork fat then tossed them in cayenne & sea salt. It’s a double punch of saltiness with a touch of spice & the smokey porky undertone of the pork fat. We polished these off in no time.

Quite glad we did not just this pub by it’s cover & ventured in. Will now need to see if I can replicate this at home.

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