What To Eat At Citi Field
Entering Citi Field.
I took in a game the other night at Citi Field – a rare winner for the Mets, as it turned out. Going to a ballgame is absolutely wonderful, and can be dauntingly expensive (particularly when dining with Mark at Yankee Stadium). Citi Field (I still tend to call it by its maiden name, Shea Stadium) however offers a much different experience than Yankee Stadium, particularly from a food perspective. I am glad to say that the food and drink choices at Citi Field are far better than those at Yankee Stadium, and significantly cheaper to boot. The problem, though, is getting them.
The main gate.
I realized something very significant during this trip: do not go to Citi Field for a night game and expect to eat as well as possible. There are so many terrific vendors and concessions at Citi Field that it would be sore tempting to try to eat your way through them.
At our seats. These seats - 14 rows back from 3rd base - were $80.
You see, Citi Field just isn’t quite the operation Yankee Stadium is. It’s the little things, like the seats (no cushions, which is fine, but at Yankee stadium: cushions). Although they advertise “in seat service” for the fancy tickets we were holding, the folks you might order from didn’t make themselves visible until well into the second half of the game (Mark would never allow that up in the Bronx). Now I am certainly not above going to get food at a stadium, far from it, but if they’re going to say you get a service for your $80 tickets, you ought to get the service, right?
Either way, no sooner had we landed at our excellent seats than we immediately stood up to go get food. At Citi, as I mentioned, there are numerous worthy options.
At the massive, packed food court.
This is when I learned a valuable lesson: don’t go to night games and expect to get food. There are a lot of great choices. Shake Shack is (inexplicably) the most popular. There’s also Blue Smoke Barbecue, Mama’s of Corona, Nathan’s Hot Dogs, and my go-to spot for reasons I am about to explain, El Verano Taqueria, which is my suggestion for where to eat at Citi Field.
Purchase a hot dog while waiting on line? Yup.
The reason the food at Citi Field is problematic at night games is obvious: it’s dinner time. So the lines for these excellent resources are absolutely hellishly long. I can’t imagine how long the wait for Shake Shack was (or why somebody would choose to waste two innings or so for one of their burgers). Blue Smoke is pretty good, but… . The Taqueria makes a fantastic product and, best of all, it boasts the shortest lines, every time.
Even though it had the shortest line, though, it was still long enough to justify the purchase of a hot dog during the wait. Truthfully, if I were the hot dog guy, I’d just troll those lines.
The only downside to the Taqueria is their beer selection is quite poor. I was able to nab a Bass(!) from the international beer stand, but it would be great if they had some quality beer at the Taqueria. They have beer, it’s just not very good.
Free kraut!
One particularly nice feature of Citi Field is the do-it-yourself condiment stands. Got a dog? Load it up with kraut, onions, whatever, to your heart’s content (or Angina kicks in). Nothing complements the Nathan’s hot dog quite so well as a sloppy pile of sauerkraut. What a win. But back to the tacos.
The beef taco.
For about $8 you get two excellent tacos. Granted they are not piled high with cheese and lettuce and whatnot, but they are of the gourmet variety. The beef is skirt steak, and the carnitas I believe are pulled pork shoulder. Either way, they are fresh, high quality, delicious and relatively inexpensive. And the line moves quick (comparatively), so you can get back to the game faster.
The pork.
I don’t think they are quite as good as the excellent gourmet tacos at the Calexico cart. But they are just excellent nonetheless. The beef is smoky, hefty, filling and satisfying. The pork is sweeter and delightful. They’re worth the price and a decent portion. Could they be bigger? Sure, but… . On balance, they are my go-to when at Citi Field.
The peanuts... not the same maker as Yankee Stadium, but still delicious.
Now there’s lots of other stuff you can get: sausage and peppers, hot dogs, Mama’s of Corona (which I adore, but that’s another story – suffice it to say I strongly, strongly encourage you to visit Leo’s Latticini in Corona if you get the chance to load up on the real stuff), and so forth. While Mama’s at the stadium is very tempting, I found the $10 price point a bit high for the bready sandwich they offer. Go to the shop in Corona and let them take care of you – you will LOVE it. I’ve got to get back there – one Zipcar trip, coming up.
The peanuts were $5.25.
What do you mean, you're out?
If Mark is shrewdly running Yankee Stadium, his cousin Les (Les M. Pressive) seems to be handling the waiter service at Shea – I mean Citi Field.
Finally back at our seats and gobbling everything in sight (the hawkers who shlep peanuts, beer, soda and so-on were all over the place, which was very good), the promised waiter finally arrived at our seats somewhere around the sixth inning. And told us they were out of popcorn. A quick trip to the john yielded a popcorn cart, with fresh hot fare popping happily away. It’s baseball: if you say you’re out, you should be out, no?
Anyway, these are nit-picks. The place is an awesome foodie destination. They even have these awesome picnic tables set up overlooking the field in the food courts. That’s fantastic. It is a great place to visit and get generally terrific food. And the baseball, believe it or not, can be pretty good too.
Citi Field
12001 Roosevelt AveQueens, NY 11368
(718) 478-2921 www.newyork.mets.mlb.com/nym/ballpark/index.jsp
The small storefront on Greenwich Avenue.
If you’re looking for some above-average cheap eats, it would be a mistake to skip fish & chips place A Salt & Battery on Greenwich Avenue.
It's elbow-to-elbow in the small restaurant.
There’s really not a lot of room to move around (or sit) in the small joint. Expect to hear classic Brit rock on the stereo (in this case, David Bowie’s Fashion was playing). There are a number of youngish Britons behind the counter. A sign in the place reads “In Cod We Trust.” The whole place is infused with a pretty fearsome English pride. I imagine ex-pats from across the pond would feel quite at home discussing soccer (or footy) here. If there was a bit more room.
A cold, crisp Carlsberg.
I asked the mop-topped man behind the counter for a beer suggestion as to which beer, and he provided the Carlsberg.
There were numerous different types of fish to get: pollock, haddock, sole and whiting. The pollock was sold out. I ordered the small portion of the sole, with chips.
The "small" portion of the sole.
As you can see, the small portion is pretty substantial, especially with the great mound of chips underneath it. But how does it taste?
Crunchy, solid crust.
Of course, it was piping hot having come straight from the frier. The batter was substantial and crunchy, but not too thick. The sole, however, was not all that flavorful – when we have it at home, it’s generally more buttery.
The malt vinegar helped.
A generous portion of malt vinegar really punched up the flavor. I had hoped the batter might be have more seasoning: perhaps a touch of garlic, some parsley, lemon zest and the like – you know, to jazz it up. The actual dish was more texture than flavor to me. However, there was a surprise lurking… .
The chips!
The chips below were scene stealers. I mean they were just amazing. Strong potato flavor, soft, and almost doughy. They were not too battered at all, nor too fried. Really they were an awesome surprise. I’d go back just to get them.
Cheap!
All that food: the fish, the chips and the beer, for just $16? What a steal. All in all, I am pro.
A Salt And Battery
112 Greenwich Avenue New York, NY 10011 212.691.2713 www.asaltandbattery.comThe Merguez Sausage Platter From Marrakech Chefs Is On The Sweet Side, But Hefty For Just $8
The Marrakech Chefs truck.
Recently another food truck appeared outside my office. Like the rest of New York I am somewhat enamored of food trucks of late and of course had to try it. The truck was called Marrakech Chefs. Why, then, did they seem to specialize in burgers? They had 6 of them on the menu. When you think of Morocco, do you think of burgers? Neither do I. OK, admittedly, maybe the guys themselves are from Marrakech, hence the name. But don’t you think you call it “Burger Truck” or some such? I don’t know… .
Or was it the 'Marrakeck Chefs' truck?
And what was with the hilarious typo on the front of the truck? I’d’ve been livid if I sent the truck off for a custom paint job and had it come back like this.
These things started to raise my concerns.
The cartoonish colors of the platter jump out at you.
Fortunately, when I stepped up to the counter and asked the gentleman “What’s good?” he suggested the merguez sausage platter. I got it with the couscous. It was served with roasted peppers and a potato salad. The hefty platter cost just $8.
A forkful with sausage, peppers and couscous.
The sausage was soft and crumbly with a faint, simmering spice. Texture-wise, it had a vaguely crumbly, mealy quality which I was not wild about, but the sweet flavor of the lamb-beef mixture was quite pleasant. The roasted peppers were of course sweet, and they worked well with the texture of the sausage. The couscous themselves were also on the sweet side. Putting the whole thing together in a forkful yielded a buttery richness to the experience.
The scene-stealing potato salad was wonderful.
The potato salad was excellent, especially as a palette cleanser. It offered the right level of vinegar. Frankly I think it sort of stole the show.
It’s a hefty portion, and somewhat different, but I don’t know how motivated I am to go out of my way to get it.
Marrakech Chefs
Travels around the city, no apparent website.
The Upper West Side location, uncharacteristically empty(ish).
Much has been made about the explosive growth of the Five Napkin Burger chain. What started as a menu item at Nice Matin on the Upper West Side has spawned a series of burger places across the city.
While Mel’s is now (by far) the best burger on the Upper West Side (ok, Morningside Heights), Five Napkin’s 84th street location drew me in to revisit the fare there. So how was it?
Low lit, usually much more packed. Disco music, anyone?
First of all, it was uncharacteristically easy to get a seat. The place is routinely packed to the gills, and there’s often a line. My visit coincided however with Passover, so perhaps that accounts for some dropoff in traffic. The atmosphere inside Five Napkin is raucous. They play loud music of the disco variety. The clamor of people chat (and chew) loudly. The full bar keeps things lively.
Queso fresco, perhaps?
We started with the pork taquitos. They are served with queso fresco, sour cream and salsa. They’re a bit silly and sloppy. I was sorely disappointed by the use of fried taco shells – soft would’ve worked better, in my opinion. The whole thing was a bit watery and cold, with a slight bean flavor. I liked their bite-sized stature, and though I was grousing about the use of the taco shells, it did add a suitable crunch. They clocked in at $8.75, which left me feeling a bit hornswaggled. I found them to be very “meh.”
Croutons on top? A good sign... .
I’d like to sit here and rave about the mac n cheese, but I’m afraid it was a bit forgettable. I liked the use of crunchy croutons, and the bits of scallion atop it are also good. But flavorwise it didn’t register that much, one way or another. Perhaps that is because it is a mixture of gruyere, parmesan and cheddar. There was some sharpness to the cheddar… . The best macs I have found rely heavily (if not exclusively) on cheddar. I may have to give it another try to really give it a more thorough review.
A forkful. Note the liquid-like nature of the cheese.
You can however clearly make out the gooey and runny nature of the cheese. Either way, all of this is just prelude to the main: the 5 Napkin Burger itself.
Voila.
So the easiest way to understand a Five Napkin Burger is to think of it as an onion soup burger, though there is perhaps a bit more going on with it than that. It consists of 10 ounces of what they call custom ground beef, a slathering of gruyere, caramelized onions and rosemary aioli. All this sits on top of a soft, white roll. It is a very large burger – a serious amount of food. It really does seem to me that they’ve taken delicious beef, dunked it in a batch of onion soup, topped with gruyere and served it. But why call it a “Five Napkin” burger?
How'd the cheese get outside the bun?
That’s why. It is a dripping mess to hold. It is so flooded, soaked and sopping that it is hard to hold. It’s like eating a burger in the rain.
The gruyere flavor adds a lighter quality to the otherwise heavy, beefy flavor. There is also, interestingly, a resonant mustard note. While some burgers come with salt and char flavors, this one comes with slime and juice. It is a massive burger, but seems almost too eager to try and prove itself worth its whopping $15 price point – which also makes it one of the more expensive burgers going.
Simple, crispy, delicious.
The fries were very straightforward and good. Salty and slim.
With drinks, our meal came to $120 after tip for two people. That’s a lot of money. Granted, the burger is substantial, and there is definitely some highly respectable craftsmanship at work here. But the rest of the meal, and the $15 per burger price point… I don’t know. It didn’t quite deliver.
It’s a fine burger, feel free to try it. But really, go to Mel’s.
ME LIKE EAT 