A bustling little strip hidden underneath the crowded streets around 59th street and Central Park, you can escape into the equally crowded hall. Filled with visiting tourists, students, and locals looking for a snack or quick meal. My best friend and I grew an interest in going to this particular location thanks to handy dandy social media advertisements.

Slightly reminiscent of a sawed off portion of a mall, Turnstyle Market holds a vastly mixed selection of stands and shops ranging from a small Taiwanese joint called Zai Lai to chicken in a waffle cone at Chikn’ Cone. We ran into a friend who happened to work at Zai Lai and luckily got to use his employee discount. His coworkers seemed very friendly and dedicated to their craft, handled and garnished the food very nicely. We chose to share a pork belly bun and a beef roll from Zai Lai.  Both were delicious, the pork belly melted in your mouth while the beef roll featured a delicious sweet and savory sauce. We also tried mini donuts from The Doughnuttery, each donut was made to order and tossed in a flavored sugar mixture depending on your chosen flavors.

They were pricey for the size but the flavors were diverse, it was definitely the variety that drew us in. You can buy a pack of 6 (for $6) with your choice of 1-2 flavors, or 12 ($11) with 1-4 flavors and so on. As for the products that tempted me, I tried everything I felt inclined to.

Something I was NOT willing to try was a bar of pizza-flavored chocolate from Dylan’s Candy Bar. Though, my best friend and I were feeling brave and disgusting so we tried it anyway. It was indeed disgusting and smelled of pizza flavored Pringles, just not as tasty as them.

For the experience, I give Turnstyle Underground Market a solid 7/10 and would definitely stroll through it again and try out the foods from the upcoming food shops and I think that it’s an enjoyable atmosphere in a small slightly hidden gem that anyone can indulge in.

Last two weeks, my sister and I went to Gansevoort Market with excited emotion. We decided to come to this place because we wanted to try a new type of food hall in Chelsea area. It located in the west side Manhattan between 8th and 9th avenue. It’s near to Chelsea Market, High Line park, Apple store, shopping stores, and Google campus.

The food hall had two main entrances and offered a few wooden benches in front for customers who want to enjoy the environment around this place. Gansevoort Market was a medium size food hall with nineteenth purveyors. They service various type of foods. For instance, 2 Dough Boyz (cookie dough), Thaimee (Thai food), Luzzo’s (Pizza), John’s juice (smoothie and bubble tea), Wing Club (Korean Chicken), Makito (Sushi and Noodle), etc.

Entering into of the food hall, I saw purveyors were in a rectangle shape and ran along two sides. Each spot had several seats in front of the counter. The food hall also contributed some tables at its center. They also provided customers with a romantic and comfortable place by adjusting medium warm yellow-light and high ceiling. I walked around twice and stopped at Makito station. They were providing authentic Japanese foods such as sushi, sashimi, noodle soup, and rice bowl. I chose miso ramen which cost $15 and contained in a small plastic bowl. My sister chose spicy chicken ramen which cost $14. My portion wasn’t too particular because of only two pieces of pork belly on top and miso soup was too bland. Another bowl that was spicy chicken had overcooked boiled egg and salty broth. In my view of point, its price was unworthy. There was a pizza spot that I was unwilling to try due to it’s overpriced, $7 a piece. And another place that I wanted to taste, but they ran out its special dish. It’s Thaimee (Thai Food) which serviced Magic Noodle. The Magic Noodle is gluten-free glass noodles, and it changes to blue when it reaches to table.

I was lucky to come to the food hall on an uncrowded day. I was slightly disappointed with the quality of food. However, I felt satisfied because I have learned the manner of food hall operations; how they organize businesses, and how they produce foods in these small spots. This food hall is just acceptable. I prefer going to Chelsea Market or Dekalb Market which are much better than Gansevoort, and foods are worth my pocket.

Arrona Ettienne

For this project I went to Dekalb Market Hall. I chose this food hall because I been to most of the halls in the city but none of the halls in Brooklyn except Smorgasbord. When I arrived I thought it was trader joes, but it was actually the market.  As I rode the escalator down the noise began to get louder and but as soon as I got off I was hit with the wonderful smells of the food. It was bright, and the decorations of each stall and the area complimented each other. I went on Saturday, October 6^th, between the times of 2-6 pm. It was crowed but weirdly enough there wasn’t long lines for many of stalls.

This market hall has pretty much everything. The cuisines ranged from East-Asian to American. It even had things that someone wouldn’t think of that would make you spend your money. Some vendors are like For Cell Fried Pizza (7.99-12.99), Arepa lady, Key lime pie, I’m Katz Sandwich shop, Delaney Chicken (3 – 11) etc. These vendors sell food like pizza, arepa’s, key-lime pie, chicken sandwiches, pulled pork, ribs, and many more. What tempted me the most was crepes; many vendors were selling it and what didn’t help was the make my own options that many included. However, I resisted the urge not only because the wide variety of it but because they mostly accepted cards. I didn’t bring my card so when I noticed that they mostly used cards I marked down who did and who accepted both.

I ended up settling for Korean food specifically Korean fried chicken (KFC). Every time when I buy Korean food it is usually just a lunch box (spam, rice, egg, seaweed) so I wanted to try the fried chicken. Bun Smith is one of the few that excepts cash, so I used that opportunity and went big and ordered the medium in the chicken which came up to $14.25. It did seem a little pricey but when the food arrived it was worth every penny (see below). Since I was eating KFC and I can’t drink soju (Korean liquor) I went for green tea from Hana Noodles. This is a card only place, so I used my friends card and got a Mango Iced tea with bubbles that came up to $4.08 including tax. The food complimented each other. The KFC was seasoned thoroughly, it came with steamed buns, pickled radish, and pepper sauce.

Everyone at this facility was kind and welcoming, I would go back there again. This food hall didn’t have nothing I never seen before so that was good. Can’t wait for the new vendors to come.

If you ever so happen to be on the subway and you have some spare time then you should visit the Turnstyle Underground Market. This is a food market located in the heart of the train station on 59th street Columbus Circle. The best part about this market is that you are the wide horizon of variety that is offered to you in such a medium-sized space. With its vibrant colors that pop and its many shops, you find something that catches your attention.
While I walked through the market I noticed there were many different foods to purchase. At the start of the market, you notice the aroma of the different foods at the market. You can smell the chicken from the Taiwanese vendors and the empanadas from the Bolivian vendors. Also luckily for some of us who are in the mood for something sweet they have many things like Dylan’s Candy Shop, Woops Macarons, or the fascinating 16 Handles and Mochidoki collaboration. With its dynamic and energetic vibe, you won’t have any problem feeling intrigued to be there. I decided to indulge in the Chick ‘N Cone and the Whoops macaroons for dessert. I purchased the Chic ‘N Cone because I had seen it on an Instagram food page called Devourpower. The menu offers 6 different types of sauces that your chicken is paired with. I decided to choose one of their popular choices called the Yella BBQ. It is a tangy sweet and sour bbq sauce that is really tasty and matches the fried chicken breast cuts really well with the cone. This was something good, easy and fun to eat due to the fact that the chicken comes in a waffle cone which was really good as well. This was only 8 dollars and it brought a good amount of chicken. This was a cheap and good thing to buy at the market if your someone whos hungry and on the go. I was tempted to try the duck but I wasn’t sure that I was going to like it so I passed on purchasing it. I then walked around more and the macarons had caught my attention. The different flavors like pistachio, fruity pebbles and red velvet really caught my eye. I had purchased the box of 6 macrons for 15 dollars. My favorite one I had purchased was the fruity pebble macaron because it was nice and creamy while it also had bits of the cereal in the filling. My least favorite one I had gotten was the red velvet macron. I felt like this macaron was overly sweet with its filling and it didn’t really taste like red velvet.
My day at the Turnstyle Underground Market was a good one because it opened my eyes to the many different and interesting types of food there is to offer. This is a great place for food bloggers or anyone interested in trying new foods you wouldn’t normally find anywhere in this big city. I would recommend this food market to everyone here in the city.

Paola Guillen

Professor Krondl

October 31, 2018

Food Hall

I have never been the type of person to just go ahead and try something without thinking. I always have doubts and question every single thing especially when it came to food. If I have never tried it my opinion would stay the same and I wouldn’t try it. That all change when we had to go to a food hall and try new foods.

When walking into the food hall the first thing I smelled was pancakes. It smelled like chocolate chip pancakes or even chocolate chip cookies. When entering I saw people sitting at the table with their computers, some were eating lunch with their friends/family while others were just there because of their sweet tooth. They were dressed very high class and I felt out of place there. Looking around made it look like I was lost because honestly couldn’t decide where to eat since  there were so many places to choose from. While searching for a place to try I honestly was heading towards all the sweets until i found a small cornered place. The place I was pulled towards was No7 Sub. The first thing I noticed was that there were only 2 people working, one in the counter and the other one preparing the food. Looking at the menu I ordered the Bob Genghis Khan sub which was $13. It had crispy chicken, Mongolian BBQ sauce, smashed avocado and pickled jalapenos. It only took 5 minutes to make which was good because I was anxious to try what it tasted like. When I got sat down and opened it, the BBQ was the only thing I smelled. The bread was fresh and warm and the chicken was crunchy but not too crunchy.

Overall I was a bit picky because I was scared to try something new but it was really good and I wouldn’t mind going again. The employees were really nice and had your order done right away. 

food hall

I decided to go to the DeKalb Market Hall with my boyfriend. As we walked around we tried to figure out where it was actually located. We then saw that it was down stairs in the cellar. We entered the elevator going down to the cellar. Once the doors open I was shocked by the view of everything. People walking with different cuisines, multiple amounts or vendors selling different types of foods from their cultures. The environment was more than welcoming, neon signs hug up almost everywhere. The aroma of different cultures. People interacting with one another. This hall felt like a small underground community. I walked around and saw four major cultures cuisines that caught my attention. Mexican selling homemade tacos. Asian selling noodles and pan-seared dumplings with chives and pork. Jamaican selling jerk chicken. That was not the only thing, they made you feel like you were in the island, they were playing reggae music while you relaxed and ate. Arepas a Colombian cuisine that’s popular in their homeland.

I chose to go with the Asian cuisine. I ordered pan-seared pork dumplings with a regular bubble milk tea. The price range was right in my budget, paid no less than $10.00. When I ordered there was not one person on line. They placed my order in and I waited less than 5 mins and my food was ready. I ripped open my package of chopsticks and opened up the container where my dumplings were waiting for me in, I noticed the proportion of them. There was 5 medium sized dumplings hot to the touch and giving off a wonderful aroma. I was full after eating the dumpling. Can’t believe that those bite-sized dumplings were so packed with flavor. It danced on my taste buds after every bite. I loved every second of the food. One thing struck my mind on the menu while I was browsing. Sliced beef in sesame chili sauce. This was interesting to me because I’ve never heard of something like that, especially on a menu.

The experience of entering the food hall and browsing around both the vendors and the menus was amazing. I got to see different cuisines made by different cultures. Smelled different combinations of foods and got a better description of what a food hall is. I would love to recommend the DeKalb Food Hall to everyone who wants to try different foods and stand outside their comfort zones. But one hint of advice, be ready to spend lots of money and be lot on what to eat. There are so much different things to eat, it makes it really hard to figure out what you really want or craving for.