Get Arepas and Kettle Corn at the Bryant Park Holiday Market

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The Bryant Park Pond is in full swing now, with free ice skating (you still have to pay to rent skates), little shopping kiosks, and a bunch of food. We covered most of the food a few weeks ago, but there were a couple of holdovers that we missed on the SW side of the park. Like kettle korn! (Who doesn’t like the salty sweet goodness that is kettle corn?) And there is also a chicken teriyaki bowl place as well that we missed. But the thing I was most excited to see was MOZZAREPAS!!!

I am well aware that if you go to Jackson Heights (or even the East Village) you can get “real”, homemade arepas that are delicious. But to me arepas have always meant the circular discs of fried corn bread’ish mush sandwiching thick melty slices of mozzarella cheese. Here in New York they’re known by their corporate knock off name: the MozzArepa. You can blame this on my upbringing in Miami, where these kind of arepas were at every street fair… and more importantly, on the walk from the MetroRail to the Miami Arena (hello Heat games!)

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And now they’re at Bryant Park! Admittedly my arepa was on the stale side (it had clearly been sitting out for awhile), there wasn’t a ton of melty cheese, and IT WAS $5 (shockingly expensive). But I was too excited about seeing arepas in Midtown to get too angry. Although at that price, I can probably just wait for a weekend street fair to have my MozzArepa fix.

Has anybody had anything at the Bryant Park holiday thing that’s worth checking out? I haven’t seen anything too tempting, and most of the things are just a tad bit more expensive than I’d like. There was quite a crowd at the teriyaki bowl place. Has anybody tried that?

Related:
Bryant Park Pond is Now Open With More Food Than Ever Before

13 Comments

  • i don’t like kettle corn.

  • kettle corn is good stuff.

    arepas are awesome too. $5 is too much though. pass!

  • @StreetMeas – sadly the kettle corn is overpriced too. and they weren’t making it fresh at lunchtime. it looked like it had been made that morning. such a bummer.

  • overpriced kettle corn and not fresh? why bother then? I’ll be happier eating a bag of store-bought instead and cheaper too. the dale & thomas brand is pretty good.

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    Must be a slow day. Street fair arepas are nasty. Unless it’s the 9th Ave food street fair (and perhaps one or two others) NYC street fairs are nothing but the same crappy vendors with the same crappy food and merchandise. Socks, pashminas and bed sheets anyone?Has anyone here actually purchased bed sheets at a street fair?

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    Oh Zach no, just no – the Mozzarepas are the nastiest things on the street. I’d eat a dirty water dog off the ground before attempting another one of these abominations.

    For good arepas head on down to Caracas in the East Village.

    When I first moved here I used to follow those damn kettle corn stands to every street fair on the weekend and load up on that stuff. Its like crack.

  • Oh Kettle corn in nyc is such a treat… must go there asap!…. don’t know about the arepas though….

  • after having arepa lady’s stuff… i can’t go back to street fair ones =)

  • Honestly I don’t think I’ll ever eat at any of the stands even though I work right across the street and go skating there 2 or 3 times a week. The food there is SHOCKINGLY expensive to quote Zach… its more geared towards tourists who just think “oh its expensive but everything in NYC is!” No thanks. Its too bad too because I wouldn’t mind shoving a max brenner chocolate syringe in my mouth. Wait.. what?

  • “There was quite a crowd at the teriyaki bowl place. Has anybody tried that?”

    That crowd you saw must have been tourists or something because that teriyaki place is NOT worth checking out. Also not worth the extra dollar they charge for soggy and oily “vegetables” topped on the dry meats and dry, chewy rice. This is all based off a chicken bowl I got yesterday.

    I miss that teriyaki place that used to be in the ground level of the Manhattan Mall so much more now. The overpriced teriyaki at Bryant Park is dismissible. Don’t even waste your time.

  • They need to open a Sarku (the teriyaki place in Manny Mall and in most mall food courts) in Midtown. No dependable teriyaki near me either. The one near Gourmet 53 isn’t good, despite it being a cheap chicken teriyaki option.

  • hey kids — went by here last week… things definitely worth checking out — on the north panel of vendors, there is a chocolate truffle sampling, apparently you’re supposed to let the chocolate melt in your mouth. they make a big deal of this. which i was perfectly happy to have happen.

    there’s also an oil and vinegar shop, which i understand isn’t already made food, but they have some interesting flavors, tons of sampling, and will make cool combos for you like pomegranate vinegar and orange oil. (if my memory serves me right.)

    and, finally, pretzels. yes, pretzels. there is a stand there with some high-end pretzels. my friend ate the jalepano and commenced to have her mouth set ablaze, so if you’re into that sort of thing, go for it! i personally dug that they had well-done pretzels. you don’t see those too often, but i love the extra crunch and dark, smokey taste.

    oooooh, and a standby in the park, but i love ‘wichcraft’s tomato soup and grilled cheese combo. it makes me all warm and melty just thinking about it. and when they ask if you want a breadstick, say YES, they’re roasted with herbs and probably one of the best parts.

    so, there… ya have my report.

    <3 miss softee

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    You guys should try the cookie sandwiches at the “Lovin’ Eat” stand. I had the carrot one, and it was finger lickin’ good.

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