Taste of 7th Street was Tasty!

Last week we wrote about ScoopSt’s Taste of 7th Street event. This event was held on Saturday and Sunday, and New Yorkers lined up at different restaurants to try everything from cupcakes to smoothies to pork at five different restaurants.

Caryn (her thoughts are in italics) and I checked it out on Sunday, and we heard it was not nearly as crowded as Saturday. Luckily, the weather was fairly nice, so the time we spent waiting in line wasn’t unbearable. For those of you who were wondering how this event was run, ScoopSt provided us with a coupon that we stamped at each location. Each restaurant then crossed your name off a list to ensure there were no duplicates. This also allowed patrons to go to a few restaurants earlier in the day and come back at night, or break up the tour into two days.

I honestly thought the portions would be huge, and I’m not kidding, but I packed tupperware in my bag, and Caryn even packed some Ziplock bags. But we were able to eat most of it without feeling too sick, only taking home dessert and a pork roll. So I guess that means if ScoopSt were to ever run this event on another street, you don’t need to pack five tupperware containers in your purse - one or two will suffice.

Here are our thoughts on the restaurants that participated in the event:

• Caracas Arepa Bar - Here we got an Arepa De Pabellón, which is a sandwich. The bread is corn bread, and this particular arepa had sweet platains, salty white cheese, black beans and shredded beef. It was served warm and was absolutely delicious. It was a great combination of sweet and savory, and we were able to have a full serving at the event which is a major plus from us deal hunters. We ate at the takeout location, so it’s tiny, but a nice place to grab a quick bite to eat if in the East Village with friends. This was my favorite by far. It had the most unique flavor and it was so satisfying. Warm, a little gooey, salty, meaty, deliciousness. I cannot wait to come back and try other arepas. That is, of course, if I can convince myself to NOT order the De Pabellon again, which was simply outstanding.
• Luke’s Lobster - My former roommate and I wanted to go here forever, but so glad we didn’t. The snack sized lobster roll was so small - think half a hot dog bun - and is normally priced at $8. I also like my lobster rolls hot, not cold, with butter oozing on it instead of what felt like mayo. I’m actually on the other end of the spectrum with my lobster rolls. I like them cold and preferably without too much butter (or mayo for that matter…I think the lobster should speak for itself), but to me, the temperature and lack of butter had nothing to do with it. Maybe it was the time of year, but the lobster didn’t have the sweetness that I expect with quality lobster meat and again, the portion size was a joke. I felt like I was having some sort of tea party with 5 year olds and some stuffed animals. Who would pay $8 for that size?
• Porchetta - Clearly I didn’t do much research because I thought this pork sandwich was going to be barbecue pulled pork, but actually a porchetta sandwich is seasoned pork with crispy skin and lots of herbs. I found this sandwich to be good, but a little disappointed in the portion - it was like the size of a roll you have on Thanksgiving dinner. The location was also very small and cramped, so I’d think of it as a to-go place if you were looking to stop by. I really didn’t like this. I know, this is gross, but it sort of reminded me of what regurgitated pork may taste like. I couldn’t figure out the form - it was more a mound of mashed up pork rather than a piece of meat. I don’t know what the issue was exactly, but it just didn’t jive well with me.
• Butter Lane Cupcakes - Wow Butter Lane. You may be one of my favorite cupcake locations now in the city. Delicious chocolate and vanilla frosting cupcake, and kudos to letting me have any (two) cupcakes on the menu. I’m looking forward to my banana and coconut frosting cupcake I’ve stored away. That’s sweet, Laura. You have self control. I on the other hand ate both last night and loved them. Agreed, this is one of the better cupcake spots in the city and I look forward to returning. This is why I love events like these, it introduces me to places I’ve been wanting to try or never heard of, and now I’m a big fan! I had the vanilla with coconut frosting and chocolate with espresso frosting and both were amazing!

Xoom - Xoom gave us 24oz Fruit Smoothies. I thought the staff was very friendly and they were happy to share their recommendations with myself and Caryn. I went with the Blackberry Smoothie and thought it was good, a little tart, but I had no problem slurping it down on the walk home. Thought it could have been sweeter, but then I guess it wouldn’t be healthy. I had the Protein Shake because the ingredients appealed to me - strawberries, blueberries, bananas, agave nectar, soy milk, etc., but it came out looking like a purple Jolly Rancher and oddly the most powerful flavor was the soy milk. I’m mixed.