After the high of the Time Out Food Market in Brooklyn, I had high hopes for the Urban Space Vanderbilt Food Hall. This is far smaller, but does it pack just as much of a punch? Was it any good? Time to find out...
Ideal for:
When you want to try some Greek, Playa bowls or meat-free options.
When you are being a tourist around Midtown East and fancy a bite.
Those that want to try fried pasta in a doughnut form – why not?
Ambience & Décor
Urban Space Vanderbilt was NYC’s original food hall, and the interior had moved with the times with lovely TV screens, neon signage everywhere for the stalls, and bespoke light fittings which all created a quirky, edgy, vibe. The canteen style benches, and easy-to-clean flooring was part of the course for such venues. Even though it was a midweek lunchtime, the cavernous venue and packed hall created a great vibe for eating. No service to speak of as it was self-service.
Food
I tried a multitude of things, so taking each at a time. Given I had not had Greek food in a long time, my main dish was a beef and lamb gyros from Pita Yeero (see left). This was a plain pita, tzatziki, fries, lettuce, fried onions, diced beef and lamb doner. All the accompaniments were delicious, the fries were well-seasoned and crispy on the outside, but fluffy on the inside. Whilst the lamb doner was disappointingly dry, the beef was on point. Thank God for the tzatziki. Due to sheer curiosity I had to try the fried Pasta doughnut from Pop Pasta (see above). It was a creation best left on the drawing board – bland, stodgy, and too oily. The worst carbonara of my life.
As a sweet treat, I had a massive Mango and Coconut (see right) doughnut from Dough. I love doughnuts, so to see it ruined brought me to tears. The doughnut itself was delicious but the mango and coconut topping was horrendous. I could only stomach a few bites. I needed to get a chocolate chip cookie from Insomnia Cookies to wash the taste out (that was the best cookie I had in NYC FYI). Urban Space Vanderbilt was the type of venue that us millennials love, and I am sure some of the other vendors were lovely, but the food that I ate was disappointing, and hence I can only give Urban Space Vanderbilt a disappointing C- rating.
Photos of Urban Space Vanderbilt and more can be found on Instagram here.
Final grade: C-
Final comment: Despite the good venue & location, the food was a shambles!
Hashtags:#C- #Cheap #Various #Greek #Italian #Continental #UrbanSpace #Vanderbilt #PitaYeero #PopPasta #Dough #Authentic #NYC #Contemporary #Gyros #Pita #Lamb #Beef #Doner #Meat #Tzatziki #Fries #Lettuce #Terrible #FriedOnions #Pasta #Carbonara #Mango #Coconut #Doughnut #Casual #NoBooking #GoodPortions #AllOccasions #CatchUp #LambDoner #Modern
Comments