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Borough Hall Greenmarket
Rating Details »
Category: Farmers Market [Edit]
Neighborhood: Brooklyn HeightsCourt St and Remsen St
Brooklyn, NY 11226
- Nearest Transit:
-
Court St-Borough Hall (2, 3, 4, 5, M, R, W)
Jay St (A, C, F)
Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts (A, C, G)
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
5 reviews for Borough Hall Greenmarket
A very nice farmer's market. It's not as big as the one in Union Square, but you can still find everything you need. There are around 6-8 farmers' stands, but several stands are actually pretty big tents with a ton of stuff.
My favorites here:
--2 major tents selling vegetables (carrots, onions, rhubarb, you name it). Prices are pretty comparable to grocery stores and taste much better.
--1 tent selling specialty cheeses
--1 stand selling homemade bread and pies
--1 stand selling free-range eggs and milk.
I think there might be a seafood stand and a meat stand here too, but I don't remember.
Incidentally, if you like to garden, this is a great farmer's market. There are generally at least two big tents filled with flowers, herbs, and vegetable plants for your garden (or your pot on a fire escape). I bought a bunch of tomato plants for 2 dollars each, not a bad deal at all. Between the different tents, the variety in plants is really pretty good, and the sellers give very knowledgeable advice.
Cash only, of course.
On a gorgeous Thursday afternoon, this Greenmarket was the perfect place to enjoy a snack and the striking view of Borough Hall against the abundant sunshine.
It's a small-ish market, with about eight or so vendors, and most are fruits and vegetables. One bakery stand offers danishes, pastries, muffins, and the like. More variety in type of stand would be nice, but each stand had a different piece of produce that stood out-- one had Jersey nectarines that were perfectly ripe, another heirloom tomatoes in colors I didn't know tomatoes existed (I got a sweet brandywine), yet another bags of golden zucchini blossoms. The bakery stand's crumb bun (1/2 inch cake, 2 inches of crumb) was $2 of bliss.
Eh. It's pretty great. They have no meat for sale, or any kind of dairy vendor. Mostly a ton of produce, and some flowers and plants, herbs, a couple of pastry/bread guys, maybe there's cheese- I can't remember.
The Not Just Rugelah guy does this very decent kind of like sausage roll/mini calzone-y thing. Some vegetarian like mozz and fresh eggplant, some with sausage or whatever. Anyway, it's good for lunch and it's around 3 bucks.
But my favorite time to go is right before they close. Maybe around 5. They always have these end-of-the-day specials. Concord grapes for 2 bucks. Bags of tomatoes for 3 bucks. Flowers for the GF? Check, four bucks. Delightful.
Yes, delightful, when you're in the nabe.
How can you go wrong at a farmer's market? I am specifically writing about the "Just Rugelach" vendor who brings a van full of baked goodies. I mean, you pretty much can't go wrong with any of their items, except the vegetable and sausage rolls don't taste so good cold and should probably be re-heated in an oven. Anyhow, let me give you the best part: It's incredibly cheap. The muffins are $1 each, scones are $2, and they are actually fresh-tasting, like they were baked that day (or the previous night, as it were, since he gets there at like 5 or 6 in the morning). I cannot recommend enough the bran muffin. This is not any ordinary bran muffin. Sure, they throw some bran in there, but the bland bran brand got thrown out the window and they throw in some flax seed, some carrot, and who knows what else (honey?). It's the best, cheapest muffin Brooklyn as far as I can tell. I also recommend the whole-wheat walnut cranberry muffin, it has the same nutty, whole-grain sweet taste but it different in its own right. As far as the scones, they are as big as two of the muffins, and they are of course much sweeter, and they go great with a cup of coffee or strongly brewed tea. What else? Well, they have this 7 grain bread which is pretty unique. Of course it has 7 grains in it, but it's got this texture which is rich yet airy. It's very fresh and without preservatives, so if you leave it out for a few days it will go moldy. So throw it in the fridge if you're not going to eat it up quick. As far as the bread goes, it makes great sandwich bread, and if you toast it, or grill it like a pannini, it reaches it full potential. The toasted grains really explode with flavor, and my favorite gluttony spread on this bread is raw unfiltered honey and tahini (first the honey, then the tahini, not the other way around).
There's lots of other stuff at this vendor, but I haven't been able to tear myself from these few stand-bys. In addition, there's another bakery vendor at this same greenmarket who has lots of other good looking things, but I haven't had the gumshun to leave my first vendor.
Anyhow, I usually grab a paper, some muffins and park it over by the Borough Hall steps or the nearby benches. There's a water fountain nearby if I get thristy and this guy with a crackling amp plays guitar. One thing about this guy: he is there all the time, just playing his songs, but after I sit there a while, I get the idea that he's got this playlist in his head, and it's a pretty good one. So you get some entertainment and a good muffin. It's worth a trip on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
