Eating My Way Through Hudson Eats

Throughout New York City, there are many modern food court-like spots that have a variety of restaurants and eateries. These food courts have become incredibly popular, and an important stop for any foodie living in or traveling to New York City. One of the newest and best food courts is Hudson Eats near the World Trade Center at Brookfield place. Hudson Eats boasts a wide variety of offerings: from BBQ and dumplings to cupcakes and sushi, you can find just about any food you are craving! The individual eateries include Black Seed Bagel, Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar, Chop’t, Dig Inn Seasonal Market, Dos Toros, Little Muenster, Mighty Quinn Barbeque, Northern Tiger, Olive’s, Skinnypizza, Sprinkles, Num Pang, Tartinery and Umami Burger. The giant food hall is packed around lunch time, and is one of the most popular places to eat in the area.

I set out to find the best foods in the Hudson Eats food hall. After trying all sorts of foods within each of the eateries, below are my favorite dishes and recommendations.

1. Best Pizza: Skinnypizza

Plain Slice with original skinny crust-

This incredibly thin slice of pizza has a large amount of light, sweet tomato sauce and a thin layer of mozzarella cheese. The skinniness of the crust highlights the density of the cooked tomato sauce which adds a great taste to the simply delicious slice.

2. Best Ice Cream Sandwich: Cool Haus @Umami Burger

“I’m Pei-nut butter” ice cream sandwich-

At Umami burger, they sell a variety of Cool Haus ice cream sandwiches. Cool Haus has an ice cream sandwich truck that travels around NYC, so it’s very unique that they sell their sandwiches at Umami Burger. I tried an ice cream sandwich with double chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter ice cream. After waiting two minutes for the ice cream to soften, the soft rich chocolatey sweet cookies went perfectly with the mild and subtle sweetness of the peanut butter ice cream.

3. Best Grilled Cheese: Little Muenster

Grilled cheese with white American cheese and caramelized onions-

Little Muenster has the best grilled cheese in Hudson Eats. From the perfect crunch in the buttery, super fluffy toasted bread to the tasty caramelized onions and the white American cheese, it was a delicious grilled cheese!

4. Best Bagel Dish: Black Seed Bagels

“#1” Bagel Sandwich with smoked salmon, plain cream cheese, capers, tomatoes, and red onions-

My favorite bagel dish in Hudson Eats was from Black Seed Bagels. They wood fire their bagels, which gives them a unique toasty but chewy layer. I ordered the #1 bagel sandwich and loved every bite of it. I got a toasted plain bagel which made the plain cream cheese even more melty. The creaminess of the light, warm cream cheese went perfectly with the refreshing cold tomato slices and the saltiness of the thinly sliced smoked salmon and the plump, fresh capers.

5. Best Sandwich: Num Pang

 “Pulled Duroc Pork” Sandwich-

At Hudson Eats was the Pulled Pork sandwich at Num Pang. It was unlike any other pulled pork sandwich I’d ever eaten. On a perfectly toasted baguette-like oval roll laid a delicious layer of sweet and sour tender pulled pork. On top of the pulled pork was a light creamy spicy mayo spread. I added pickled carrots and a refreshing bite of the cold cucumber with some cilantro. It was an incredible mixture of ingredients in an unforgettable sandwich.

6. Best BBQ: Mighty Quinn’s

Brisket Sandwich-

The fall-off-the-bone, well-seasoned brisket at Mighty Quinn’s was out of this world! They included a little sea salt which combines with the juiciness of the meat and creates a great salty flavor. The lean brisket on a soft roll with a few very lightly pickled cucumber slices makes for an especially flavorful meat.

7. Best Sushi: Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar

Spicy Tuna Roll-

The Sushi at Blue Ribbon Sushi Bar was overall extremely tasty and super fresh. I loved the Spicy Tuna Roll which was very simple. It had just the right amount of tuna with the exact amount of kick needed, a lot of rice with a nice acidity and seaweed created the perfect simple yet complex-in-flavor sushi roll.

8. Best Cupcake: Sprinkles

“Vanilla Milk Chocolate” Cupcake-

Sprinkles, home to the Cupcake ATM, produces some of the best cupcakes in New York City. This outpost reflects the same impeccable standards of the other outposts,  despite not having its own cupcake ATM, features amazing cupcakes. My personal favorite is the Vanilla Milk Chocolate cupcake. It is a light vanilla cake with super creamy and rich sweet milk chocolate icing.

9. Best Dumplings: Northern Tiger

“Heritage Pork and Chive”-

Northern Tiger not only has the best dumplings in Hudson Eats, but features one of the best dumplings in all of NYC. I was shocked at how unbelievable the pork and chive pan fried dumplings were. They have the perfect levels of juiciness and saltiness. he chive adds a delicious complex flavor, with a sublime ratio of filling to dumpling.  The pan-fried wrapper was cooked to perfection With the citrusy-soy sauce, the dumplings are worthy of being named the best of NYC.

Hudson Eats is a cool place.  It not only has great food, but creates a vibrant and fun destination with spectacular views. It is well worth the trip downtown, but if you happen to be visiting the World Trade Center, Battery Park, or Financial District, you have no excuse for not stopping by to check it out.

In the comment section below tell us: what dish from Hudson Eats do you want to try? Or, how would eat your way through Hudson Eats?

David Pines is currently a 10th grader at the Collegiate School in New York City where he serves on the student government and is a member of the Tennis team. David has been writing about food for over five years and is the author of two editions of the award-winning “Pines Picks: A Kid’s Guide to the Best Things to Eat and Drink in New York City.” His blog can be found at www.pinespicks.com.