Old and New Vendors at The Market Line – NYC

Food halls are hit-or-miss in New York. Similar to food trucks, some are good with interesting eats from local vendors, and others are overrated, overpriced tourist and/or hipster traps. The Market Line, the food hall below the new location of Essex Market is yet to be determined as the space isn’t completely filled yet, but so far it looks promising. From old school Lower East Side offshoots like The Pickle Guys and Veselka, to newer Queens Night Market vendors like the Moon Man, it’s a good mix of old and new that’s not too trendy.

Ends Meat, a salumeria/butcher shop from Industry City, currently has 3 sandwiches on the menu for $12 at The Market Line: roast beef, muffaletta, and bacon & pâté. According to Eater, the muffaletta is quite good, but the hubs opted for the roast beef which was also quite good. Served with mustard and pickles, the roast beef was very flavorful and juicy. So juicy, in fact, the bread had a hard time staying intact. Also there was so much meat, it was hard take a bite without all the meat sliding out. I’m not one to complain though about there ever being too much meat, so I would recommend grabbing a knife if you run into this minor issue. Ends Meat, keep the meat a coming!

Nom Wah, which first opened in New York’s Chinatown in the 1940s, serves a limited selection of dim sum and noodle dishes from their restaurant menu. I opted for the Sloppy Joe Noodles ($13), egg noodles with miso braised chicken, fried garlic, and chili. This reminded me of a chicken version of dan dan noodles without the Sichuan heat, but still bomb. Add some chili oil and you’ll be good to go.

Moon Man’s stall was the quietest of the bunch at The Market Line. Serving Southeast Asian desserts, it doesn’t have the visual appeal to compete with the frosted cupcake and cute cake pop vendors in the building. However, don’t sleep on these desserts! These sweets were freaking amazing. I ordered a three dessert combo for $12, and it came with an Indonesian coconut pancake, a steamed pandan cake, and a baked cassava cake (pictured above from bottom to top). The chewy cassava cake with almost a sticky dduk(Korean rice cake)-like texture was my favorite, and the pandan cake was my least favorite. (It was tasty, but very mild in flavor.) I only wish they sold larger squares of the cake. One bite was not enough.

And, in general, one visit to The Market Line isn’t enough.

The Market Line
New York, NY 10003
115 Delancey St, Lower Level
New York, NY 10002 (map)

Nom Wah
Visit Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Pro Tip: Don’t forget the chili oil!

Ends Meat
Visit Rating: 4/5 stars
Pro Tip: You might need a knife to cut through the stuffed sandwiches.

Moon Man
Visit Rating: 4/5 stars
Pro Tip: If you like dduk or mochi, order the cassava cake, stat!