8th ave (sunset park)

8/2020

SUNSET PARK IS A NEIGHBORHOOD IN SOUTH BROOKLYN, whose boundaries span roughly from 36th to 60th street between 9th to 3rd Avenue. Sunset Park is home to a diverse group of cultures, people and business. Historically, it was the home to Irish and Eastern European dock hands who worked at the bush terminals along with Norwegian, Finish, Italian and Polish Immigrants. As time went on, the neighborhood changed. Present day Sunset park is largely made up of Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Ecuadorians, Nicaraguans and Chinese immigrants, along with the irish and eastern european holds outs who haven’t left the neighborhood since the 60’s. Being as large of a piece of land that it is, Sunset Park can be divided up into a whole array of categories, so for our intents and purposes we will just stick to the predominantly Chinese popu- lated 8th avenue. 8th ave is the single largest population and commercial hub of Chinese Americans in Brooklyn. In 1986, the first Chinese grocery store opened on 8th and 56th st, and soon after, other vendors like grocers, restaurants, and various businesses began to pop up all along 8th Ave. Today, 8th ave is home to grocers, fish markets, hardware stores, dim sum halls, buddhist temples, bakeries, locksmiths, hardware stores, shoe stores, pharmacies, bubble tea shops, spas and credit unions, to name a handful. Full disclosure, I have lived on 8th ave for five years now, and I truly love the neighborhood and everything you can get in it. If 8th ave doesn’t have it, you’re probably out of luck.

4 CORNERS (MARKETS)

On 45th St and 8th Ave, there lies four unique grocers, one on each corner, each
of which has its own niche selection. Having a variety of markets that all specialize in their respective fields holds a unique challenge and beauty. Occasionally there is overlap (mostly in fruit) and you may find yourself crossing the street multiple times to check prices and quality just across the intersection.

SOUTH CORNER

88 fresh vegetable market inc. 4501 8TH AVE

Possibly my personal favorite, this is a vegetable market and that is pretty much it. You won’t find any arugula here, but you will find just about everything else. The variety of greens is where this market shines; last summer there was a moment when there was baby bok choy, Shanghai bok choy, and American bok choy. The chive section alone is worth a trip. It has been rumored that grocers along 8th Ave (as well as Manhattan, Chinatown, and Flushing, Queens) work with Chinese-owned farms in New Jersey and Sullivan County, NY, as a way to circumvent buying and selling at Hunts Point in the Bronx. A large majority of the market’s stock is so fresh, it hasn’t even been refrigerated.

NORTH CORNER

45th street supermarket inc. 4424 8TH AVE

The most recent of the 4 to open, with the largest and most broad selection of goods. Massive wall of sauces and spices, a single cooler for frozen fishballs and tofu like products. Their shotgun refrigerators along each wall lead to the back, to a large meat counter. The meat counter is not a full service butcher, but it’s pretty close. Most cuts of meat are available ranging from the standard selection of whole chickens, ground beef and pork/chops, all the way to very large cuts of skin on pork belly or snouts. The large selection of fruit outside is much more refined than the other 3 corners; your basic bananas are present, but the delicately wrapped Asian pears and large dragon fruits are what’s worth purchasing.

EAST CORNER, 801 market inc. 4423 8TH AVE

Very similar to 88 Fresh, so don’t be surprised crossing the street to check a price on a dragon fruit. Although similar, their frozen section is far larger. Another stark difference is that the lack of meat counter is replaced with a healthy fish counter complete with a selection of live, dead, and filleted fish. Notable to mention, durian fruit is usually hanging near the entrance and is present more or less year round.

WEST CORNER, fuzhou seafood market inc. 4502 8TH AVE

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by this gem, fish markets come with their own quirks like all markets. In true 8th Ave fashion it is kinda the wild west, mongers sorting crabs into various baskets by size or shape, the entire sidewalk is somehow always wet and there is probably a separate worker announcing the deal of the day in Man- darin. The market is stocked fresh daily but the true beauty is how quickly things turn over, its hard to not get a fresh piece of seafood here. Lots of very identifiable seafood here as well as a bunch of very not so standard stock, lobsters (very cheap and turn over fast), clams, branzino, salmon, crabs, mackerel every once and a while. Full disclosure I dont find myself frequenting this amazing market due to personal habits, but when I do they have it.

Ba xuyên. 4222 8TH AVE

BA XUYÊN IS HONESTLY DIFFICULT TO WRITE ABOUT BECAUSE OF HOW SPECIAL AND AMAZING IT IS. There isn’t much inside; a few tables and chairs, 2 large coolers for drinks, a large shelving unit for housemade Vietnamese goods and groceries, the counter register and menu board. The storefront is floor to ceiling glass windows and two neon signs, one of a sandwich and a cup and saucer, the other of a script Ba Xuyên. The ordering is simple: pick a number 1 through 8 and you will be rewarded with one of the most flavorful banh mi’s in the east coast. The sandwich is simple; a fresh roll, pickled vegetables, a meat of your liking (grilled pork, pâté, ham, meat ball, sardine, or chicken) assembled and placed in a bag. The ice coffee, ice tea and shakes are not worth passing up; their avocado shake is something you didn’t know you were missing from your life.
Ba Xuyên is the type of place everyone knows about, but doesnt want to share, for the fear of it becoming another New York institution that once was, it's the type of establishment that will make you live in Sunset Park.

A REMNANT OF THE OLD 8TH AVE, SOCCER TAVERN IS NOTHING BUT A TRUE BROOKLYN WATERING HOLE, open continuously since 1929 until March 2020 (closed due to COVID-19, they have since been using the time closed to redo the interior). The once Norweigan, Scandanavian and Irish 8th ave has obviously gone through a culture shift. Though the neighborhood has changed, the Soccer has barely budged. Many residents, who have since moved further into Brooklyn, still break up their commute home with a drink. Nonetheless, it is still a great place for a drink, to watch some soccer, place an off track bet, play some darts or have pint with some take out. No keg room means all the glasses are chilled in a separate glassware freezer, which seems to be a common thread between South Brooklyn bars. Unlike other Irish pubs and soccer bars, there isn’t a demographic that I can say makes up

the clientele, nor is there a drink of choice. The drafts consist of your Guinness, Bud, Sixpoint, Carlsberg, but some of the best drink orders known to man exist only here:
a bottle of Bud and a glass of ice, heavy handed pours of the house red, a double Hen- nessy neat, and a Lactaid White Russian. Conveniently located steps from the 8th Ave N train, and wedged between massive amounts of take out.

LATE Night. simon's. 5224 8TH AVE

HOW MANY RESTAURANTS HAVE YOU BEEN TO THAT ONLY HAVE A LARGE INDOOR CHARCOAL GRILL AND NOTHING ELSE TO COOK ON? The menu is expansive, but simple; food on skewers and a few odds and ends. The place is a single room, family run establishment, if you come too “early” as in 6-8 oclock you might be eating dinner alongside Simon himself and the staff. Almost everything on the menu is put on a skewer, covered in a sweet bbq sauce, grilled and served quickly. Some notable items off the the menu are:

- bbq chives which are painstakingly skewered, and grilled.
- Bacon wrapped enoki mushrooms which have the most delightful mar- riage of sweet savory, gressy, crunchy and squishy.
- Crispy pork, beef, lamb simply skewered and seasoned meats grilled
to perfection.
- Grilled eggplant and BBQ cauliflower, grilled and seasoned.

Truly a unique restaurant,the things you order will come out fast and hot, accompanied by a bucket for dicared skewers and a shaker of dry seasoning. The staff is an interesting mix of family and hired teens. Last time we went, there was a group of teens peeling garlic at a table for what I presume was tomorrow’s marinade.

Keep a menu on hand and don’t be bashful, skewers range from 1.10-3$ a pop, so go nuts. Simons is open late, cash only and tsingtao beers are $2.5, a price that’s hard to argue with. ✌

Lucca Zeray is an editor at DIGEST.