A Taste of Fishing Shrimp
Anyone who’s wandered around midtown looking for lunch on a weekday knows how crazy the New York City (and national) food truck scene has gotten. Street vending has become popular enough to warrant its own TV show, award, and trade association. Between hot dog vendors, halal carts, premium food trucks, and all the rest, it’s becoming a hyper-crowded field.
Out here in “deepest Brooklyn,” we don’t get too many of those premium food trucks, the kind seen lined up at lunchtime in Manhattan. But one has recently been popping up called Fishing Shrimp. Opened this past fall, they serve up a fairly simple menu of fried goodness.
Odeis Stephenson, one of the Fishing Shrimp owners, described the food as “a quick eats (finger food)…our truck is a little confusing to some people as they think it’s British fish and chips. It’s more of a southern American style.”
Stephenson has two partners in the business, Thomas Yang and Yin Choi. “Yin and I were realtors in the financial district when the the idea came about. Yin wanted to go into the food truck industry, I had a concept, and Thomas was already in the business.”
The name was suggested by a close friend of Stephenson’s. “We thought it would be a catchy name and it’s very close to fish ‘n’ shrimp.”
After a soft opening on Cortelyou and Rugby this past October, they’ve been going strong for almost six months. Why set up in our neighborhood? Choi writes, “Odeis actually lives in the neighborhood, and he is the reason why we are there.”
I stopped by last week to check out their fish & shrimp & chips combo. The fish, lightly battered and fried, is whiting (ordered fresh every day from a local vendor) and the fries are cut very thin, shoestring style. You can load your basket at will with a choice of several condiments lined up under the window.
The night I went (as on other nights I’ve seen them around), they had a crowd of almost a dozen people at their window. Stephenson and the woman at the window, Danielle, barely had a second to chat.
Despite the dinner-time crush, though, both were extremely helpful and friendly. Just don’t ask about the batter. According to Stephenson, “It’s a homemade secret.”
Give Fishing Shrimp a try yourself. Here’s where and when you can find them:
Thursday & Saturday nights – Cortelyou & Stratford (right next to the old Vox Pop space)
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights – Lincoln & Ocean
Lunchtimes in other locations around Brooklyn and Manhattan – follow them on Twitter for locations/times
Hopefully sometime soon, you won’t have to work so hard to find them. They’re looking for a permanent location that will work for their current menu but also offer the opportunity to possibly add a grill. Seems like a good location is right in front of them…if anyone can manage to get in touch with the people who own the former Vox Pop space. The folks at Fishing Shrimp mentioned last fall that they had tried for five months without any luck. Any leads on other neighborhood spaces (Church Ave anyone?) are welcome.
Also welcome would be a comparison of their basket with Ox Cart‘s fish & chips. While I’ve seen them go by me, I haven’t tried them myself. Admittedly, just from the looks of Ox Cart’s version, theirs seems like a much different style (I know the fries are). But these two seem to be the only spots to get fish & chips in the neighborhood, so let us know what you think of both or either.
Or are we missing another good spot?