As you'll probably recall, I visited some friends in Rockaway recently. As a result of careful planning It just so happened that my visit coincided with one of the weekends that Champ's had set up shop. Yep, that Champ's!!!
Nestled amongst standard beach fare [UPDATE: in reality I had no idea what else there was; I only had eyes for Champ's. It's been brought to my attention that there was actually vegan-friendly Uzbek food, so I stand corrected.] at the Beach 97th concessions was vegan, cruelty-free Champ's doing what they do best: making mouths happy.
Check out their beachy menu! The only thing missing was fried oreos.
The whole set-up was adorably and indisputably Champs-y.
I went a little crazy: pineapple sweet tea, waffle fries, and a corn dog, but I wouldn't change a thing.
I was AT THE BEACH!
Truth be told, I wouldn't pass up a vegan corn dog anywhere.
My friends had already visited them a couple of times already, so they handled their own orders with a little more restraint than I did. Theirs:
The beach slaw veggie burger with added roasted pineapple (and shared waffle fries because I do share sometimes [UPDATE: I've been informed that these fries actually came with, but I've received confirmation that I did also share my order of fries, so I'm not a liar!]).
Double jalapeno veggie dog with non-blogger applied ketchup.
And, well, there's no way around this: kale salad. I love kale as much as the next person, but even I was perplexed. You might be thinking that ordering a kale salad at the beach is a sucker move. Normally I'd agree with you. BUT, the recipient of said kale salad went on to redeem herself in no uncertain terms, so forgive her momentarily as you await the story of her redemption.
This is where we enjoyed our Brooklyn grub freshly prepared in Rockaway.
A very tired, sleepy, salty dog alternated using each of our legs for pillows.
We were having a great time, but I couldn't let it go. Although we were all full, I couldn't stop thinking about the fried oreos. My pals had enjoyed them just the week before and I thought it was a given. But, this week, by the time we got there, Champ's had sold out and had depleted their back stock of oreos. WAAAAAH! But, we could not be defeated. All we needed was oreos and this is America; you're never far from oreos! Kale-salad-at-the-beach easily confirmed that they did, indeed, have the batter. So, we journeyed to the nearest bodega (a matter of blocks) and KSATB filled a bag with un-fried oreos that we then delivered to Champ's...
...in exchange for fried oreos; it was a victory of epic proportions!
Imagine the pride we felt when "fried oreos" were added back to the chalk menu because of one girl and a dream.
They were just as I'd remembered: imagine a funnel cake pocket...
...filled with melty, sweet, oreo goodness.
Know that if you partook of fried oreos at Rockaway Champ's a couple of weeks ago, it was probably due in no small part to my friend: none other than kale-salad-at-the-beach, who can now add this to her list of varied and impressive lifetime accomplishments.
Note: we also asked Champ's to deep fry some peanut chews for us.
That didn't work out so well.
Definitely stick with the oreos, which are ironically listed under the kale salad.
PS: while in Rockaway we also visited Fort Tilden for the MOMA PS1 "Rockaway!" exhibit.
UPDATE: my content editor and host sent me the fabbest photo of 89 at the Patti Smith installation!
We had a great day- even passed an 89 Street!
It was exhausting (did I mention 89 threw in the towel during our Ft. Tilden walk and needed to be carried?), but exhilarating and we had a great time. Yes, all one day.
Kindly reserve your horrified comments about my having indulged in both Champ's and Rockaway Taco in the same 24 hour period; I feel guilty enough (no I don't).
Nestled amongst standard beach fare [UPDATE: in reality I had no idea what else there was; I only had eyes for Champ's. It's been brought to my attention that there was actually vegan-friendly Uzbek food, so I stand corrected.] at the Beach 97th concessions was vegan, cruelty-free Champ's doing what they do best: making mouths happy.
Check out their beachy menu! The only thing missing was fried oreos.
The whole set-up was adorably and indisputably Champs-y.
I went a little crazy: pineapple sweet tea, waffle fries, and a corn dog, but I wouldn't change a thing.
I was AT THE BEACH!
Truth be told, I wouldn't pass up a vegan corn dog anywhere.
My friends had already visited them a couple of times already, so they handled their own orders with a little more restraint than I did. Theirs:
The beach slaw veggie burger with added roasted pineapple (and shared waffle fries because I do share sometimes [UPDATE: I've been informed that these fries actually came with, but I've received confirmation that I did also share my order of fries, so I'm not a liar!]).
Double jalapeno veggie dog with non-blogger applied ketchup.
And, well, there's no way around this: kale salad. I love kale as much as the next person, but even I was perplexed. You might be thinking that ordering a kale salad at the beach is a sucker move. Normally I'd agree with you. BUT, the recipient of said kale salad went on to redeem herself in no uncertain terms, so forgive her momentarily as you await the story of her redemption.
This is where we enjoyed our Brooklyn grub freshly prepared in Rockaway.
A very tired, sleepy, salty dog alternated using each of our legs for pillows.
We were having a great time, but I couldn't let it go. Although we were all full, I couldn't stop thinking about the fried oreos. My pals had enjoyed them just the week before and I thought it was a given. But, this week, by the time we got there, Champ's had sold out and had depleted their back stock of oreos. WAAAAAH! But, we could not be defeated. All we needed was oreos and this is America; you're never far from oreos! Kale-salad-at-the-beach easily confirmed that they did, indeed, have the batter. So, we journeyed to the nearest bodega (a matter of blocks) and KSATB filled a bag with un-fried oreos that we then delivered to Champ's...
...in exchange for fried oreos; it was a victory of epic proportions!
Imagine the pride we felt when "fried oreos" were added back to the chalk menu because of one girl and a dream.
They were just as I'd remembered: imagine a funnel cake pocket...
...filled with melty, sweet, oreo goodness.
Know that if you partook of fried oreos at Rockaway Champ's a couple of weeks ago, it was probably due in no small part to my friend: none other than kale-salad-at-the-beach, who can now add this to her list of varied and impressive lifetime accomplishments.
Note: we also asked Champ's to deep fry some peanut chews for us.
That didn't work out so well.
Definitely stick with the oreos, which are ironically listed under the kale salad.
PS: while in Rockaway we also visited Fort Tilden for the MOMA PS1 "Rockaway!" exhibit.
 |
| Rockaway! |
 |
| 89's first time on the sand |
UPDATE: my content editor and host sent me the fabbest photo of 89 at the Patti Smith installation!
 |
| absorbing the culture |
 |
| 89's so glad she's wearing protective footwear |
We had a great day- even passed an 89 Street!
It was exhausting (did I mention 89 threw in the towel during our Ft. Tilden walk and needed to be carried?), but exhilarating and we had a great time. Yes, all one day.
 |
| heading home |
Kindly reserve your horrified comments about my having indulged in both Champ's and Rockaway Taco in the same 24 hour period; I feel guilty enough (no I don't).
What a day! No shame in buying an establishment ingredients so you can indulge!!!
ReplyDeleteFrankly it would have been unfair to the masses if we hadn't!
DeleteI can't believe you asked them to deep fry peanut chews for you too!! That is SO funny. Way to go, bringing fried oreos the the masses!
ReplyDeleteDo you know how long Champs will be out there?? I swore I'd get to the beach just once this summer.
Not a fan of ketchup on dogs either! Am a fan of 89 the famous dog, though. The pooch was pooped.
I *think* they will not be out there any more this summer but hope to be there again next; definitely check with them (an excuse to go to Champ's!).
DeleteYeah, 89 is suffering from my resolution to have more fun for sure. I've also been doing the couch-to-5K app, so that's not helping (or is it?).
I don't want to tell tales, but KSOTB eats ketchup on her hot dogs AND doesn't put mustard on her soft pretzels. Not a native!
There's plenty to say but I CAN'T DEAL WITH 89's SHOES!! AAAAH! I'm sitting here, giggling at the adorable-ness of it all. All four of them.
ReplyDeleteThey don't put a stick in their corndogs? I would worry about it being to hot to hold! I don't normally go for fried food (other than fries, naturally!), but this corndog looks amazing. So sad about the peanut chews! But what an amazing day, all the way around!
I missed the stick for aesthetics, but it was fine temperature-wise! I'm not a huge fried foods person, but when in Rome ;-)
DeleteWe had a blast. 89's shoes get a lot of attention: mostly amusement with the occasional obnoxious comment. A few weeks later in Coney Island we overheard a passerby excitedly exclaim, "quatro zapatos!" Best comment ever.
Haha, I love how the peanut chews turned out. Fail! Deep fried Oreo's are so good, they're pretty much the entire reason I have a mini deep fryer!
ReplyDeleteThat would be so dangerous in my house (fried oreos for dinner!), but I'm super jealous!
DeleteOh my god, this looks insanely good! I'm enormously jealous!
ReplyDeleteWhere can you get vegan corn dogs in NYC now that Foodswings is closed?
I'm not sure if Champ's does them at any of their locations? I feel like there's a new, frozen vegan corn dog that you can maybe get from Food Fight?
DeleteWaffle fries…corn dog….slaw veggie burger…veggie dog…funnel cake pockets with Oreo! Such amazing grub there! I wanna go there!
ReplyDeleteI commented twice on this post! Where are my comments?!
ReplyDeleteNo comments, SV :-(
DeleteI won't comment on your food indulgences — I mean choices — but I need to know where 89 got her foot protection.
ReplyDeleteSweet heaven, you won the internet forever. Vegan corndog? Erm, yes. Twice. AND THEN SOME FRIED OREOS. Seriously, I'd have an extra stomach grafted on to get a portion of that.
ReplyDelete