Showing posts with label Asian food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asian food. Show all posts

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Fun Playing With Food at the Cleveland Asian Festival, 2012



With a rhythmic welcome from the Kwan Family Lion Dancers, Cleveland kicked off its third annual Asian Festival this morning. We actually arrived rather early, so we could pick up some needed items at Park To Shop (and park our car). While we would have loved to spend the entire day at the Festival as we did last year, too many pressing obligations would make that impossible this time. The Festival is free to attend and open to all. In addition to food, two stages provide non-stop entertainment, and there are vendors galore selling products and services that may interest you. A children's area offers games, crafts, attractions and "inflatable sumo wrestling" for the minis. And Lolly the Trolley provides complimentary tours of Cleveland Asiatown.

A few changes for this year - a larger eating area is provided in the "food court" a/k/a the main Asia Plaza parking lot. The performance stage that shared the space with food vendors last year is now larger and located on Payne Avenue proper. Some of the vendors we loved last year did not return, but many did, together with some new faces. 

One thing we noticed was that some of the spicier cuisines seemed, um, gentled down a bit, especially compared to last year. Still, it all tasted good, and that's what counts.

Since we arrived shortly before the official commencement of the festivities, we walked around the food court and photographed even though not everyone was ready. The photos are in the order of the vendors; we didn't eat in the order shown, but if you decide to visit the Festival tomorrow, this order will make it easier to find your target.

Otani Japanese Restaurant returned with their portable sushi case
#1 Pho was the first new face we encountered

We had wanted to try Flavors of India last year, but lacked sufficient intestinal real estate. How would their Nepalese cuisine taste?

Everest Lamb Curry: Lamb with ginger, onion, tomatoes and Himalayan spices
Though we really enjoyed this plate, we wished that the tempting spices that played peek-a-boo with our palates were more prominent. Though the fragrance said "India," the flavors were a little different and we wanted more! We licked up every bit of that gravy (thank goodness they gave us a spoon). 




We had chatted with a gentleman while enjoying our first plates, as he consumed Xiao Long Bao (Soup Dumplings) - delicate dough containing pork or crab and a savory liquid filling. He pointed us to Li Wah, but warned us that these weren't the greatest. He was right - my guess is that they came out of a food service package, which doesn't make sense because Li Wah had it's full restaurant kitchen right on the premises. Oh well.

Li Wah's Little Cousin
E. 30th Cafe also had the same food items for sale at a table in front of the restaurant, in Asia Plaza. No pizza this year.


We loved the grilled chicken skewer from Asian Grille last year. 


I am an unabashed Koko Bakery lover. If you've never experienced a real Chinese bakery, you need to give Koko a try! As with last year, both sweets and savories are available:






We brought home a number of the above items, which wrapped flaky pastry around various savory fillings. Our selections of Bacon & Wasabi (above, right), Sausage & Cheese and Curry Potato & Cheese (above, left), as well as Ham & Cheese & Vegetables & Cheese were fabulous after just a few minutes in the toaster oven. We've got a couple of Taro strips (two photos up) that will probably wait until tomorrow.





Map of Thailand, as it did last year, had "show plates" at the ready; as last year, I photographed them but unfortunately did not get to sample their wares. Here's the dish that gave me the best photo:

Thai Style Basil Chicken


King Fire Baby looked so good last year, but we'd hit "uncle"! This year - they were a first stop.

Grilled baby ribs with Khmer pickled vegetables
Lemon Grass Chicken Wings
Iced Mint Green Tea Lemonade
King Fire Baby is offering a coupon on its website: purchase $12 from the booth, and get an Iced Mint Green Tea Lemonade for free! Since our order of one rib plate, one wing plate, and one tea got us over $12, we got my tea free. A little sweet for my taste, perhaps, but a truly lovely combination of tea and lemonade. My only wish was for the Cambodian flavors to pop a bit more - both meats were delicious and nicely cooked, and the slaw was yummy, but I wanted more tingle, more spice! 


And now we have . . . our pick for Best Bites of Festival (of those we tasted, of course): Tamarind Asian Cuisine! Alas - I cannot link you to a website, or even a Facebook page, because it seems that caterer Marina Villanueva Velmin doesn't have any yet! But this Filipina can cook!

Pork Adobo, Pancit Bihon (rice noodles with chicken, sausage, hard cooked egg),  pickled vegetables 
Tender, luscious pork in adobo sauce joined stir fried rice noodles loaded with a sausage similar to lap cheong but softer, chicken, hard cooked eggs, and vegetables. The small side of pickled vegetables (which had some chilies) provided acid and heat - and all of these elements together combined to make this dish our absolute favorite of the day.  Marina's business card lists contact info in Westlake and Venice Florida - I hope that we see more of her cooking here in Cleveland!





We took home a Banh Mi. When we were finally hungry again, we removed the crisp vegetables and toasted it, then put the veggies back. Yum.


Ono Turo-Turo was another booth we had been forced to pass on last year. It was at the top of our list, but by the time we got to them, we knew we'd be packing most of our goodies up for later noshing.

Dinoguan (Chocolate Meat) 
This delicious mole-like dish was served up with plenty of incendiary whole chilies - so we were a little surprised that the meat, while perfectly tender and delicious, with hints of chocolate and seasonings, didn't have much chili flavor. Last year, after we'd reached satiety, our friend Stuart told us we had to try their food. While I'm glad that we did this year, I'm still puzzled how something cooked with that many chilies could taste so mild. We'll cut the chilies up and add them when we reheat the leftovers.


This signless stand was presented by the West Side Market's own Kim Se Cambodian


And I somehow neglected to photograph Always Gutom, Always Pinoy, a Filipino stand that we much enjoyed last year. Looks like they had an awesome steamed pork bun that we missed. 

Once you step out of the food court, you will find three stands serving shaved ice in the Payne Street concourse; I got photos of two of them. It looked like refreshing fun!



Whew - lots of great food to play with at the Cleveland Asian Festival! And there is still one day to go in the 2012 edition. The weather is grand and the food is fun at the 2012 Cleveland Asian Festival, so go on out  on May 20 and play with your food! 

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

The Third Cleveland Asian Festival is This Weekend!


Hard to believe that a full year has passed since we played with a diverse selection of Asian food at the second Cleveland Asian Festival. The third installment will commence this Saturday, May 19 at Payne Avenue, E. 27 to E. 30th Streets, Cleveland. In addition to regular Asiatown parking, free parking (with free shuttle service to the party) will be available at the CSU Lots on E. 24th Street and other nearby locations and will be clearly marked. The Festival is open both Saturday and Sunday (May 19 and 20) from 11am to 7pm each day. There is no admission charge, but you are asked to leave your pets at home. The Festival Facebook page is here.

Many tasty delicacies will be available for purchase throughout the weekend. Just to get your mouth watering a little, below is a re-run of my report from last year's party. Hope to see you there!

On Saturday, May 21, 2011, Bob and I partook of the second Cleveland Asian Festival. Spanning a full two days in its second year, the festival offered many attractions other than the food, including a Lolly the Trolley tour of Asiatown, kids' activities, crafts, non-food vendors, and cultural performances. I came mostly for the food, centered around this outdoor food court set up in the Asia Plaza parking lot:


We arrived just before noon, and photographed most of the food vendors before partaking. The choices weren't easy to make, and we left around 5pm completely sated.





This freshly BBQ'd chicken skewer was one of last bites we actually ate, but one of the most succulent.



It was a delight having not one, but two Filipino food booths at the festival. We didn't sample any food from Ono Turo-Turo, but our friend Stuart did and he said it was fabulous.







We enjoyed our plate from the Laotion table. The spring roll was hot and crisp and the papaya salad spicy and redolent of fish sauce.








Is there anything so sublime as freshly grilled pig (with lots of skin, at our request)! The side sauce added a uniquely Filipino perspective to the simply grilled meat. These guys said they might consider opening a Cleveland-area restaurant; we hope that they do and we'll be first in line to try it!











Map of Thailand had these "demo" plates at the ready:











The following goodies were served up by Pearl of the Orient:





















We were most impressed with Otani's portable sushi station, designed to keep the sushi safe despite temps in the 80s.

The following is from Koko Bakery - Cleveland's leading Asian bakery and my preferred source of bubble tea. Happily, they were offering Taro Bubble Tea, which is my favorite! No photo of it; we were too thirsty.









We took an assortment of potstickers home from Koko's stand, and enjoyed them for dinner:









Next to Li Wah's table, its sister restaurant East 30th Street Cafe offered an eclectic selection ranging from spring rolls to pizza! The restaurant serves dim sum at all hours, sushi, pizza, and other Asian and fusion items.


Li Wah's offerings













Udupi, located in Parma Heights Ohio, has been on our "to try" list for some time, but we've just never gotten there. Our loss - until today!



In addition to the steam table items, Udupi offered made-to-order Dosa, or stuffed crepes - this was one of  the highlights of our culinary tour this afternoon. First, batter is poured on the grill:



The batter is then shaped and flattened:





As the crepe crisps, a potato-and-pea based filling is deposited in the center:






The finished Dosa is served with two dipping sauces - one spicy with chili, the white one creamy with yogurt and garlic. 



















We seem to have been won over by Indian flavors on this particular day - Jaipur Junction, of North Royalton Ohio, has also been on the "must try" list, and we were glad that we finally did:


Basmati Rice


Butter Chicken




Samosa


Potato Cakes - Tava Tikki


Chick Pea Curry


Cold Chick Pea Salad

The smells of the foregoing tormented us - which to choose?



Chick Pea Curry over Tava Tikki, topped with two Chutneys - the made-from-scratch potato cake held up beautifully under the wet toppings and still crunched; a perfect contrast with the creamy chick peas and savory  toppings. 








Har Gow and Shao Mai Dumplings

This next item was a free sample shared by one of my favorite Asiatown haunts, Korean restaurant Ha Ahn. 




Bibimbob from Ha Ahn

I snapped this dessert item (rice flour balls stuffed with bean paste and rolled in sesame) on the table to the right of Ha Ahn, which I am told was Asia Foods (re-located last year to Asian Town Center at 3820 Superior Avenue). They looked scrumptious!











These next photos aren't of food, but of the Home Depot booth, which provided the cutest mini-aprons to the little ones, and treated them to a lesson in crafting!





And here is a look at the children's fun zone - I believe that a wristband purchased for a nominal fee provided all-you-can-play access for the minis:



These sculptures celebrating the Year of the Rabbit lined East 30th Street:



My favorite sculpture:




Chris Nguyen of Superior Pho Narrates Our Trolley Tour of Asiatown


Mame Daiko Performs Japanese Drumming

The third edition of the Festival will take place May 19 & 20, 2012, for the Year of the Dragon. As a Dragon myself (the most auspicious sign of the Asian Zodiac), I hope to be able to attend again next year. We enjoyed a day full of great food and fun, playing with too many choices from the Cleveland-area Asian food community, and immersing ourselves for a few hours in Asian culture. The Cleveland Asian Festival is highly recommended for fun playing with food and a nice splash of culture.