A belated review finds many positives in execution
I don’t know how much good there is in reviewing Asian Fest after it already happened, but since it’s of culinary worth, and many of the stands come back in following years, I felt it worth covering. Asian Fest is great place to spend a couple of hours—sit back, watch a performance or two, poke around the booths, grab a bite to eat, and watch some sepak takraw, the amazing soccer-volleyball backflipping sport of southeast Asia. But stay any longer than three hours or so and it begins to wear on you. So you go back to get more food. And what options you have! Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Thai, Laotian, Japanese, and Cambodian are all well-represented here. Take a lap and see what looks best.
If I recall correctly, the place was called Jenny’s Vietnamese—they definitely didn’t have an affiliated restaurant, I remember that much. It was in the northern most part of the food place, on the western half…but enough about names and geography. I picked this place solely on how great their chicken looked on the grill. They were grilling up short ribs and what looked like chicken wings (what I soon found out were chunks of chicken, maybe thighs. These were glazed in a salty sweet sauce and charred very well. The short ribs on the other hand…they were charred, too, but there was very little meat on the bone, and you had to pick through a lot of fat. The chicken was spot on, however.
The fantastic appetizer set the bar high for the rest of the day. Later I got a dish at a Korean stand (blanking on the name) that was just grilling up a lot of spicy pork and bulgogi (marinated barbecued beef). The spicy pork, which was marinated in pretty much the same stuff that cabbage is marinated in for kimchi, was fantastic. Giant curling slices were soft, flavorful with the marinade, and spicy. This was great execution, and easily worth the five dollars that it cost by itself, although I’d recommend getting some rice or a side dish with it. The bulgogi was a little tough, unfortunately. Bulgogi normally looks something like meat you’d find on an Italian beef sandwich—thinly sliced sirloin. The beef was, unfortunately, nowhere nearly as flavorful as the spicy pork. The kimchi was what kimchi should be—pickled and spicy, crunchy and sour, disgusting and delicious all at the same time.
And for dessert? One of the unconventional stands, the Filipino La Herba Buena, provided the goods. I stopped in once a few years ago, and the place offers some pretty funky imported stuff, including some pretty exotic drinks and frozen ice cream pops (I recall calamansi soda, for some odd reason). Apparently the specialty store also has a little restaurant in it, too. Well, I digress. The crushed ice with tapioca was, simply, crushed ice with tapioca balls at the bottom, and covered in a liquid that I can only describe as syrup-flavored. Still pretty refreshing on an 80 something degree day, but not necessarily something that I’d order again. The banana fritter, however, was a very good, two bite chunk of banana deep-fried. A nice, simple, and delicious end to a rewarding day at Asian Fest.
Look out for Asian Fest, May 2010
I don’t know how much good there is in reviewing Asian Fest after it already happened, but since it’s of culinary worth, and many of the stands come back in following years, I felt it worth covering. Asian Fest is great place to spend a couple of hours—sit back, watch a performance or two, poke around the booths, grab a bite to eat, and watch some sepak takraw, the amazing soccer-volleyball backflipping sport of southeast Asia. But stay any longer than three hours or so and it begins to wear on you. So you go back to get more food. And what options you have! Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Filipino, Thai, Laotian, Japanese, and Cambodian are all well-represented here. Take a lap and see what looks best.
If I recall correctly, the place was called Jenny’s Vietnamese—they definitely didn’t have an affiliated restaurant, I remember that much. It was in the northern most part of the food place, on the western half…but enough about names and geography. I picked this place solely on how great their chicken looked on the grill. They were grilling up short ribs and what looked like chicken wings (what I soon found out were chunks of chicken, maybe thighs. These were glazed in a salty sweet sauce and charred very well. The short ribs on the other hand…they were charred, too, but there was very little meat on the bone, and you had to pick through a lot of fat. The chicken was spot on, however.
The fantastic appetizer set the bar high for the rest of the day. Later I got a dish at a Korean stand (blanking on the name) that was just grilling up a lot of spicy pork and bulgogi (marinated barbecued beef). The spicy pork, which was marinated in pretty much the same stuff that cabbage is marinated in for kimchi, was fantastic. Giant curling slices were soft, flavorful with the marinade, and spicy. This was great execution, and easily worth the five dollars that it cost by itself, although I’d recommend getting some rice or a side dish with it. The bulgogi was a little tough, unfortunately. Bulgogi normally looks something like meat you’d find on an Italian beef sandwich—thinly sliced sirloin. The beef was, unfortunately, nowhere nearly as flavorful as the spicy pork. The kimchi was what kimchi should be—pickled and spicy, crunchy and sour, disgusting and delicious all at the same time.
And for dessert? One of the unconventional stands, the Filipino La Herba Buena, provided the goods. I stopped in once a few years ago, and the place offers some pretty funky imported stuff, including some pretty exotic drinks and frozen ice cream pops (I recall calamansi soda, for some odd reason). Apparently the specialty store also has a little restaurant in it, too. Well, I digress. The crushed ice with tapioca was, simply, crushed ice with tapioca balls at the bottom, and covered in a liquid that I can only describe as syrup-flavored. Still pretty refreshing on an 80 something degree day, but not necessarily something that I’d order again. The banana fritter, however, was a very good, two bite chunk of banana deep-fried. A nice, simple, and delicious end to a rewarding day at Asian Fest.
Look out for Asian Fest, May 2010
Franklin Park
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