Lucky Rice Festival: Night Market 2010

DUMBO was alive with the festive smells and tastes of Asia, as the Lucky Rice Festival 2010 held it’s Night-Market event under the archway of the Manhattan bridge.

There were Asian food vendors galore, dishing out yummy samples of their tasty treats to foodies who flooded the event. A lot of the samplings were of street foods that are available at the popular night markets in Asia.

I really enjoyed this event. It was well organized and intimate.

Unlike the Village Voice Choice Eats event, this event didn’t have throngs of vendors and hoards of people. It was smaller and as a result it was personable. There was time and space to make connections and get a feel for the personalities behind the food.

My personal favorite person I met at the event was the owner of Slice – an organic, inventive pizza place opened by Miki Aggarwal. Her energy was as beautiful as the concept behind her restaurant. I can’t wait to go visit her restaurant in the city.

I also give props to The Setai, South Beach, Miami, who had the best dish of the night ( pork belly and oyster) . Each plate was prepared with the utmost TLC!

The worst thing I tried was the Stinky Tofu by Baohaus (who BTW did have other fabulous eats) but this stinky Tofu just didn’t fly with me – it smelled and tasted like day old bad breath. Inedible!

Here are some of the foods we tasted:

KAMPUCHEA

This was a Pork Meatball Numpang which was served with chili mayo ,cilantro, pickled carrots and cucumbers. Their meatball was very tasty.

KUM GANG SAN

Kum Gang San served assorted Korean street foods like different flavored sweet rice cakes (mochi) and savory pancakes with various fillings.

DELICATESSEN

This was Foie Gras and Beef Short Rib Dumpling with a melange of Asian Vegetables and Five Spice Consomme.

DOUBLE CROWN

Double crown had the most refreshing eats of all. Their Coconut Chicken with Snow Peas and Mint was very nice.

They also had a delicious selection of flavored shaved ices. My favorite was the Lychee Shaved Ice.

MOMOFUKU MILK BAR

Momofuku Milk Bar was giving out free yesterdays cookies.

OMS/B RICE BALL CAFE

They were serving up all different kinds of rice balls. Beautiful presentation!

BAOHAUS

Baohaus, serving Taiwanese street food, had these special fries which were topped with a black sesame sauce – they were really interesting.

I didn’t like the Stinky Tofu dish they served at all.

BEP

This little Vietnamese vendor served really nice Rice Vermicelli Noodles with Grilled Pork and a Salad on Shrimp Chips.

Their dessert was outstanding – it was rice pudding which had been flavored with candied ginger, coconut milk and a few other really tasty toppings. YUM!

ZENGO

Zengo served a tangy Mixed Seafood Ceviche which was flavored with orange, serrana and bonito.

THE SETAI

The Setai, South Beach, Miami, Fl were working the hardest on their samples. They served an outstanding Crispy Fried Pork Belly and a Kimchee with Crispy Creek Oyster, Chili Jam and Fried Shallots.

CURRY-YA

Curry Ya was dishing out samples of their Japanese curry which was delicious.

MY BROOKLYN KITCHEN

They served Bindaeduk which is a Korean mung bean pancake and Little Poh Poh’s which are mini red bean mochi cakes with different frosting.

THE KATI ROLL COMPANY

The Kati Roll Company had the most substantial portions. They served a variety of Kati Rolls which is an Indian street food. They had Chicken, Potato and Paneer (cheese).

AN CHOI

An Choi served a Vietnamese salad on shrimp chips.

SLICE, THE PERFECT FOOD

This was definitely the most interesting food stall of all. Miki Aggarwal, who is bursting with personality, is creating the most interesting toppings for pizza and its all organic. We tried the Chicken Tikka Masala slice and the Channa Masala slice. Both were very good.

THE GOOD FORK

I tried the vegetarian dumpling at the Good Fork and it was really very good.

DIRT CANDY

Dirt Candy which usually makes really interesting combinations of vegetarian food, fell short this time around. I didn’t like their Barbecue Rainbow Carrot Buns with Carrot Hoisin Sauce.