WORTH THE DRIVE: Festival to feature authentic Asian fare, including some from Dayton

A whopping 34 authentic Asian restaurants will be serving food in the form of small plates priced anywhere from $2 to $6. Local food truck, HaolePino, will also be representing Dayton at the fest with its mouthwatering Hawaiian-Filipino Island Cuisine.

It will be serving:

• Kalau Pork with Cabbage w/mac salad or Kalua Pork Nachos

• Hawaiian Pineapple Dole Whip or Banana Lumpia

• Hawaiian-Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken

• Chicken Adobo, Pancit, and or Lumpia

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VENDORS PARTICIPATING AND MENU HIGHLIGHTS:

• Adelinda's Lumpia: The Manila: Beef, Cabbage, and Carrot Lumpia; The Cebu: Banana, jackfruit, and coconut turon; Ube Ice Cream

• Bamboo Kitchen:  Pho-Burrito, potstickers, Sakoo (Lao tapioca made with sweet coconut milk and coconut gel, served cold)

• Blesame Catering Services: Filipino Barbeque (pork or chicken, Filipino fried rice);  Kaldereta (beef or chicken, like a stew); Filipino Empanada (pork or chicken with carrots, potato, peas); desserts (Ube cake, Sweet Rice Puto, Karioka)

• Boba Cha: Black Milk Tea, Raspberry Ginger Tea, Peach Lime Tea, Lychee Tea

• Bread House Bakery Cincy: Egg Tarts, Buns/Bread, Cake Slices, Chinese Tea, Fresh Fruit

• Bridges Nepali Cuisine: Chicken tikka with rice, Sekuwa with a side of rice, Momo (bite size dumpling), Lassi ( Yogurt Shake)

• China Gourmet: Szechuan Rack of Lamb; Beef Short Ribs; Cold Sesame Noodles; Cold Cucumber Chicken Salad

• Chino's Street Food: Vietnamese Street Taco, Vietnamese Street Bowl, fried rice with marinaded chicken, fresh fruit juice with lychee jelly

• Christine's Casual Dining: Egg roll with beef & pork, Mango Shake

• Dai Trang Bistro: Mini Siopao (mini steamed bun made from scratch, savory chicken filling); Chicken & Ube Waffle Skewers; BBQ chicken paired with an Ube/Chocolate chip waffle; Korean Dog (beef hot dog topped with Bulgogi & Kimchee); Che Thai- Iced Vietnamese Dessert

• Dope! Noodle and Dumpling Shop: Pork and Napa Dumpling; Chicken and Mushroom Dumpling; Ginger Sesame Kale Salad; Green Papaya Salad

• Eam Kruesah: Steak Skewer, Nompang Saut-Ko (Beef Sandwich), Bai-Cha (Fried Rice), Sweet Potato Pork Spring Roll

• HaolePino Hawaiian-Filipino Island Cuisine: Kalau Pork with Cabbage w/mac salad or Kalua Pork Nachos; Hawaiian Pineapple Dole Whip or Banana Lumpia; Hawaiian-Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken; Chicken Adobo, Pancit, and or Lumpia

• Huit Restaurant Group: Conchinita Pibil Steam Bun; Grilled Pork Dumpling; Huit Famous Elotes

• Injoy Street Food: Chicken Tikka Masala Bowl; Tikka Mac & Cheese; Turmeric and Pistachio Shortbread Cookie

• Kona Ice: Shaved Ice with signature flavors Mango, Passion Fruit, Lychee, Tigers Blood

• Kung Fu Tea: Original Bubble Milk Tea, Passionfruit Green Tea, Peach Oolong Tea

• Pho Lang Tang: Nuoc mam and honey wings; Gochujang wings; Nitro Vietnamese Coffee; Nitro Vietnamese Limeade

• Mahope: Grilled Whole Wings (marinated in a secret family recipe with hints of soy sauce, garlic and five spice); Cambodian Chicken or Veggie Tacos (topped with cabbage, pickled papaya and carrots, sriracha aioli, garnish with cilantro, served on a corn tortilla); Cambodian Coconut Waffle on a Stick (with choice of toppings: chocolate, powdered sugar, and coconut shavings); Thai Tea (Cambodian style served over ice, basil seeds, coffee jelly, almond joy coconut cream); Lort Chong (Pandan flavor rice noodle, tapioca pearls, coconut milk, simple syrup, served over ice).

• Men Can Cook by Citrus and Sago: Prata with Vegetarian Kheema or Chicken Rendang; Pai Tee with Nyonya Vegetable of Chili Shrimp; Teh Tarik (Milk Tea)

• Ono Grindz: Kalua Nachos (Kalua pulled pork, on tortilla chips, dressed with poke sauce and our chipotle ranch dressing, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and garnished with green onions); Spam Musubi (sliced Spam, grilled in our Hawaiian BBQ sauce, on a block of rice, wrapped in nori); Kimchi Burger (Kalua pulled pork grilled in our Hawaiian BBQ sauce, with melted havarti cheese, topped with housemade kimchi, on a toasted brioche bun); Cajun Blackened Chicken and Basil Pesto Rice (grilled chicken in our cajun spices, on a bed of rice tossed with our basil pesto, topped with a simple island red cabbage slaw.)

• Our Lady of Lavang Church: Vietnamese Crepes-Banh Xeo; Pork Ball Skewered- Nem Nuong; Shrimp Wrapped to Sugarcane- Chao Tom; Chicken Salad- Goi Ga

• Pho Kimmy: Grilled pork skewer; Cha Gio (Eggroll); Chicken Salad; Thai Tea

• Poke Hut: Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken; Charsu BBQ Pork Bun; Fried Tofu Veggie Bun; Bubble Tea

• Puffs N' Buns: Beef Curry Puff; Chicken Curry Puff; Vegetarian Curry Puff; Summer Bimbibap

• Roll On In: Sushi Taco; Sushi Burrito; Ahi Tuna Nachos; Crab Rangoon

• SiamOrchid Thai Restaurant: Chicken Pop Top; Chicken Basil Fried Rice; Spring Rolls; Fried Bananas

• Stone Bowl Korean Restaurant: Chicken or Tofu BiBimBap (assorted vegetable on the bed of purple rice. Sweet, vinegary & mild spicy GoChuJang sauce on the side); Chicken or Tofu Japche (sweet potato noodle mixed with vegetables); Korean Citron Honey Tea

• Streetpops: Pineapple Passionfruit; Avocado; Thai Basil Lime; Lychee Coconut; Ube; Mango Creamsicle

• Tea 'n' Bowl: Noodle Soup (curry laska or Malaysian prawn noodle); Malaysia Curry with Butterfly Pea Tip Sticky Rice; Teh Tarik (Malaysian pulled tea - Ipoh White Kopi/Berry Mocktail); Crispy Chicken with Salted Egg Yolk or Spicy Pepper

• Thai Express: Khao Soy (egg noodles with vegetable top with special curry sauce choice of Chicken or Tofu); Green Curry (Green Curry sauce with bamboo strip, eggplant, green pepper, zucchini choice of chicken or tofu served with rice); Pad Thai (traditional stir fry Thai noodles with bean sprouts and green onion choice of chicken or tofu); Northern Salad (minced chicken or tofu with rice powder, cilantro, mint, red onion with tangy and spicy dressing served with rice).

• Vannon's Cambodian Street Food: Oun Mei's Pork Tenderloin Skewer (pork tenderloin marinated in a mixture of salt, brown sugar, green onion, and spices); Lotcha (short rice noodle stir-fried on a flat iron skillet with thick soy sauce, oyster sauce and mixed in with some bean sprouts, green nira, and topped off with a fried egg and a special sauce made from fish sauce, sugar, vinegar, garlic, and water); Cambodian Style Corn on the Cob (sweet corn grilled on a hot bed of flame baste in a creamy sweet coconut milk sauce made of sugar, green onion, coconut milk, and fish sauce); Rib Tip and Rice Combo (beef rib tip is marinated in an Asian barbecue sauce, honey, green onion, garlic, oil, and spices and cook over a grill and then serve with a side of white rice)

• Yat Ka Mein Noodle House: Sesame Chicken; Dan Dan Noodles; Cheese Rangoon; Sesame Balls

You can see the full list of vendors and what they'll be serving at asianfoodfest.org.

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"The Asian Food Fest (AFF) was founded in 2010 by a diverse group of friends who wanted to spread their love of Asian food and culture through the city of Cincinnati," according to the AFF website. "AFF originally began as a fundraising event for Care 2 Share, a non-profit organization of Vietnamese-American volunteers who work to provide funding, ideas and the human touch to the people of Vietnam."

WANT TO GO?

WHAT: Asian Food Fest

WHEN: 12 p.m.- 10 p.m. Saturday, May 11 & 12 p.m.- 8 p.m. Sunday, May 12

WHERE: The Banks, Freedom Way, Cincinnati

INFO: Website