What to eat at Asian Food Fest in Cincinnati

Food is at the heart of a vibrant festival happening just a short drive away this weekend.

It's the ninth year for the Asian Food Fest at The Banks in Cincinnati, and there will be an overwhelming selection of small plates to choose from. The event also features live entertainment, local craft and Asian beer, fun family activities and more.

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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

Credit: Contributed

• 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."

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