pay $50 bucks entrance and you get to indulge in tasty street food and alcohol. How much can you really eat?

Held at the Pasadena Rose bowl was the 4th annual LA street food festival. VIP $75 gets you in 2 hrs earlier, while $50 gets you in at 5pm.

I had work in the morning so I didn’t get there until 6pm. Good and bad I guess, the sun was setting so it wasn’t as hot.. but it was still a scorching hot day. Some of the vendors were starting to run out of food about an hour after being there. So tips for those that are planning to go next year.. go EARLY. maybe the $75 is worth it? For those that went with the VIP, let me know (:

Ceviche Project: Read some more reviews and realized that the lines were ridiculously long the whole time. Not just when I was waiting for it. Was it worth the wait? no so sure. The ingredients used sounded delicious but the outcome of it was just soso. Uni Mayo?

 

Badmaash: This is one of the top three on my list. Really good and full of flavor. Has the creamy taste and texture of tikka masala. absolutely delish.

George’s Greek: Had two different fillings. Spinach with feta or the beef and lamb. Guess which one I opted for? Of course the beef and lamb. and of course it was tender and delicious.

Lazy Ox Canteen: Pig ears. very chewy. not so crispy but very chewy pig ear. Not so good.

MexiKosher: Not exactly sure what this is. Its a actual flower tortilla with a dollop of… sweet and sour blob of… jelly? yeah…

Tainamite: Very Garlic-ey noodles. Sad enough, its another top three on my list. It was plain, but so good. My cousins BF said us Chan’s and our noodles. What can I say? we love our noodles. We had about… 5? orders of sampling for the 3 of us.

Trattoria Neapolis: Im not sure if its because the samples were pre-made and have been sitting out for too long, of if its suppose to taste just really soggy? It sounds delicious but one thing about food that I really dislike would be soggy bread. And this had just that >.< but the lemonade was really good a refreshing. had a light basil taste.

Maestro’s Sausage: You wanna play their sausage? Well, feel free because its on display. Want a taste? They got their sausage on a tortilla. Spicy, juicy, not too salty. Just overall a really goood sausage. Another top 3.

 Bling Bling Dumpling: Cheeseburger Dumpling. I imagine it to be just like a cheeseburger but in a dumpling. Boy was I wrong. It was just like a regular dumpling filling with a not so cheeseburger like taste. But I did only have a little bite since they wouldn’t give me more than 1 and I was sharing with 3 other people. Couldn’t they have at leave given me just 1 more?! But super cute packaging.

Bibigo: Korean Authenticity Approved. all I need to say.

Carving Board: Turkey Dinner sandwich. Sounds awesome. Was pretty good.. IF it was warmer and IF they heated up the bread because the bread was a bit hard and dry. Im sure if you got this sandwich fresh from the truck, it would’ve been just like a turkey dinner. 

Pressed Juicery: I guess you can call us lucky? First time around, they said they were out. As we were leaving, we caught them giving away FULL BOTTLES! Snatched a bottle and I have to say, it has changed my view on drinking vegetable juice.

Dang’s Brother Pizza: Gotta admit that its pretty cool. That fire truck with that open oven. And the pizza was fresh with the cheese all melted and gooey.

And as for the rest of these, I don’t know where its from because  heres a tip. If you go with a group of friends, split up and go to different lines. That way you cover more ground and get to try more stuff! But either bring a tray or find one to hold your samples. Because you know, we only have two hands.

Some type of dessert cake soaked in coffee.

The green sauce with the roll was better than the actual meat and taco itself. The meat didn’t have too much flavor and wasn’t all that tender.

Taco?

Now, this Shrimp taco was loaded with shrimp. It was spicy and delicious. I know I’ve been saying I have 3 items that tops it all, but I guess theres 4.

So what have I learned from this food adventure?

1. Come EARLY
2. Plan out the vendors that you want to go check out first. Don’t just wander around because you might be filling up and wasting your time with vendors your not too interested in.
3. Bring a hat because it will get really sunny and hot.
4. Split up and wait in multiple line
5. Share samples instead of finishing one yourself. You will get full faster than you think.

It’s been fun… So I’ll see you guys there next year?