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    Asian Food Fest

    4.0 (61 reviews)
    Closed 11:00 am - 8:00 pm
    Updated 2 months ago

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    Nepal dumplings
    Molly L.

    Great fest !! Couldn't find yelp booth .. but okay otherwise!! Had Bahn mi, Nepal dumplings , Rheingeist waimi coco beer very tasty , spam roll, coco roll ... all good tastes!! ... bigger than what i thought it would be !!

    Sapporo Robot...no app, no tap
    Nobuyuki S.

    I really didn't know what to expect. It's been years since I lived in the area and even more years since I'd been downtown. Parking wasn't a pain, but finding the parking lots was a pain. The last time I was downtown, I was there for a work seminar and stayed in some hotel, so I parked at the hotel. It's good that the sports arenas have so much parking. It's bad that it's not easily navigated. Once I figured out what they were doing, I got into a lot. Trying to get out was another matter. Once parked, I headed up the stairs into the wetness. It could have been called "Asian Flood Fest" for a while. Forget the food--it was raining. There seemed to be something for everyone. I saw just about everything except Japanese and Pilipino food. What really struck me was the Red Sesame Korean BBQ Truck and it wasn't even moving! It reminded me of the Kogi BBQ trucks in Orange County, California (next to Los Angeles County), and how much of an effect they've had on mixing Korean food with other cultures. Natrually, I had to try the Beef BBQ Tacos. It's been years since I had Korean BBQ in a restaurant in Japan, although I've got the grill to do it by myself at home. If I have a complaint, it's that they used a sweet sauce, as if they were targeting westerners--which they were. :-D I usually eat Korean food at home as undiluted as any Korean family eats it. I've got to say that, wet or not, the places to sit were greatly appreciated. It's obvious that the coverings didn't spare anything much because everything was at least a bit wet and some things were quite wet, but sitting on the curb was not really an option, so thanks for having places to sit. There were some people across the table and they said that there really was no place the previous year to sit. I had gone for a walk around the downtown area after eating and I returned just in time to see the entertainment finish. Oops! I hope that there will have been enough attendance that the event can be expanded next year to give a wider variety of food. Maybe, they could coordinate menus to not overlap.

    Green papaya salad and pork potstickers.
    Sandra F.

    Looked forward to coming to this event to support local businesses and taste authentic asian foods. The fall weather was perfect for the occassion (held at Washington Park downtown Cincinnati). I really liked the list of vendors. Bobo Cha (specializes in bubble tea). Budina I got the Som Tum which is a papaya salad (very delicious and spicy) and the Pork Potstickers (garnished with cabbage and tempura sauce drizzled on top) both for $8.00. All lines were extremely long (some went quickly and was a 10-15 minute wait The popular ones were more than 25 minutes long. What I really wanted to try was Red Sesame Korean BBQ (BBQ Taco with tofu and their mini Quesadilla). It was at least a 30 minute wait. Other than food vendors, they also had performances from live music to martial arts. I'm so glad I got to experience this event and loved the location. Washington Park is huge and open (plenty of room to sit).

    Human foosball
    Lynn N.

    Asian food fest. Holy cow it is great to see the yearly progression every year of this fest take off. I LOVED that it was hosted at Washington park this year. The set up with the food vendors along the perimeter was great because you could see all the vendors, stage and the center had a couple tables for eating. The open set up made it really easy to meet up with people. Pho Lang Tang and Red Sesame were superstars with steady long lines, and it was great to see other food vendors make their debut, I particularly thought it was AWESOME to see Our Lady of La Vang (the Vietnamese Catholic Church) present. A little surprised to see no vendor chose to sell bánh mì, but there were other really authentic foods like pho and bánh xèo which were super yum. I did get a taste of these curry wontons which I don't even remember where they were from but they were dee-lish! Aside from food, they had live performances of traditional dance and martial arts but in my opinion the BEST feature of all was the Human foosball!! The best ten minutes of my day and I cannot wait to figure a way to play again. Asian food fest did not disappoint. I'm very proud of the sponsors, people who orchestrated the event and especially the community that took the time to come out, support and make it such a successful hit. ...but seriously though HUMAN FOOSBALL where can I play this again?!!

    Flame torched Pork belly at the secret menu booth
    Tessa X.

    My favorite festival in Cincinnati. It keeps getting better every year! Loved the diversity of the performances this year including the local Sikh Gurdwara, traditional dances from China and the Philippines, and even representation from the smaller pacific islands. There was also a Japanese/American rock band and of course the headliner, Korean American rapper Dumbfoundead, was awesome! Great way to spend Mother's Day weekend with the family.

    Lots of sunshine and people for Saturday at the Asian Food Fest
    Alena M.

    Warm would be the smallest word to describe this year! Tons of vendors, people, and dogs. Lots of food options for really good prices to give a little plate and taste of their restaurant or business. Not as many drinks as I would have liked but everyone was super kind. Entertainment was both loud and fun. Everything from a karaoke contest to little girls performing adorable dances. And dear goodness gracious going out from under the shade and standing in long lines for possibly 20 mins. was like running in a desert. Sunburns all around. Be sure to bring sunscreen and CASH!!

    Milk tea!
    Christine K.

    I've been waiting for this for a month! Ever since I've heard about Asian Food Fest I've just became a stalker on their website counting down the days until I can finally feast like a king with Asian food goodness! Plenty of different booths to choose from, Asian to Indian, shaved ice to bubble tea. It's a good way to try out new restaurants that have been under the radar due to the big corporations. You can also enjoy live entertainment with a brief introduction to different Asian culture while picnicking your abundance of food. If you have time this weekend, differently go check it out!!

    Great turnout for Sunday at the Asian Food Fest!
    Erin K.

    After arriving to last year's Asian Food Fest too late to enjoy any of the food, I made it a priority to get to this year's Fest- and I wasn't disappointed! I loved the variety of vendors this year- it was great to see multiple Thai and Filipino vendors filling out the space among the standard Chinese, Vietnamese, and Indian vendors. Since I've never seen Filipino food in Cincinnati, I took advantage of the Filipino food truck and their chicken adobo. It was amazing, and I can't wait to see them around town! Bottom line: Great food, great variety, and great entertainment. I'm already looking forward to next year!

    Pho Counter
    Jay M.

    After much hype, we went to check out this event on a Saturday evening around 7 (which was almost closing time) since I had a working day. Parking is a problem if you are driving down. Washington Park has its own underground parking which is $6 (at least on that day). There is street parking available as well as a few parking lots which will let you park in with a jacked up price. We searched for space for about 20 minutes before driving into the Washington Park's underground parking which was almost full and we spent another 5 minutes looking for space inside. Our overall experience of the food festival wasn't great. There were a few good dishes but nothing special otherwise. Being Indians, we avoided Indian counters since we eat Indian food all the time at home, so no point in trying that. And we wanted to see what the rest of the Asia had in store for us - food lovers and vegetarians. We started off with the Vietnamese Iced Coffee at Lang Thang Coffee Co., which was basically nitro coffee sweetened with condensed milk. It was great in taste and very refreshing. Apart from that, we had Sesame balls and a Plum drink from a Chinese counter. Sesame balls were disastrous - no taste and quite sticky. Plum drink was quite good. From Angie's Satay and Malaysian Cuisine, we had a Fried Tofu salad with a sweet tangy sauce and ground peanuts. It was good but nothing amazing. Our next stop was Yat Ka Mein Noodle House where we tried their Sesame Dumplings and Cheese Rangoon. Sesame dumplings were basically sweet fried dough ball with red bean paste. It was fine - good taste. The red bean paste was good and gave a unique flavor to the dumplings. But you wouldn't want to have more after 1-2. Cheese Rangoon was good. The cheese filling was, I guess, Parmesan and the outer crust was quite crispy and less oily. Definitely to be tried. Besides food, there were other counters selling packed ingredients like this one counter of Grass Fed Gourmet selling cocoghee - a mix of coconut milk and ghee with various flavors added like Garlic Salt, Cinnamon Honey, etc. In addition, on the main ground, there are artists performing on one side. Overall, I didn't find it so great - you won't lose out on anything if you skip it.

    Pancakes From Quan Hapa.
    Hollyann H.

    The Asian Food Fest was A-OK. I like that they have it at Washington Park but I do feel like there should be more vendors. I liked how they had all different types of food, nationality wise. But I feel like had a lot of repeat foods and not enough unique choices to pick from. I'm pretty sure I saw spring rolls and Crab Rangoon a handful of times at different booths. I also felt like it was overly crowded and that every booth had a really long line. Which is good for the festival and the businesses but not great for the people who are hungry and want to try everything. Standing in line for twenty minutes for a spring roll isn't my idea of fun, especially when I'm hangry. The few things we did get while we were there were great, though. I'll go back next year but maybe at a different time and hope for different lines and even more food.

    Swing by the Yelp booth for lots of fun and a free prize!
    Sable B.

    It's only in its second year, but Asian Food Fest is growing! The food is delish and the beer is good. And the weather was perfect yesterday. It was wonderful getting a chance to peek a bit deeper into their culture. One of my favorite parts was watching the young girls dancing. The music and the dance is absolutely beautiful. My three favorites were the Mt. Carmel summer beer- yum!, the 8-spice ribs from Huit and the chicken tacos from the Red Sesame Korean BBQ food truck. Huit is a new start up and I can only hope that they open a restaurant sometime soon. GO, GO, GO!

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    12 years ago

    Not enough vendors to make a 'day' of it. The vendors who were there ran out of food. Lines were too long for the average meals. No thanks.

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    Ask the Community - Asian Food Fest

    Review Highlights - Asian Food Fest

    A place I was not familiar with Quan Hapa had something on their menu I just had to try: Korean-style taco.

    Mentioned in 7 reviews

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    Taste of Blue Ash - Courtesy of website

    Taste of Blue Ash

    3.8(5 reviews)
    12.1 mi

    This review is long past due but I have to echo what Lauren said, the "taste" part was missing…read more I've seen more food options on a weeknight at Washington Park than for this MAJOR festival. Not only was the amount of food a total bummer, but the lines because of the lack of food was atrocious. We are talking hour wait times from line to getting your food. It was an organizational nightmare as lines whipped around into other lines and through the grass and roads surrounding. The lack of local beer was also very apparent. They had miller light, coors, and one "craft beer booth/tent" that had a few local madtree cans and then some bigger craft beer names. Again, a total disappointment for an event of this caliber. I don't know if the sponsors weren't getting a lot out of this and decided not to participate this year or if the people organizing this event just weren't really pitching/selling the event hard enough to get sponsors. Either way with as much going on as Cincinnati has - I would not recommend this festival. The only saving grace was being a 90's babies and hearing blessed union of souls and even that was a disappointment as they played mostly cover songs of other peoples music.

    First I will say this review is for the 2017 Taste of Blue Ash only…read more For the first time I was disappointed!. In past years I would rave about the great music, food, and drinks. This year the music was still good and the reason for receiving any stars. The "Taste" piece is where it missed the mark. There were barely any food options, and of the small selection of choices the lines were super long. I guess that was due to the fact there wasn't much to choose from. What happened Blue Ash? It was more of a festival than a "Taste". This is a family tradition we love going to to and this year was just unfortunate....

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    Lumenocity

    Lumenocity

    4.6(8 reviews)
    0.3 miOver-the-Rhine

    Lumenocity 2016 was held at the Taft Theatre this year. What sets this year different from other…read moreyears is that the light show was indoors this year. And, since it was indoors, they were able to offer more tickets for everyone to come and see the event. In addition to that, there were about three-four shows for each day the event occurred, (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday). Getting to Taft Theatre was pretty easy, and since there wasn't a game going on that weekend it wasn't super crowded in downtown Cincinnati. Parking lots were easy to find. Once you parked, the block party they had in front of Taft Theatre was easy to get to. There were about five or six food trucks, and lots of activities for kids. There was even police presence throughout the festival. This year, you were able to get a wristband ahead of time once they scanned your ticket to expedite getting into the Theatre. But really, it was pretty easy to get in even without getting a wristband ahead of time. They did a great job at handling the crowd before the show. Once inside, it was easy to find your seat. The show started on time which was great! And, it was only 45 minutes which is long enough to be able to enjoy the music, but short enough that all the kids in the audience would not get bored. Seeing the light show indoors was nice, because the lights came out more vibrant compared to watching it outside projected onto a wall. And, you had assigned seating, so you didn't have to worry about saving your seat ahead of time. If you didn't want to pay to see the show, they also broadcasted it outside where the block party was. Overall this year's event was enjoyable. They had some technical difficulties leading up to the event, but it was solved by the time the event started. (The company they used to email the etickets to everyone somehow had their emails come up as spam so a majority of people did not get their tickets by the Monday it was promised. They updated their website letting people know that they were working with finding a new company to send out everyone's etickets. The tickets were delivered on Thursday night).

    Amazed I'm the first to (create/review) this absolutely amazing event. This is the second year for…read moreLumenocity, and it was Fantastic!! I was out of town last year at Lollapalooza, sleeping on a boat, when the inogural Lumenocity happened, but luckily I have a friend that was so impressed that he got Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra season tickets JUST to be eligible for the tix to Lumenocity 2014! The event 2014 had food/beer(Rhinegeist) trucks down Race Street, all kinds of vendors, food and Cincy local craft artists in the treed part of the park. This part was open to people without tix to the actual event, and it was food/art festival that was more attended than anything I've seen in Washington park, and I'm there weekly. The show: The show was spectacular. YouTube it. If you haven't been, YouTube the hell out of Lumenocity, and share it. Make it viral. One of the best symphonies in the world, synchronized to amazing digital graphics, using one of Cincinnati's best landmarks(Cincinnati Music Hall) as a canvas. It is amazing, emotional, and one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time.

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    Cincinnati Chocolate Festival

    Cincinnati Chocolate Festival

    2.8(24 reviews)
    3.7 miAvondale

    This was actually the first thing we did when we moved to Cincinnati. Quite literally. We pulled…read moreinto the Queen City, saw a billboard advertising that it was happening that day, and decided to check it out. What was a crazy mass of people grabbing for as many chocolate treats as possible has only gotten crazier. Our first visit saw a fighting chance. Now, talking to vendors to learn about them, and their craft is nearly impossible. The stream of people keeps pushing forward, and one gets swept away from the booths. As the event has grow, this has continued to be the case. (All pre COVID, not sure how this will be safely handled in the future.) While we have tried some amazing treats, thus introducing us to some amazing local businesses, it is hard to truly enjoy the experience. Chocolate should be savored. It is hard to do that here. The only exception is the children's play area. This is consistently a ghost town. My children have enjoyed playing the games, gettibg balloons, or whatever else has been offered. The area is kind of like a section of an elementary school carnival.

    I attended this event with my sister in 2014. There is a whole lot of chocolate here. Yum! You…read morestart out with tickets for tastings at the different vendors and there is the opportunity to purchase additional tickets at the event. There were A LOT of different vendors and a lot of chocolaty things to see. I recommend walking through at least once so that you can decide what samples you are most interested in tasting. My only complaint is that the later it gets in the day the more congested the event is. We arrived right when it opened and that was a VERY wise decision. We were kind of crammed together with loads of other pushy people right before we left and that was not ideal. We also upgraded to tickets that included the Bella Luna lounge and wine tasting. This was a great value. Bella Luna provided small bites of (not chocolate) food like pasta and bruchetta. There were 5 wine tastings included in the price and they were very generous pours. I would attend again.

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    Boone County Fairgrounds - 2024 Boone County Fair

    Boone County Fairgrounds

    4.8(4 reviews)
    12.8 mi

    In a spur-of-the-moment decision, my husband and I decided to make the drive from Louisville to go…read moreto the Boone County Fair with our kids. We grew up in Boone County, and our family, who still lives there, met up with us. And we had such a lovely night, making new memories while also thinking about past ones. We started by entering the kids rock race with some round rocks we had found while on vacation. I love how wholesome the fair contests are, especially for the kids. And this is pretty much like it sounds; the kids raced rocks down a track, and the rock that rolled the farthest won. This ended up being both of my kids, who won in their age groups. There was lots of food to choose from. The donuts and popcorn were my kids' favorites. We checked out the demolition derby and the 4H competitions with the livestock. Then we took in some rides. The $15 per person admission is a bit steep but seems more doable when you consider it includes all rides. I have a soft spot for local fairs and festivals, which perhaps started my attending this one when I was little.

    LIGHT UP THE FAIR: this Christmas display is located at the Boone County Fairgrounds. I was out…read morethat way for a Christmas party and it was recommended to check out this drive-through light display for Christmas. I was debating whether to check out Florence's huge light display just down the road, but this specific drive-through was open an hour later and did not close until 10 PM. This worked so much better with my schedule! I was really impressed with how long the drive through the lights were. I loved how all the lights were synchronized with music that we could access with our car radio. It was pretty cheap compared to how long the display lasted. I'm so glad a local recommended this to me! Perfect holiday activity--especially for families.

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    Annual MainStrasse Village Maifest

    Annual MainStrasse Village Maifest

    3.6(5 reviews)
    1.4 mi

    While I understand that Braxton Brewery is the one sponsoring this event, and the Mainstrauss…read moresociety association has shut its doors, I feel like this festival fell flat. It was only on one street really and in the park. Growing up I remember there being rides, games, more vendors, and more German Beer. Where was the German Beer??? The whole reason why I come to these events is for the delicious beer like Hefweizen, Weiss Beer, and Dunkels. It was all lame Braxton beers and a handful of overpriced cocktail vendors. They also had country music playing which REALLY didn't make it feel German at all. Cmon Braxton! Get it together, you call this a German Festival?? It felt rushed, and Hodgepodge. Also, why is it only on one street! Mainstrauss is huge and used to have vendors and shops and food all the way down to the fountain. I give it 2 stars. Maybe it'll grow, but this should be a way bigger event with rides and more games and activities for families and kids, like it used to be in the 90s and 2000s. I recommend expanding into more than just a few shops selling the same candle, jewelry, and incense merch as well.

    Kicking off the Greater Cincinnati's festival season, Covington's Maifest celebrates the area's…read moreGermanic tradition of heralding the arrival of spring wines. However, I think Maifest is little more about beer and brats, but fun nonetheless. The 2008 event kicks off Friday, May 16th and runs until Sunday, May 18th. If the weather is nice, Maifest will be packed as tightly as Northern German sardines. Good luck trying to navigate with a stroller or wheelchair. Yet, given Cincinnati's unpredictable spring weather, chances are pretty good that there will at least be scattered showers, scaring away half of the crowd to a number that's manageable. Drinkers, your best bet is to purchase a collectors mug, which can be refilled at vendors' booths for a discount over individual beer price. And you're making Mother Nature proud. The beer selection is mostly domestic (unfortunately), but Warsteiner's there to keep things semi-authentic. For families, there are tons of food booths and artisans selling their wares, even "gypsies" reading your palms or tarot cards. Kiddies will love the carnival rides and games set up in the 5th street parking lot. Oompa bands and men in Lederhosen rock the crowd Bavarian style, but if that's not your style you can pop into any of the MainStrasse bars for more contemporary jams. There will invariably be someone who can't hold their liquor and will embarrass themselves terribly in front of a crowd of 150,000. But you'll walk away with a renewed sense of Schadenfreude. Prost!

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    Blink Cincinnati - The light show at Music Hall in OTR is not to be missed.

    Blink Cincinnati

    3.5(29 reviews)
    0.7 miOver-the-Rhine

    Gets better each year. Traffic on the weekend is very bad…read more Try to go before the weekend. Some Blinks are hard to find. Some areas do not feel very safe. Music needs to be for all ages it was a little on the young side. The banks were fun...

    I went to the Cincinnati Blink Festival last night, and OMG!! It was a giant sensory-rich…read morepedestrian party, with lights, music, and murals!!! I'm so glad I used the park-and-ride at Cincinnati State, rather than trying to park downtown. Cincinnati Metro was efficient, got us to the venue quickly (and with free LED bracelets), and dropped us at the underground Riverfront garage station I hadn't heretofore realized existed. And then the party began. Walnut and Vine Streets -- the North and South streets all the way from the Riverfront to Findlay Market -- were open only to us pedestrians. The goal was to walk your own self-guided path & explore, with a map of all the exhibits in hand, which I didn't refer to as much as just following the noise and the lights. All along the route I admired and savored the art displays, the interplay of light and music, the buskers (there were many!!), the food trucks, and the clusters of parties all along the long stretch, from the riverfront to downtown proper, to Over-the-Rhine, to Findlay Market. My favorites: the spectacular drone show at the river (it was fireworks without the boom), the spinning light display at Smale Park -- you laid on the provided pillows on the ground and watched a large overhead disk where a display of lights was synced to selections of classical music; the Music Hall Display at Washington Park, which was an amazing explosion of different light configurations projected on the iconic bricks of Music Hall, with music -- it looked like spider webs, then breakthroughs of light, then little shattered pieces -- very inspiring and dramatic; all the beautiful murals -- some new pieces, some longstanding that I'd never noticed before; all the night vendors at Findlay Market; the "silent disco" happening at the Findlay Market shed -- without the provided headphones it was just a group of people silently dancing together, with the headphones you could hear the music and were invited into on the party; and even small displays like the small alley park with a tree light display made to appear that it was being repeatedly struck by lightning. Very well-organized -- it was packed with people but since it was more than 30 blocks of the city there was still a lot of room, and man, was it a feast for the entire senses! Unfortunately, I didn't get to the Covington and Newport displays, but I've got two more days of the festival for that. And at times it felt like a long walk in between displays, and I kept worrying that I was missing some good ones. But I loved the ability to do some safe urban hiking in the middle of Cincinnati with a million or so friends -- it was a great opportunity to go out somewhere by myself where I felt safe and comfortable, and see some amazing light shows!

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    Blink Cincinnati - Spider web at Washington Park

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    Asian Food Fest - festivals - Updated May 2026

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