Orange County Market Night

By Ayumi Yoshihama |Staff Writer|

OC Night Market is one of the biggest Asian food and entertainment events in Southern California.

It was held at the OC Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa last weekend, from Friday, Oct. 10 to Sunday, Oct. 12 from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m.

There were over 200 food and Southern California business booths. Local DJs, dancers, and singers also performed at the event.

Many people go there because you can try Asian cuisine, beverages, and beer all in one convenient place; you can also have a sense of an actual night market and authentic, street food in Asian countries.

According to the OC Night Market website, “In Asia, the night markets are these huge, nocturnal phenomenons where hundreds of folks will gather for the sake of commerce and entertainment. What does this mean? It means a lot of retail therapy and eating.”

There were a variety of different kinds of foods available, including Thai, Filipino, Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, Japanese, and Hawaiian food.

One of my favorite foods offered at the event was Takoyaki, (Japanese food) from Takoyaki Tanota, since I am originally from Japan.

Takoyaki are balls of flour stuffed with small pieces of Tako–Octopus in Japanese–seasoned with Worcestershire sauce, Japanese mayo, and sprinkled with bonito flakes.

It might sound weird for non-Japanese people, but its crunchy outside and very soft inside complement each other with the tasty sauce.

There were also many sweets at the event.

Ice Cream Garden LA, an ice cream business, served potted plant ice cream, which was my favorite.

It looked like a real potted plant with soil, but was actually mint leaves on top of crumbled Oreo cookies, covering ice cream.

Along with being a very cute and creative idea, it was also very delicious.

So far, many of my American friends like them as well.

There were also some local clothing and accessory booths.

Gravity L.A. a clothing shop, specializing in clothing that maximizes comfort, stood out to me the most. Their business model is to define success as customers never taking their clothes off because they are so comfortable.

Food, clothing, and accessory booths were opened until the event ended at 12 a.m.

The local dancers and singers performed from 5 p.m to 9 p.m.

One famous Asian YouTube singer, AJ Rafael, also attended.

If you enjoy ukulele and acoustic guitar songs, you might like his music; he collaborates with other famous YouTube personalities on occasion.

What I liked about this event was not only food, but also that the atmosphere felt like home. People there were very warm, friendly, and welcoming.

OC Night Market follows other Asian Night Market events including 626 Night Market in Santa Anita Park and DTLA Night Market in downtown Los Angeles.

OC Night Market was the last one this year.

All the Night Markets come once a year, so check them out next summer!