Chowing Down at the OC Night Market

I was addicted to the show No Reservations. I loved watching Anthony Bourdain travel the world finding amazing things to eat. Every time he visited Asia and went to various street markets I found myself salivating. So. Much. Delicious. Food. But traveling to Asia for a good meal is, sadly, not in my budget. Lucky for me that SoCal is home to a burgeoning night market industry. It all began at the 626 Night Market at Santa Anita a couple of years ago and just last week was the inaugural OC Night Market. And guess who happened to be there? This gal. (fyi: I received complimentary admission and parking).

As you can see, I was there a bit early. Wanting to beat the crowds my pal and I headed there straight from work. We even beat the food inspectors who were still making there rounds when we arrived. Before we knew it the market was up and running and we were chowing down. Here’s some of the awesomeness we tried.

And this wasn’t even everything! There was so much goodness there. Thai, Japanese, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Korean, Singaporean, and on and on and on. So many cuisines, so little stomach space! I wanted to try so much (except for the fermented tofu).

Luckily, the OC Night Market is only the start of the season. On June 21 and 22 the market will hit Downtown LA (woohoo!) and July 18 & 19, August 15 & 16, and September 12 & 13 it’s back at Santa Anita.  This summer’s going to be awesome!