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626 Night Market Kicks Off Its Summer Series

Tanaya Ghosh |
June 13, 2013 | 10:43 p.m. PDT

Food Writer

Street food from this summer's first 626 Night Market. (Tanaya Ghosh / Instagram: @mstanayag)
Street food from this summer's first 626 Night Market. (Tanaya Ghosh / Instagram: @mstanayag)
Eateries and local businesses from around the San Gabriel Valley convened for the first of three 626 Night Markets to be held this summer.

On June 8 and 9, Chinese, Taiwanese, Burmese, Indonesian, Japanese and fusion food vendors sold their culinary creations to the crowds.

Santa Anita's Paddock Gardens was the ideal place to hold the event, with ample space for the large crowds consistently coming in and out of the venue. There was plenty of seating in the gardens of Arcadia's famed horseracing track.

King Kong's Taiwanese sausage in a gluttonous rice bun served as a portable mini-meal, while candied sweet potatoes with coconut ice cream became a refreshing dessert.

Other highlights included a wasabi hot dog from Oishiidog and peanut rice cake from Cafe 18. More delicious snacks included okonomiyaki, curry fish balls from Ozero and many edible items on a stick.

Of all the stalls and food trucks, the booth for Hotato Potato had the longest line of people waiting to collect their potato chips on a stick. There were also plenty of merchandise boutiques, live music and artists painting on location.

Of all previous night markets, this one seemed to have the most variety with over 90 vendors. There were even multiple stinky tofu vendors whose pungent wares could be whiffed from booths away.

The remaining dates for the 626 Night Market are July 6 and 7 and August 3 and 4. The night market starts at 4 p.m. each night and ends at midnight on Saturday and 10 p.m. on Sunday.

Admission, charged for the first time, is $2 from 4 to 6 p.m. and $3 afterwards. Although previous night markets were free, the small admission charges did not seem to affect attendance numbers this past weekend.

“We would love for these events to become a summer tradition for the local communities," said Jonny C. Hwang, founder of the 626 Night Market. It seems that the event is well on its way to realizing this goal.

The 626 Night Market continues to be a showcase for local vendors to display their delectable edibles to the masses while spreading the joy of the Asian night market culture here in Southern California.

Reach Tanaya Ghosh here or follow her on Twitter.



 

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