Lucky Chopsticks: An Asian Night Market was the ultimate dream for Asian food lovers and the closing event for the 15th South Beach Wine and Food Festival. Over 30 Asian fusion restaurants participated and hosted by Andrew Zimmern, most widely known for his popular TV show, Bizarre Foods.
Thinking of attending Lucky Chopsticks next year? Here are a few tricks that will help you make the most of it…
- get the scoop on chefs and what they specialize in PRIOR to the event, proceed to line up for just those! I did not follow my own advice and sorely regret missing out on Myers & Chang from Boston and Pig and Khao from NYC!
- be there EARLY and get in as soon as it opens.
- You have to flit like a butterfly and start lining up while you are eating from the previous booth!
- You’ll know which booths are popular AND GOOD by the LONG LINES!
- Do not get sidetracked by game booths like Tic Tac Toe, Dim Sum Dumpling Toss or Yao Ming Basketball, at least not till the end when you NEED some exercise to work off the dumplings and baos.
Fortunately, neither my husband nor I drink alcohol, but if you do, yes, you got it, line for that. Lining up can have its advantages, I got chatting with quite a few foodies who tipped me which bites to go for next. And the live reggae music got you bopping.
Our favs were…
Asabu’s succulent Pork Belly Robata Skewers topped with Ponzu and Yuzu Kosho Sauce and
Black Brick’s Hunan Beef, a tender wok fried skirt steak with cumin spice topped with jalapeño verde.
We were already full after visiting one side of the big tent, so we missed Finka (post coming soon, Chef Eileen Andrade whips up Cuban Asian Fusion) and Sarsparilla Club but managed to get a cute selfie with Chef Jeff McInnis.
Andrew Zimmern’s Canteen presented a “bizarre” street food that I’m not sure most Americans would appreciate and I confess I am not a fan of Szechuan Fried Chicken Feet with Hot and Sour Flavors. We tried but those claws really bother me. Here’s a ‘behind the scenes’ shot of 3,000 chicken feet getting the treatment!
Lucky Chopsticks was definitely a very fun way to try a variety of Asian bites all in one place, try it next year and remember the tricks I shared, you’ll need them. And if you can break your piggy bank for another one, we really enjoyed Best of the Best.