Last week, I headed down to Southern California to reunite with my two girlfriends. While I was there, we did the things that we had been recommended to do by our host, one of my girlfriends. The beginning of our vacation, we were asked what we wanted to do and when our flight would be on Friday. Both of us who were departing after the week had responded with 9:00 PM. And so, as we continued our week with fun filled memories, our friend who lives in Southern California had saved the best for last; the night market. Also known as 626 Night Market located in LA district, it really was the best for last spot.
In a nutshell, night markets are basically booths lined up where you can buy food and drinks, play games, or just do a little shopping. Local food vendors are in booths and you have the option to buy one of the wonderful treats from the menu. 626 Night Market is an Asian themed night market where you can find the joyous foods of Asia. But after attending the night market, it was definitely not what you expected.
The twisting fusion of Asian and American cuisine blending together to make the decadent foods. There’s also the traditional food you’d find if you were in Asia like the egg waffles from Hong Kong or the octopus balls, aka takoyaki, originated from Japan. Whatever the case, it was seriously the best thing I’ve eaten. I had the chance to go around and see what’s around. And I tell you, you might need to save your stomach for the whole day to try at least most of them. It’s hard trying to get everything there into your stomach.
When you first enter the market, you pay a price of three dollars for the entrance. Once you enter, you look to the left, right, straight, and a line of booths are waiting for you. Pricing for the food is usually between five and seven dollars, which isn't too bad for how much you'll get. You take a look around and you see the balls of takoyakis being rolled into these spherical shaped delectable appetizers. Or you continue walking and stop by the booth of the infamous rolled ice cream made from scratch; berries being crushed with the cream being mixed and smeared out onto the ice cream tray and rolled and placed into a cup to be made to look like a flower.
And when you continue walking around, you’ll see a booth with potato swirls with various flavors such as BBQ, Sour Cream, Cajun, and much more. And then as you turn around, you find a booth with boba. Since it’s summer, watermelon turns out to be one of the most popular kinds of drinks; watermelon juice, watermelon slush, watermelon ice cream, all kinds of watermelon. And a few booths down, you run into a game area where you and your friends can play with each other. And a couple of booths further up, there’s a little section where you can buy yourself something nice; booths with signs, hats, all kinds of things to buy from these booths.
With how many booths there are, it takes up almost half your day. Around and around, there's always something for you to see. Either the food being made, the drinks being poured out, the creations that are being sold, and the games that are being played; there really is so much for you to do.
Many Asian countries as I know of have these kinds of markets. The best time to go down during these events is at night; when all the lights are out and shining brightly. But as for someone who didn’t have much time, I was lucky enough to be there once they opened. Even if all the booths weren’t opened just yet, I still had the chance to have such savoring foods.
The refreshing watermelon lemonade, the crunchy bulgogi fries, I was glad to have at least tried the things I wanted while I was down in southern California. So, the next time you’re down in LA, look up 626 or at least find a night market and try exploring the options you have. Who knows, your new favorite food might be there?
