Traveling Across the World Without Leaving New York: A Day at JAPAN Fes

One of my favorite things about New York City is that you can eat food from across the world without needing to step on a plane. Have a hankering for Uzbek food? Head to Brooklyn. Does Sudanese cuisine sound tempting? Take a stroll to Harlem. Greek. Turkish. Ukrainian. Chilean. Australian. You name a country, chances are you’ll find its cuisine in some pocket of the 5 boroughs.

Sometimes said cuisines even flourish into full on food festivals, like JAPAN Fes.

JAPAN Fes is an epic celebration of Japanese food and culture with over 50 stalls of eats, treats, and everything in between. The Frugal Foodies got invited as media, which meant we got a fist full of vouches and got to skip the lines in exchange for social media content. (I still can’t believe what this humble blog has blossomed into!)

You can said see video below!

I put on my bucket hat, lathered on sunscreen, and headed into the 95 degree heat to nosh on some delicious eats.

Let’s dive into everything we tried at JAPAN Fes!

Rokstar Chicken

We kicked off our JAPAN Fes feasting with Korean fried chicken from Rokstar Chicken. The fried chicken was ultra juicy, the cheeseballs were ooey gooey with an ever so subtle sweetness, and the honey butter fries were delectable. Fried potatoes, fried chicken, and fried cheese… how can you be made about that?! (Unless you’re a heart doctor…”

Boy George Inasal

Our Japan Fes journey continued with a taste of the Philippines at Boy George Inasal. We went with the wings in a honey soy calamansi sauce. They were slightly sweet with a dash of acid and subtle tinge of heat. The flavor journey was begging to go deeper, but stopped short at the top of the palate. So close to greatness… but no cigars.

Tori-Bien

Getting Japanese food at a Japanese food festival seemed wise, so we got an order of karaage (fried chicken) and onigiri from Tori-Bien. The karaage had a delightful batter and perfect crunch. Plus it’s gluten free. (If that matters to you.) I couldn’t quite figure out how to unwrap the onigiri, but I imagine it tasted good.

Bao Tea House

Next on the docket were pork belly bao buns form Bao Tea House. The bao was light and fluffy without being too thick and the pork belly was tender. I think it could have benefited from a little gussy-ing up with pickled veggies. I lustfully eyed the sweet bao, regretting my decision.

Wagyu Club at Esora

The theme of this JAPAN Fes was “Niku”, which means meat in Japanese. There were stalls galore grilling and charring skewers of everything from chicken to tongue. We scored one “Niku”– a skewer of wagyu from Wagyu Club at Esora. And WHOA BABY was it good. Beautiful marbling. Melt in your mouth texture. Pronounced beef flavor. (What makes wagyu so special anyways? Click HERE for my deep dive.)

Cozy Tea Loft

It was a SCORCHER. A Taiwanese Pineapple Beverage from Cozy Tea Loft hit the spot.

Moshi

A huge qualm you face in NYC is fluid management. You want to drink enough to avoid passing out on the street from dehydration. But not so much that you find yourself in desperate need of a bathroom with none to be found. A little more fluids were in order. So we popped over to the Moshi tent where they handed us a pack of 4 sparkling flavored water beverages.

75 Degrees Cafe

There’s always rom for dessert, and we picked up a Gochujang cookie and Yuzu Burnt Basque Cheesecake from 75 Degree Cafe.

Smoove Ice Cream

With vouchers for one more treat, we pulled into Smoove Ice Cream for an ube boba float and ube soft serve. They were delectable. I only wish I wasn’t so full so that I could properly enjoy them.

We had a fabulous time at JAPAN Fes.

But here are a few tips for it you go:

• Wear sunscreen!
• You’ll see some stall with MEGA long lines (I.E Mao’s Baos). Before committing to the line, see if they have a brick and mortar store or pop up at smaller, less-crowded festivals.
• Err on the side of going early.

Happy Eatin!