Asia Collective Night Market Review - Disastrous

Asia Collective Night Market Review - Disastrous

The inaugural Asia Collective Night Market was held on Saturday, August 20, 2022 at the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, Maryland. The concept was to hold a food festival to mimic the famous night markets from Asian countries. Rows of food stalls would be available for attendees to sample foods from various Asian ethnicities in the same vein as last year’s DC REDEYE Night Market event. Unfortunately, the Asia Collective Night Market ended up being either just as bad or even more disastrous than its DC counterpart.

Read More

Mitsuwa Marketplace - Japanese foods, grocery, and merchandise

Mitsuwa Marketplace - Japanese foods, grocery, and merchandise

I took a road trip yesterday to the Mitsuwa Marketplace up in Edgewater, New Jersey across the river from New York City.  Mitsuwa is basically the closest thing to a Little Tokyo that we'll get on the East Coast.  The mall area is basically split between two buildings.  The main Mitsuwa Marketplace building houses the restaurants, a few shops, and the supermarket.  Outside across the little alley is a line of buildings with additional shops and boutiques.  The main interest for otaku fans is the Kinokuniya Bookstore and the Little Japan USA essentials shop.  Of course being Asian I took some food shots but decided to spice things up a little by posing some Saber figures from the Fate series with the food (because why not?).

Read More

Matcha Time Cafe and Ramen Noodles

Matcha Time Cafe and Ramen Noodles

Back in January I was introduced to this nice, niche Japanese-themed cafe up in the Historic Ellicott City area.  Matcha Time Cafe is tucked away in the back corner of Parking Lot D so it's not visible from Main Street, but it is definitely well worth the short trip off the beaten path.  In addition to good food and a variety of tea to choose from, they also have a neat little gift shop set up that you can browse (and purchase stuff!) as well.

Read More