Mid-Autumn Feastivities

Good afternoon everybody! So as I mentioned in yesterday's post, the Mid-Autumn Festival, or 中秋節 passed by recently. To celebrate, Queens-food blog Chopsticsk+Marrow teamed up with LIC Flea & Food in Long Island City, Queens to host the first ever Mid-Autumn Feastival this past Saturday and Sunday (September 17th - 18th) (and yes, you read correctly, it's Feastival not Festival).

If anyone is interested, the LIC Flea & Food, as its name suggests, is a little outdoor flea and food market with vendors selling a variety of things from jewelry to clothes to artworks to various types of food and drinks such as lemonade, coffee, frozen treats, seafood, Ukrainian food, Japanese food, among many others. They are open on Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 6 pm. There is a little seating area off to the side with tables or, if you prefer (or all the tables are taken), (fake) grass. It was my first time there so I was a little surprised by how small the area was, but nonetheless there was a fair amount of food to try! Half of the area were for usual vendors I guess and the other half of the area were dedicated to Asian foods (not sure if they were regular vendors or not).

소갈비 from EJEN Korean Comfort Food

Feeling pretty hungry, I decided to start off with an actual meal and went to the EJEN Korean Comfort Food stand to get myself some pork galbi 돼지갈비 (galbi refers to marinated grilled ribs), but unfortunately they ran out, so I went with the beef galbi 소갈비 instead. It was a little pricey at $12, but it came with a fair amount of beef ribs, some fried rice and kimchi. It was quite delicious--the beef was tender and succulent and balanced out nicely with the kimchi and the fried rice, the latter of which was simple and not overly loaded with ingredients. While I was not too pleased at the price, I will say that the food was delicious and pretty filling.

Yuzu matcha tea from Nippon Cha on the fake grass

Feeling a little thirsty, I decided to hunt around for something to drink; there was a Lizzmonade lemonade stand (but hey I was there for the Asian food) and a bubble tea stand, but I decided to head over to Nippon Cha, drawn by the promising-looking selection of matcha drinks. They also had some doughnuts too, including raspberry lychee and matcha. Feeling like I could use a dessert, I decided to go with the kumquat glazed doughnut to have with my yuzu matcha tea.

Nippon Cha's fine selection of doughnuts

Yuzu (ユズ or 柚子 in Japanese) is a small citrus originating from East Asia, while kumquats (from the Cantonese pronunciation of its Chinese name 金橘/金桔) are another small citrusy fruit from south Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. If you are a fan of citrusy flavors, I would definitely recommend both of these. There was a little too much doughnut  for me (but then again I don't really like it when the ratio of bread to filling is too much and this doughnut was bigger than one you would get at Dunkin Donuts) however, the kumquat glaze on top was delicious--sweet with a hint of tartness, there were even actual kumquat slices on it (as you may or may not be able to tell from the picture below).

Also if you like matcha and if you like tart, citrusy flavors, then I would definitely recommend the yuzu matcha tea--it was quite refreshing and perfect for the slightly hot, rather sunny weather. There was a hint of tartness from the yuzu but it was still mildly sweet overall and though a little pricey at $6 (the doughnut was $4), I would definitely pay $6 for another cup (although it would be nice if the cup was larger...)

Feeling a little poor at this point, and quite full as well, I decided to get one more thing before I left--a blossom cake from Silk Cakes.

Actually I got two, one for my mother and one for myself haha

These pretty little cakes--about the size of my palm--were also pricey at $6 per piece. ㅠ.ㅠ But! They were also very delicious. Made to resemble a flower, the cake is made of white chocolate for the petals and I believe strawberry chiffon for the outside (or maybe it was sakura?)

Tada! The inside was made of mango mousse and, in honor of Mid-Autumn, made to represent the moon as a special take on mooncakes. I had one with my mother after I got home and it was pretty good, but they taste even better chilled. It was a light cake, not too dense, and not too heavy on the sweetness level. I would definitely recommend this as a light dessert.

All in all, my time at the LIC Mid-Autumn Feastival was pretty good. I got to try a bit of some yummy food from new places and I would definitely come back if they were to do it again. I'm only sad that I didn't get to try more foods as my stomach filled up quite quickly (while my wallet emptied out just as quickly), so I would recommend bringing a friend so you can try more foods. After all, Mid-Autumn is meant to be celebrated together with your loved ones right? Haha, until next time!