Today started with rain and not very promising for the LuckyRice Night Market that was to happen in Dumbo, Brooklyn that evening. Luckily when we got there after going through bad Manhattan traffic, a few minutes before the 4pm set-up deadline – the rain had stopped! To replace that was the chilly wind that blew from the river nearby. Feeling like it was February in the beginning of May was baffling, but we trudged on and set-up our booth as usual.
<>
 |
| Despite the wind, we managed to set-up |
Since there was plenty of time before the festival started, I made sure to go through the Malaysian Pavilion, where we were located at and in through the archway where popular restaurants in the city had set-up booths and were giving away free samples. Among my favorites were Social Eatz (socialeatz.com) that served the creamiest tomato soup topped with what seemed like garlic butter, Prometheus Springs (prometheussprings.com/stores) quenched our thirst with Lychee Wasabi, Lemon Ginger and Pomegranate Black pepper “capsaicin spiced elixirs”, EN Japanese Brasserie politely offered tender chicken balls drenched with gravy, Ember Room’s tangy BBQ beef short ribs with sweet potato ginger, and citrus crumb.
 |
| Kuih--muih |
 |
| Stocking up for the most important thing: chilli sauce! |
 |
| Nyonya Restaurant displayed a tantalizing plate of nasi lemak (directly translated to fatty/rich rice) |
Since there was plenty of time before the festival started, I made sure to go through the Malaysian Pavilion, where we were located at and in through the archway where popular restaurants in the city had set-up booths and were giving away free samples. Among my favorites were Social Eatz (socialeatz.com) that served the creamiest tomato soup topped with what seemed like garlic butter, Prometheus Springs (prometheussprings.com/stores) quenched our thirst with Lychee Wasabi, Lemon Ginger and Pomegranate Black pepper “capsaicin spiced elixirs”, EN Japanese Brasserie politely offered tender chicken balls drenched with gravy, Ember Room’s tangy BBQ beef short ribs with sweet potato ginger, and citrus crumb.
Coming back to the Malaysian Pavilion, I was welcomed by such generous owners of restaurants such as Nyonya in Chinatown, Bentara in CT, Forbidden City in CT, Oldtown Coffee and much more! Tapau’ed and ate nasi lemak, bubur pulut hitam, popiah goreng, kuih talam, rendang puff, nasi rendang, nasi goreng, satay ayam, mee goreng, Mamee rice sticks, instant spices to cook, and that’s it if I remember correctly? The food definitely kept us warm and alive. Susheela Rhagavan, the author of Flavors of Malaysia even gave samples of keropok ikan dipped in her kuah kacang made by her own spices.
 |
| My favorite dessert there: pineapple and durian pastry |
 |
| Malaysian author, Susheela Rhagavan who wrote Flavors of Malaysia made delicious satay peanut sauce and keropok (fish crackers) |
 |
| Met the most delightful person at the Social Eatz booth: Chef Angelo Sosa, he served a delicious velvety tomato soup |
 |
| The truck that made everybody happy was serving up uniquely delish cones of ice creams, sundaes & shakes |
 |
| YUMMY! |
For those seeking to de-stress those weekday blues, found their sanctuary in the indoor area that served as a boozefest with all types of sake, soju, wines, only one beer unfortunately: Singha, and all sorts of Bombay Sapphire cocktails. People came out of there REALLY happy! It was a great ambiance despite the weather not being on our side. It didn’t deter people from filling the place up to the brim! Can’t wait for more LuckyRice Festivals (http://www.luckyrice.com/) to come and hope other festivals like this start mushrooming around town so we have more to look forward to. Oh and props to Malaysia Kitchen NYC (http://www.malaysiakitchennyc.com/) for being a major initiative to exposing Malaysian food, and restaurants out here in the city ~ Malaysia boleh!
 |
| Indoors was the open bar(s) that offers a variety of sakes, soju, wines, Singha beer, and Bombay Sapphire cocktails |
 |
| The Bombay Sapphire girls had really cute costumes on |
 |
| Different traditional ways to serve sake in |
 |
| Had the best white wines |
 |
| Now you can get this popular Malaysian drink here! (At the Old Town White Coffee store at Flushing Mall) |
 |
| This was my favorite brand of junkfood when I was lil' in KL, now they came out with a new product that's equally as addictive |
Afterthought: A food festival is like being in a crowded club but instead of pushing, shoving and waiting at the bar for your drink, it’s to taste some obscenely delicious new dish or concoction.
