Huntington Beach Cultural Festival

Today we went to the Huntington Beach Sister City Cultural Festival in Central Park.  We arrived about ten minutes early, but apparently that was not early enough!

There was already a loooong line for the infamous Original Ramen Burger.

Undeterred and determined, we had D stand in the line while the kids and I wandered the festival.  There were several booths for kids, including the one where k and n made the fish kites above.  We also heard some taiko drumming and watched some Japanese dance performances.

 

We supported Fugetsu-Do, which is based in Little Tokyo.

We were also curious to try a Samurai Burrito.  They are basically really big sushi rolls wrapped in nori or soy paper.

The kids absolutely loved the Rockin’ Daruma roll which had shrimp tempura inside (along with  lot of other ingredients).  It was a little spendy though, at $10. 

I also stood in a long line for okonomiyaki with cheese.

Interesting concept, but our least favorite of the day. Half of it is still in our refrigerator.  The price was fair at $5.

Finally, D made it to the front of the line, after an hour and a half of waiting—crazy, I know.  Turns out they were trying to turn out 1,000 ramen burgers on this one small grill, as their other grill was giving them problems.  D seemed to be enjoying chatting to the people next to him in line, so I did not feel too bad. 

Was it worth it?  Well, it definitely had a rich umami flavor.  The noodles were nice and soft, but somehow stayed intact.  The price was fair, at $8.  I don’t think we will ever wait in line for it again, but it is one hamburger we won’t forget anytime soon!

There was even a small group of cherry blossom trees in bloom to add to the atmosphere.