2nd Annual Asian Food Festival

I was very excited to hear about this festival at the Silverton, especially seeing all the food trucks. In the end, I felt the festival was a severe let down, especially after visiting the O-​bon festival earlier that day on Spring Mountain.
We had arrived after dark, but well before the closing time on Saturday. There were only a few food trucks and several generic asian food booths. Many of the vendors seemed very unenthusiastic and selling generic asian tchotchkies. There was an octagon fighting ring set up, but the fights occured earlier in the day I suppose. This festival definitely was not worth the $ 12 admission fee, if anything waiting in line and paying such a high admission to enter made me expect a lot more than what was offered.
Sadly, I don’t forsee visiting the 3^rd Annual Asian Food Festival.

OUCH I NEED TO CATCH UP ON MY REVIEWS LOL my cameras and iPhone are full: X don’t tell Misti Y. ;)
I love Silverton and it’s near our house so I thought that this Fest would def hit the spot so I bought hubby and I VIP tickets. VIP included free entry into the VIP tent, food samples and free flowing sake and Lee’s Liquors drinks and I mean free flowing. Ouch, with self control I made it through the days of the Fest not being sloshed dumb.
Hubby was very thankful of that :)
LOL this part makes me giggle… so we get there and we are the first VIP people to arrive. The tent was not setup the drinks were bottled water at that time so I guess no one got the memo of what time it started VIP’s were allowed in one hour early. The event coordinator actually gave us two comps for $ 15? bucks (can’t remember, to spend at anyplace we liked. $ 15 bucks is A LOT at one place so we decided to pick a few items each from one place and then spend the next on the next day.
Also with VIP we had free Valet… WOW…that made a HUGE difference :)))))) and free entry to come and go as we pleased all three days.
Anywho, is was beautiful weather and we walked around and around I was keeping a WILD EYE open to Japanese cuisine. None. :(
Paced back and forth in front of Ahi booth and thought their «small» $ 10 portion was too big for me, I like to try lots of bites not big cups. Well about that time SAMPLES! I tried it and was not impressed not chilled enough and a little too Hawaiian style for me.
While watching the food trucks roll in and deciding what to taste, try, slobber over, ooooo and ahhhhh all while the meantime keeping picky hubby in mind. We tried all types of noodles and Dragon Grille impressed us.
Actually everything we ate was AWESOME!!!
I will contact Unilocal and let them know their are year on and this year two entry and get them to combine it into one :)))))) it will keep us less confused when we are in the VIP Lee’s area… lol ;)

I am a big fan of festivals, and also happened to be lucky enough to win a pair of VIP tickets via Unilocal (Thanks again Misti!), so I decided to check out the Asian Food Festival. Upon approaching the SIlverton, I saw tons of rides and booths set up and I was ready to have fun and eat a lot!
Upon walking into the festival, I was in food para-​para-​paradise! I saw many familiar food vendors, as well as some new ones and I was eager to eat a lot! For my main meal, I decided to try some Filipino food since I’ve been craving it for a while now. The food was tasty and reminded me of my best friend’s food from back home in California. Having the VIP tickets was also a huge bonus to the fair. Who could say no to comp drinks?!
I am definitely looking forward to next year and the reunion I’ll have with all the delicious food.

Hmm i had high hopes for this festival however left feeling disappointed.
There was just not much of anything at this festival to warrant the $ 10 + let cost. (keep in mind that the foodie feat is $ 8) in addition most festivals on Spring Mountain are free. So if you are going to charge for an Asian festival, expectations are going to be high
There were no merch booth section was ridiculously small and were not worth the time to look at all. I would assume since it’s and Asian festival that there would be Asian type stuff to buy but most of the booths were consultation type ones or were births that were trying to get you to buy a service or a timeshare. I guess that’s kinda Asian lol.
There were no cultural booths to educate anyone on what they are celebrating just quick tid-​bits of cultural dancing followed by a major dose of hip-​hop.
The food booths were comprised of many local Vegas restaurants and food trucks. Many f the food booths (mostly Thai and satay booth) were downright disgusting nearly all of them had skewered food sitting out for God knows how long waiting for some sucker to buy them. We steered far away from those. On top of many of the food booths charged an arm and a leg for their food. I know that is to be expected at an event but when it’s $ 2.00 more than their restaurant menu price and combined with a smaller portion makes for a craptastic experience.
In addition why is McDonald’s there? The only thing Asian about McDonald’s is that we all used to work there?
One big minus for me was the lack of SnowOno shave ice. The shaved ice booth on location was Bleh! I could have done a better job with my snoopy shave ice maker at home!
The only saving grace on the food was they brought in a few out of town trucks like fluffy ice.
We spent $ 60+ there and still left hungry.
There was an abundance of rental carnival rides and carnival related food booths. Why? Just another way to try and make more money.
My honest opinion is save your money and go to the foodie fest instead. If you are feeling Asian inspired then get your kicks at one of the many festivals held on Spring Mountain during the year.

Second Annual Asian Food Festival? Where the heck was I during the first? No matter, I’m grateful for the opportunity I was given to check out this event, and it’s all thanks to Unilocal!
I was probably one of the first 100 visitors to arrive at the opening of the event. At first I made the mistake of lining up in the General Admission line where I waited for almost 30 minutes to discover my error, which I’ll hold my fasting for this event culpable for my lack of focus. No problem. The festival didn’t officially open until after noon, since County was conducting inspections. A few staff members from the McDonald’s booth came by with free samples of Mango Smoothies to assuage hunger pangs of visitors.
After picking up my passes, I went straight for those food trucks. There were a few food trucks that weren’t present when I arrived, and some didn’t open up shop until after 1:00 p.m. Some of trucks that made an appearance were Fluff Ice, Fuku Burger, TastyBunz, Grouchy John’s, Sin City Cupcakes, Great Bao, and Truck Norris. In addition to food trucks there were food booths. I caught sight of India Oven, Lolli Cup, and Marnee Thai.
Alongside food vendors, there were also apparel vendors and game booths where you could win prizes. The McDonald’s booth was my favorite because they gave out shopping bags with a beautiful Asian-​themed design. Other prizes could be won with just a scratch of a ticket. Happy Meal toys were also distributed to kids and kids at heart (They gave out Star Wars toys!)
There were two tented areas designated for grubbing: one was for General Admission and the other for VIP. There were appetizers distributed in the VIP tent, but I didn’t have any room in my belly to try any. The General Admission tent posed some entry and exit problems. Depending on which side you enter or exit, it was a little tight squeezing through the aisles.
I wasn’t able to catch most of the entertainment, but I did see performances by Taiko drummers, several martial arts schools, Ronald McDonald, and a comedian.
The 2^nd Annual Asian Food Festival was a fun event that could be enjoyed by everyone, and it’s definitely one I’d recommend fasting for or at least eating very light on the day you plan on attending. Ticket prices can cost quite a bit of dough, but they’re good for two days.

We went around 1pm on the first day it started. The ticket lines died down the security guard said. Thankfully for us we won free tickets from Unilocal!Thanks again Misti Y. and Unilocal :) you guys rock!!! We got our tickets and headed straight out to the festival. We’re pretty used to the size of San Gennaro so we were a little under whelmed. There were no lines anywhere thankfully. I tried some Filipino food and fluff ice which were delish! The food trucks were awesome lots to choose from. My daughter and I both got a cupcake from Sin City cupcakes (hers was a mini without alcohol) then we headed for the carnival.
You could tell RIGHT AWAY they jacked up their ticket prices for this festival. They had a paper towel over the cheaper prices and the sun was out so if you can count to 2… my 3yo had a good time, our pockets didn’t!
All in all we had a good time. Our biggest complaint were the prices at the carnival but if it had been just hubby and me there would be little to complain about! I do think we got there during the down time which was nice!

Did someone say Food Festival? Asian cuisine? Las Vegas Asian Food Festival here I come!
Access and parking at Silverton Casino was easy and we had no problem. Entrance thru casino. Valet was helpful and gave precise directions; follow signs, pass aquarium, pass gift shop and hang a right, entry pool area where you are greeted by event staff who will direct you where to go. I picked up tix at will call thru VIP entrance since I won tix through a drawing via Unilocal (Thank you Thank you!!)
Arrived late afternoon, sun wasn’t beating down, so the festival was shaded for the most part.
I was expecting it to be crowded and have long lines but I’m guessing it was their down time and it wasn’t that busy nor did I have to wait in hour long lines thankfully. Scoped and did walk thru to figure out what to eat, the layout was nicely organized and made it easy to figure where everything was:
Food trucks towards carnival side– L.A. and our local Vegas ones represented the gourmet food trucks
Food vendors towards freeway side — Filipino, Hawaiian, Thai, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Indian cuisines represented. …oh and Italian Ice and Shave Ice (well more like snow cone textured ice to me, see pix). Honestly I’m really not a fan of food served up from warming trays that look like they have been sitting out. Not sure how long it’s been sitting out so I’m more likely to skip out cause that’s what they had.
Mid section had retail vendors, a caged fighting area, and the dj blasting music.
Carnival rides and Mickey D’s towards back area
Dining areas– There were three of them.
The tented VIP one, you need your VIP pass to gain access to here, banquet tables with apps were being served when we were there around 5ish, the sake and bar started later on. Lucky I read via website the info so I timed arriving here perfectly!
The area towards the back had high top tables where you can stand, it wasn’t shaded but at the time we went the sun was low enough that it shaded the area. The other dining area was tented with tables and chairs, plenty of seating. Being the clean freak that I am, I appreciate that the dining area was pretty clean for an outdoor event. They had festival staff who bussed and clean the areas continually the time we spent there. The garbage cans were emptied also… just little things like this made it more aesthetically pleasing.
The variety of entertainment lineup during the time we were there varied. Hot Hula Fitness just finished up when we arrived. When we sat down to eat there was Thai acrobatics followed by a Tai Chi demo, then Ronald McDonald telling corny jokes and performing magic tricks. The kids both young and young at heart seemed to enjoy the show and that’s all that mattered.
I ended hitting up the Truck Norris, Fluff Ice and Sin City Cupcakes! I have an obsession with food trucks what can I say! Love the unique and different twists of Hawaiian/​Filipino food and desserts from Truck Norris and Fluff Ice who are both from the Los Angeles area. And Sin City Cupcakes… alcohol infused cupcakes… need I say more??? I’ll follow up with separate Unilocal reviews for them. Ive learned from attending past foodie festivals to take cash since some of the vendors and food trucks do not take debit/​credit cards. So bring cash with you!
The admission price initially might scare people away but note it’s good for both days with in & out privileges. Kids get in free if they are a certain height! (so tell the taller kids to bend at the knees a lil bit so you’re under the 48″ limit .haha.) You can pick up a $ 2 coupon off at a McDonald’s, one of the sponsors for this event PLUS part of the proceeds go to a good cause, our local Ronald McDonald House. I found all this info on the website before I came. So it is a good value if you take advantage of attending the weekend. We enjoyed our afternoon and will be back.

The family and I went to this today after seeing the advertisements. My fiancé was really excited to go, so I agreed hoping this would be a nice break from the norm and a great way to spend an early Saturday Evening.
We arrived right at 4pm, bought our tickets (2 adults, 2 kids — no kids discount $ 52.60) and entered the festival. We were immediately grabbed by a hard sell timeshare company and it took more effort than I planned on spending to break away.
The festival was relatively empty, granted it was early in the day, and there were a few open booths. One major disappointment is we found no Japanese food, which I was hoping for. Vietnamese, Filipino, and Thai were all well represented, as well as a couple Hawaiian fusions, but that is about it.
The food trucks were definitely a highlight. We both chose Truck Norris and it kicked ass (see separate review). As the day progressed, the crowd only mildly picked up but the entertainment slightly elevated. All told, we left at about 7:30pm after a roughly $ 220 expenditure.
I believe the event is priced on the high side, but was enjoyable. This is the second annual, hopefully they will gain momentum in years to come. We will definitely give them a shot next year as well.
Note: Bring Cash! ATM fee is $ 4.50 and no one takes credit!