Eating Around the Globe at the Orange Street Fair

Orange International Street Fair

1 Plaza Square

Orange, CA 92866

The Street Fair in Orange always is my cue that the end of summer is near. It is always about 90 degrees at the fair, it is always packed with people, and the parking is awful. So what brings all of these people out to endure all of this? Well of course it is the food, (and drinks).

This is the 38th year for this food festival in the heart of downtown Orange. The blocked off streets have booths set up, where they feature foods from around the globe. After reading the Fast Food Maven, I had compiled a list of items that we must try. Katie and I had a, divide and conquer technique this year at the fair. We were going to split everything that we got, and thus, the guilt that I felt from last years glutenous outing, would be halved. Let's see how this worked out for us.

To start the food festivities, we went with the Bratwurst from the Orange Lutheran booth. This is the king of the brats at the street fair. Other places sell them, but these are the best. The sandwich roll is soft, but holds up to the meat and kraut. After biting into the brat, it snapped a little, and the kraut is a good scene on this. A very good start to the night.

Here is the highlight of the night for Katie, the Loukoumades. These mini football sized pieces of fried dough, always have one of the longest lines at the street fair. These have honey inside of them, and also are dusted with cinnamon and sugar. Very sweet, and very addictive. I crown this the Greek's best innovation since the Olympic games. Very delicious.

Chris and I took a quick detour from my list of things to try, and got the Fried Calamari above. This was fried well, and was not too chewy at all. I would have liked some lemon on top of this, but it was good without it.

Back to our list of places to try, so we were off to Mexico Street. The quesadilla, with handmade tortillas, was greasy but good. You could tell that they cooked this with lard. We had one with carne asada, and the other with just cheese. Both were very good. The pork tamale was also on my list but I did not try this. Mark's sister, Marie, thought that this was very tasty. I will have to have one next year.

Another quick detour, for Riles and Mark to enjoy some Corn. I am not too big of a fan of corn on the cob, but they both thought that this was cooked well. I have never had corn with mayo on it, but almost everyone was doing it, so I am sure it is good. This might make my list for next year also.

The last thing on my list was the Beef Teryaki on Japan Street. The first picture was a plate of samples they were giving out while we waited in line. The teryaki was sliced thinly, and had a very sweet sauce on it. I liked this a lot. Very tender pieces here.

The last thing I consumed was the Rosette's from a Norwegian booth. These are a deep fried cookie, that is dusted with powdered sugar. These dissolve in your mouth as soon as you consume them. I am not too big of a fan of these. I need a little more substance, and our group was under-whelmed by these.

Another successful year at the Street Fair. I am always amazed by how calm the crowd is here. You would think with all of the alcohol, and the big turn out, there would be some bad apples, but that is never the case. The security and people that put on this fair should be applauded. I would also like to thank my group for allowing me to pick the places that we went to eat. They are pictured below. I am looking forward to going to the Street Fair with you guys again next year!

For more information on the Orange International Street Fair, click here: http://orangestreetfair.org/