801 S. Bowie Street
San Antonio, TX 78205
(210) 458-2330
(2 Stars)
Bonsai Tree
Sumo Demonstration
Bubbble Tea
This festival wasn’t great. I was expecting so much more. I wanted to learn about various Asian cultures and experience various foods that I can’t normally get from just any place.
There seemed to be a BIG martial arts representation at this festival. And it seemed to lack much else. There were some dance groups, but it was difficult to see a lot of them because there were so many people and the performers only had 20 minutes of stage time. So, by the time you found the stage and fought your way through the crowd, you’d catch the very end of the performance. I think the most entertaining were the Sumo Demonstrations and the Hawaiian dancers, but again it seemed like pure entertainment and lacked any kind of cultural information that would have made the experience more fully understood.
The biggest disappointment was the variety of foods. The mall’s food court has better variety! There was no Thai Food (only bubble tea), no Vietnamese food, and the Japanese food was terribly lacking. Yakisoba and Curry just doesn’t cut it. Indian and Korean foods looked like the best deal, but they also seemed to have the longest lines; I mean 50 people deep for the ONE Korean food place at the festival. All 10 of the other food booths seemed to all have Teriyaki chicken, chicken/beef rice or noodles, and egg rolls. Nothing special. And of course the only dimsum I remember seeing was pot stickers.
I did enjoy the Sumo Wrestling, the Bonsai tree exhibit and my bubble tea from Tong’s Thai, but would I go next year? Not likely. The best thing was that I only spent $28 on admission and food.
– 2009. Year of the Ox.
Edit:
I know in my review I said I wouldn’t go next year, but I think I actually would just to support the fact that they try to reach out to people who haven’t really experienced other cultures. I just wish it would be a more rounded experience.
