And I'm not talking about Pennsylvania Dutch delicacies or Amish bakeries. Here are several stands that make the Allentown Farmer's Market a great place to find ethnic food.
Fan's Asian Flavors at the market's east end offers excellent sushi (rolls and sashimi) and other Asian dishes such as seaweed salad, edamame, and kim chee, which the owner "imports" from Philadelphia. His sushi is as good as any I've had in the region. Frank Fan, the gentleman who owns the stand is always smiling and ready to engage in conversation. See his sushi menu.
Food of the Mediterranean has a large selection of entrees, salads and dips, including the world's best hummus. (At least it's the best I've ever tasted, and I've had hummus around the country.) Big bowls of tabouleh, fattoush, chick pea salad, baba ganouj, a fantastic rice/lentil concoction and others beg you to experiment. Luckily, it's easy: $6.50 buys you a platter of five salads. And leave room for some baklava.
Southern Delights just down the ramp and off to the right. As you might expect from the name, it sells food like black eyed peas, greens, fried chicken and jambalaya. I'm looking forward to sampling items periodically.
Also, there's a relatively new Italian stand across from Mr. Bill's Chicken. Their fresh mozzarella is incredible -- mild and silky. The prepared foods look delicious. The stand a nice complement to Il Magalio, which is at the bottom of the ramp. Il Magalio has a wonderful selection of cured Italian meats, pastas, sauces and imported foods.
It's fair to say the Allentown Farmer's Market has the densest concentration of ethnic food anywhere in the Lehigh Valley.
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9 comments:
Hey Michael,
Take a look at www.theLVmenus.com
The website looks like its going to serve as a really good resource for restaurants as well as customers in the Lehigh Valley.
Keep up the good work. See if ya'll can link each other. Always nice to see lots of resources in one place.
Question?
Just moved to Allentown from Los Angeles. And I'm so sick of eating charlie browns.
What are your favorite restaurants around Allentown?
Something with some different flavors and spices, fresh vegi's and salad. Dark leaf, not iceberg.
Fresh, properly cooked and flavored meats, anything cooked past medium rare is over cooked in my opinion.
love your blog,
the hungry korean from LA,
eugenius
ps- i dont care about price as long as its good! ;)
thank you!!! =)
First off, welcome to the Lehigh Valley from LA. I'm sure you're missing the wide variety of food in Southern California. Luckily, Allentown has a decent selection of restaurants. You just need to know where to look. Some of my Allentown favorites:
- Damascus, 449 N 2nd St - Middle Eastern
- Mexicana Grille, 407 N 7th St - Mexican
- La Placida Mexico - 12th and Turner - Mexican deli
- LoBaido's - 8th and Allen - Italian
- Wert's Cafe - 518 18th St. - Great burgers and onion rings
These are just a couple in Allentown. If you're looking for more upscale restaurants, I can provide those, too.
Again, welcome. And chow down.
Michael
The italian stand across from mr. bill's also has the best fresh made sausages i've tasted outside of ny or nj. also try a few loaves of his semolina bread. i say a few because you will probably go through the first loaf quickly and soon be craving more. the biggest disappointment is that you can't get his goods sun.-wed. the owner told me he used to have a place in coopersburg where he had a full time store and catering business, but he was so busy and working way too much, so he sold the business and opened the stand and said he is perfectly content with only working a few days a week, plus the time to prepare his goods for sale.
My favorite restaurant in Allentown: Henry's Salt of the Sea on Allen St., one block west of 19th St.
It's not all seafood, although I do enjoy a number of the seafood entrees. For steak, try the steak Tyrolean, which is listed as being sirloin (generous sized strip) but can be made using a tenderloin if requested. It is covered in friend onions and a delicious sauce. The quality of Henry's beef is the highest I hqave found in Allentown. Rare = rare here.
Reservations are almost a must given the small size of the restaurant. Some people eat at the bar. Early Bird Specials are different from the regular menu (which can also be ordered from ).
Anybody know what the Italian stand across from Mr. Bill's Chicken is called?
I'm doing a project for school and I need to find and ethnic market, (cannot be a restaurant) that gets their food from another country other than the US.
Any ideas?
Thanks!
Does anybody know what the Italian stand across from Mr. Bill's Chicken name is?
I'm doing a school project where I have to visit an ethnic market (not a restaurant) that gets their food from another country other than the US.
Any ideas in the Allentown area?
Thank you!
Anon 11:35, it's not an Italian Stand anymore. Mr. Bill's took it over and is selling Wicked barbecue items there.
Re ethnic market, try Soumaya and Sons on Fullerton Ave on the way to Whitehall. Also, the ACI Halal on 2nd and Linden has a bunch of Turkish food. You could also try the Far East Oriental Market off of Fullerton Ave right after you pass over 22.
Fabulous! Thanks a lot!
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