Ethnic food at the Allentown Farmer's Market

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.

Two closings in Allentown

Two ethnic restaurants -- one long-time favorite of mine and a newer one -- in Allentown appear to have closed.

The Churros Cafe near 10th and Turner was a Cuban restaurant that was open for at least 10 years. I found the food decent, but sometimes decent is all you need, especially when you want a Cuban fix. My wife and I stopped last week for lunch, but the restaurant was closed and a red "For Rent" was prominently displayed in the window. (I'll stop by on my Thursday run through Allentown to see if there's any additional notification.) To my knowledge, Churros Cafe was the only remaining Cuban restaurant in the Lehigh Valley after the closing of Cafe Havana in South Side Bethlehem. (I loved that place!) If you know of another, please post.

A couple of weeks ago, I tried to visit A Touch of Soul, a new soul food restaurant on Front Street in Allentown. (Read a Morning Call write-up.) Alas, a sign on the door indicated that a major utility had been shut off, hence the restaurant was closed. I'll drive by again soon to see if it has reopened. If you're in Philly and want excellent soul food, I'd recommend Ms. Tootsie's.