2025 LA Food Bowl

If you love food as much as I do, you probably already attend food festivals. This is a great way to sample cuisine from a variety of restaurants all at one fantastic party. Of course, every event has its own unique atmosphere and vibe. So, each one offers something special. The LA Times’ 2025 LA Food Bowl Night Market attracted a fun, unpretentious and diverse multi-cultural crowd. Talk about a melting pot!

2025 LA Food Bowl Night Market

I’ve been attending this well known foodie fest every year since 2018. It is one big glorious food party. I arrived at the LA Food Bowl Night Market with anticipation and curiosity, as it changed venues this year. Enjoy my review.

Presented by Square, the popular food festival was held at City Market Social House in downtown L.A. It had a funky new atmosphere, with different levels sporting various food set-ups. When we entered the LA Food Bowl Night Market, we decided to by pass the first room and quickly made our way to the far back. This is where we found Thai Village. The strategy allowed us to enjoy several Thai dishes, before it got too crowded. I am a huge fan of Thai food, so I was in heaven.

*Delicious Bites provided by Farmhouse Kitchen Thai Cuisine; photo by Richard Bilow*

Amazing Thai Cuisine

Two of the LA Food Bowl sponsors included Farmhouse Kitchen Thai Cuisine and Thai SELECT. Therefore this special area was created to showcase the most exquisite Thai cuisine. As the night progressed Thai Village got jam packed. It included Farmhouse Kitchen Thai Cuisine. Chef Kasem Saengsawang (winner of Chopped: Thai Takedown on the Food Network) offered bite size tasty delights of traditional Thai cuisine called Mieng Kum. These were just wonderful.

It turns out all of the restaurants in this section are part of Thai Select, a unique global platform which promotes Thai Restaurants and products awarded by the Thai government. So, these were some of LA’s best Thai offerings.

2025 LA Times Food Bowl — *The team at Emporium Thai with owner John Sungkamee (right); Photos by Richard Bilow*

I spotted John Sungkamee, owner of Emporium Thai. John was serving up several dishes. My favorite was the Southern Curry Chicken. I absolutely love Emporium Thai. I had the chance to review the restaurant awhile back, and every dish was amazing. There’s a good reason local celebrities frequently reach out to John, when it comes time to cater their special events. See below for links to my review.

Also located in the Thai Village area were additional restaurants such as Chiang Rai Thai Street Food which gave out delicious dishes of Nam Prik Ong & Kang Hung Lay. Manaao and Blue Elephant Thai Cuisine also impressed us with their taste bud stimulating curries.Culinary Artist at Work

Culinary Artistry

*Chef Eve Ramasoot, Owner of Heng Heng Chicken Rice; Photo by Kathy Leonardo*

We moved upstairs to the main area. At one of our first stops, we met Chef Eve Ramasoot of Heng Heng Chicken Rice. She tempted us with three different dishes. The poached Chicken with garlic rice was superb. It had so much flavor with a slight crisp from the rice. The soybean sauce added a unique layer to the dish. The Saab Crispy Chicken had a beautiful zesty crunch as well and was right on the money. My husband and I particularly enjoyed the Saab Crispy Pork Belly. Richie went back for seconds.

Noticing a long line, we made our way to the American Beauty Steakhouse booth. Chef Elisha Ben-Haim and his team were all having a great time serving up their Flannery Beef Club Roast. It was paired with an incredible side of tasty hash browns. A wonderful fermented steak sauce topped it all off. The beef was cooked to perfection and was unbelievably tender.

Next I stopped for some amazing tastes from Holy Basil (Green Curry Risotto with a mussel on top), Baroo (Mulhwoe with Bugak), and SoulPhil (Macapuno Cornbread & Coco Butta). Of course, I would be remiss if I did NOT mention the famed dumpling empire Lunasia. These were simply divine. They gave out a three pack of Har Gow, Sui Mai and Soup dumpling – yum. Lunasia seems to own the dumpling market with their mastery of dim sum.

Works of Food Art

As I scanned the area, I noticed Chef Jeff Strauss diligently working on a masterpiece of his own. The TV writer turned chef and owner of OyBar in Studio City has obviously found his purpose in life. His Smoked Trout & Dill Pani Puri (Dill Chat Masala Chickpeas, Weiser Farms, Cucumber, Tamarind & Green Chili) was a delicate crispy ball filled with Jeff’s inventive deliciousness. This was so tasty, my mouth literally tingled with all the layers of flavors.

We were slowing making our way back to the front entrance of the event. Here we found even more worthy delights. We indulged in some extraordinary caviar from Astrea Caviar, as well as creative fish and crab tostadas from Holbox, an outrageous Kaison Don Bowl from Brothers Sushi and an open bar. Whew!

LA Food Bowl Night Market Desserts

As you can imagine, we were quite full and very satisfied. However, we did not forget about dessert. How could we, when there were just a handful of sweet tastes to tempt us? There were small servings of delicious cinnamon rolls provided by All About the Cinnamon. The owners had recently launched their business, and they were fired up to give us a taste.

Another must-eat dessert was quite the hit. Julia Tokarz & Gregory Lay, owners of East Side Cheesecakes, presented Petal & Pistachio Cheesecake Bites with a baklava crust. This was magnificent. The imaginative crust was exceptional, and the creamy cheesecake was to die for.

We then returned to Thai Village and sampled some sticky mango rice from Blue Elephant and delectable Foi Thong Gelato, as well as Coconunt Milk Gelato with sticky rice from Kanowaan LA.

Our back to front food fest game plan worked quite well. As my husband and I walked into the City Market Social House venue with the other vip guests, most people stopped immediately for a cocktail and food. We continued on straight to the back. Then we reversed directions and slowly headed back to the front.

L.A. Regional Food Bank

Once again this year, The LA Food Bowl Night Market charity partner was the L.A. Regional Food Bank. If you have yet to attend the LA Times’ LA Food Bowl Night Market, you must add it to your calendar and catch it next year. It’s super fun, and you will be helping raise money for a worthy cause. It usually takes place in September/October each year, so keep an eye out – we will remind you on ETG as well. Visit the website for more info – https://lafoodbowl.com/

If you are a true foodie, see more reviews on the ETG Food & Wine Festivals Page.

Read my Emporium Thai Review HERE; Visit our Restaurant Wine Reviews Page for more articles;