A visit to the annual Queens International Night Market, which returned to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park on Saturday with a special preview edition, promises a whirlwind tour of the world’s cuisines in one evening under the stars — and may require a little advance preparation.
Frugal foodies will find tastes of 50 different street foods for no more than $6 each, a varied (and somewhat esoteric selection) that founder and organizer John Wang curates with the city’s diversity in mind.
“My unofficial mission is to eventually have a stand or vendor from every country that’s represented in New York City,” says Wang, 36, a former lawyer who models his months-long event on the night markets his family frequented during childhood summer trips to Taiwan and the local food markets he’s drawn to on trips abroad. “Over the last three years, we’ve had 80 countries that we’ve represented so far, which means I’ve learned about eating food from 40 to 50 countries that I would never have otherwise.”
Eats at this year’s night market, which also hosts 25 art and merchandise vendors and live performances, include Brazilian coxinha, Indonesian kue pancong, Thai sai ua and — we would list more, but we personally got lost at “coxinha.”
Like Wang, we had to do a little research. Behold our starter guide to the tasty snacks on sale, for the uninitiated (ourselves included):
