Sahan Journal reporters Katelyn Vue and Mohamed Ibrahim, digital producer Alberto Villafan and multimedia journalist Dymanh Chhoun tried all the official new Minnesota State Fair foods from immigrant and BIPOC vendors on Thursday and found one unanimous hit: ube butter banana French toast lumpia.
There are 33 official new foods at the fair this year and eight new vendors, including Lumpia City, and the debut of the Oasis Grill and Hoyo Sambusa, which will anchor the first week at the Midtown Global Market booth.
This year, 1,600 foods will be available at nearly 300 food concession locations during the Minnesota State Fair’s 12-day run.
A full list of new foods and vendors is available on the fair website along with a map.
Lumpia City: Ube butter banana French toast lumpia
- Review: 4.5 of 5 stars
- Location: North side of Judson Ave. between Liggett & Clough streets
- Cost: $12
New vendor Lumpia City brought their Filipino-style springrolls to the Minnesota State Fair with flair, serving up both a sweet and savory variation of the fried treat.
The ube butter banana French toast lumpia was the star of the show for the Sahan team, as they all agreed on one item they all thought was fantastic.
“When I have a dessert, I love it when it tastes straight out of the oven,” Alberto said of the sweet lumpias. “And this is delivering on that.”
“Oh my god, that banana,” said Katelyn. “I’ve never had caramelized banana before and this is very good.”
Dymanh also gave it an enthusiastic nod. “This is what I needed all day,” he said.
Pizza lumpia
- Review: 3 of 5 stars
- Location: North side of Judson Ave. between Liggett & Clough streets
- Cost: $12
Before taking their bites of the pizza lumpia from Lumpia City, Alberto and Katelyn said the offering gave off a familiar aroma.
“They smell like Hot Pockets, or pizza rolls,” Katelyn said.
Alberto and Katelyn agreed on their fondness for the savory lumpia’s flakiness, and both loved the amount of cheese in it (though inconsistency led to Alberto getting a pepperoni in his lumpia while Katelyn did not).
“The sauce tastes kind of artificial, I wish it was more tomato-y and real,” Katelyn said.
Alberto mentioned the crust again, and said it elevates the lumpia beyond any old Hot Pocket.
“I would pick this over a pizza-flavored Hot Pocket any day because of the texture and the crust,” Alberto said. “Otherwise they’re very similar.”
Oasis Grill and Hoyo Sambusa
- Review: 3 of 5 stars (average of all new dishes)
- Location: Midtown Global Market booth at the International Bazaar
- Cost: Somali street fries: $15 (4 stars); mini sambusas: $14 (2 stars); slushies: $6 each (4 stars).
Oasis Grill and Hoyo Sambusa went big on their first appearance at the fair, with a lineup of sambusas, Somali street fries and two slushie flavors.
The Somali street fries, loaded with spiced beef, vegetables, cheese and herbs, were a hit.
“I love beef suqaar [beef stew] so it’s inevitable that I’ll love these fries,” Mohamed said.
Every bite held the chewiness of the salty beef along with a flavor punch from the savory white garlic and jalapeño sauce, Alberto said.
“I love the meat,” Dymanh said. “Finally, there’s a little bit of meat,” he said, referring to previous dishes that had less meat.
But Alberto and Dymanh were initially disappointed in the beef sambusas. “I want more taste,” Dymanh said.
Mohamed liked the sweet and spicy sauce, which reminded him of a Somali barbecue sauce.
The sour pomegranate slushie paired nicely with the Somali street fries, Alberto said. The slushies melted quickly in the humidity but felt refreshing in the sun.
Mohamed said the watermelon slushie had a bit of a lime citrus flavor, but overall tasted sweet. The fruit flavor was toned down compared to the pomegranate slushie.
Holy Land: Tandoori chicken quesaratha
- Review: 3.5 of 5 stars
- Location: At the International Bazaar, southeast corner
- Cost: $15
After rolling out deep-fried halloumi cheese and guava slushies in past years, Holy Land was back on the new fair foods list with a Middle Eastern twist on the quesadilla.
The melty cheese was the standout on Katelyn’s first bite of the quesarantha.
“The sauce is great and has a vinegary kick to it but the cheese is very good,” she said.
To Alberto, the cheesy griddled flatbread tasted like home.
“It tastes cozy,” he said. “It is hot, it is greasy. The cheese also has a kick and pulls apart very easily.”
Katelyn said she could definitely taste the tandoori, and likened the texture of the quesaratha to a very soft burrito.
Dymanh was also thinking across cultures, saying it reminded him of the cheese quesadillas he gets from Taco Bell.
“My daughter loves them, and I love them too,” he said.
But, he said, there’s a nice addition of Middle Eastern flavors in the quesaratha that are absent from its fast food counterpart.
Mohamed went into this review familiar with paratha, though he has never encountered them in quesadilla form. He was less enthusiastic about the quesaratha than his colleagues.
El Burrito Mercado: Flauta dippers
- Review: 2 of 5 stars
- Location: At the International Bazaar, south wall
- Cost: $15
The flauta dippers at El Burrito Mercado evoked a reaction in Alberto — who says the flute-like fried torilla rolls should be a breakfast or snack, not a standalone food.
The first, soggy bite confirmed his disappointment. The salsa tasted vaguely of jalapeño and had very little kick.
“The joy of a flauta comes from the crunch, not the taste,” he said. “To bathe a flauta in salsa removes the best part of flautas. To charge $15 for a soggy flauta is criminal.”
Katelyn didn’t mind the mild salsa and said the chicken was less dry than she was expecting.
“I like that it isn’t that spicy,” she said of the salsa. “But I can’t taste the cheese.”
Mohamed landed somewhere in between Alberto and Katelyn. He somewhat liked the salsa, and he likened the texture of the tortilla to the fare you’d find on the roller grill at a Speedway.
“It tastes a lot like taquitos you get from a gas station,” he said. “But I like taquitos from the gas station.”
Afro Deli: Afro bean pops
- Review: 1.5 of 5 stars
- Location: In the Food Building, east wall
- Cost: $8
Deep inside the sweltering Food Building on Underwood Street, the Sahan team jostled through the crowd to Afro Deli to try their new Afro bean pops.
The deep-fried bites of ground black-eyed peas, seasoned with onions, jalapenos and cilantro, offered the team’s first technical challenge. Alberto’s first pop slipped off his fork before an audience of fellow fairgoers.
Once he recovered, Alberto said the bean pop was soft and chewy on the inside, which he didn’t care for. Katelyn concurred.
“It’s more doughy on the inside than I expected,” she said.
Alberto felt the same level of apathy about the flavors.
“The sauce itself isn’t doing anything for me,” he said. “Not that spicy, there aren’t that many seasonings going on.”
Dymanh felt the opposite. Although he said the texture of the bean pop reminded him of wet bread, the sauce — like with other entries today — saved them from a lower rating.
Mohamed did not care for them at all.
“It’s like a falafel but worse,” he said.
Soul Bowl: Chicken-fried bacon fries
- Review: 2 of 5 stars
- Location: In the Food Building, east wall
- Cost: $12
Soul Bowl’s offering this year combined two Fair favorites: bacon and fries.
The chicken-fried bacon fries came with two dipping sauces, Cashville Hot, a brown sugar Nashville-style hot sauce; or 24k Gold BBQ, a passionfruit gold barbecue sauce.
“It’s like eating French fries, but it’s bacon,” Dymanh said. He liked the salty and spicy Cashville hot sauce.
Alberto found the texture of the bacon soft, and the flavor saltier than Union Hmong Kitchen’s shrimp and pork toast on a stick.
Katelyn appreciated that the fries didn’t leave a residue on her fingers.
Baba’s: Fawaffle
- Review: 3 of 5 stars
- Location: At Street Eats at Randall & Underwood, located on the northwest corner of Randall Ave. & Underwood St.
- Cost: $11
What happens when you put a ball of chickpea and herb dough in a waffle press? Baba’s Fawaffle is the answer.
“It kind of tastes more like a waffle, than a falafel,” Mohamed said after lifting up an edge like a slice of pizza.
Alberto liked the texture of the soft waffle topped with mint, tomatoes and tahini butter. The herby and fresh combination was his favorite offering of the day so far.
Dymanh said he expected it to be sweet, since the toppings are on top of a waffle, but it’s more savory. “I’m Cambodian, and I can’t think of anything like this in Southeast Asian food that tastes like this,” he said.
Union Hmong Kitchen: Shrimp and pork toast on a stick
- Review: 2.5 of 5 stars
- Location: At the International Bazaar, south wall, west corner
- Cost: $15
Union Hmong Kitchen has served up a new dish almost every year since it launched at the fair, and this year’s shrimp and pork toast was no exception.
Similar to a popular offering at chef Yia Vang’s Vinai restaurant in Minneapolis, it’s served on deep fried Texas toast with a side of apricot jelly hot sauce.
The bread had a satisfying level of crispiness, Katelyn said, with a punch of garlic and shrimp as the notable flavors. The sweetness of the apricot sauce helped balance the savory, salty taste. “The sauce is what’s saving this,” Alberto said. Dymanh agreed
“It’s a very strong garlicky flavor, and not so much pork,” Alberto said.
