Are you ready to explore Columbus’ rich selection of Asian restaurants? Then it’s time to jump on board Columbus Food Adventures’ newest tour, the Asian Eats tour!
With the retirement of their food hall tour, CFA has launched Asian Eats as a way to explore the diverse array of foods located in the city’s northwest corner, particularly around Bethel Road. We were invited to join one of the early tours, so here’s a look at everywhere we visited! (Understand that the tour stops and samples are always subject to change.)
We started by meeting up outside the Japan Marketplace at Henderson and Kenny, where we met CFA co-owner and tour guide Bethia Woolf. She shared the itinerary with us, discussed the background of the Japan Marketplace, and then we dove into our first bites.
We started with a selection of sweets from Belle’s Bread, an award-winning Japanese bakery that’s earned national attention from Food & Wine and other publications. We got to taste matcha cookies and buns with a lightly sweetened red bean paste.
For our second stop we walked over to the bustling Tensuke Ramen nearby. The place was hopping on a Saturday afternoon! We gathered at our reserved tables for a taste of excellent karaage fried chicken and pan-fried gyoza dumplings. I was especially a fan of the karaage; it’s so deliciously moist.
For stop three we climbed into the van and drove the short distance to RamyunEZ, a Korean cafe and food market tucked behind Gallo’s Tap Room in the Olentangy Plaza.
They are known for their ramen library, an entire wall with dozens and dozens of types of ramen. You can select one to take home or you can make it yourself in the cafe. And the helpful employees will walk you through the selection and assist you in choosing a new favorite.
Because ramen is understandably a little difficult and messy to share on our tour, we were treated to fried dumplings, kimbap rolls, and a refreshing green grape ade.
All of these were winners, and we were excited to return for ramen!
Our fourth stop took us to the food court at Dayou International Market, which features a half dozen vendors serving a variety of Asian cuisines. (We enjoyed building our own noodle bowls at Tanghuo Kungfu Malatag previously.) We first took a little tour of the market and had time to do a little shopping before we gathered to eat.
Here we got a taste of Thai food from Thai Golden Bowl, including a refreshing and surprisingly complex Thai papaya salad and phad kra pao with rice.
Our fifth stop was one of our family favorites: Fiery Sky Asian Kitchen. This has perhaps become one of our favorite Chinese restaurants in Columbus, and we always welcome another visit. We started first with the Sichuan spicy dumplings.
Then it was on to stir fried flat noodles with beef.
And the dry pot fried fish filets were a hit, too. All three items came from Fiery Sky’s authentic Chinese menu; they also serve Local Favorites with more Americanized dishes, too. (They make our boys’ favorite General Tso’s in Columbus.)
Our final stop took us to Tulip Cafe for a bite of sweet Turkish desserts and teas.
If you haven’t been, you need to schedule a time there for their excellent Turkish breakfast. For the tour we tasted Turkish tea, semolina baklava, and cold chocolate hazelnut baklava – all rich and delicious.
I can’t recommend this tour highly enough! Even if you’ve visited some of the stops, you’ll get to learn their story and try something new. And the tour includes plenty of information, tips, and suggestions on restaurants all around Bethel Road.
The Columbus Food Adventures Asian Eats tour is offered Saturdays at 2 p.m. It runs about 3-3.5 hours and includes a full meal and then some. It’s priced at $85 per person and is recommended for ages 8 and up.
Book your seats here: columbusfoodadventures.com/tour/asian-eats-tour/