This fried rice has a story. It begins in the final market in the 1970s
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We tested the pork and the Sum-Sum Sun, the mango green tea and the chicken curry and the birri beef egg rolls are served in Asian cuisine 2025.
Having grown up in the 1970s and 80s, Nghiep Ho worked alongside his parents in Saigon Market, the little grocery store they opened just after his family immigrated to the United States in 1976. At the time, Vietnamese cuisine was difficult to find in the Grand Cincinnati. The only Vietnamese Ho reminding restaurant is Song Long, in Roselawn. Nor did there be an interest in Asian cuisine among most cincinnatians either. And for most of the existence of Saigon Market, the majority of its customers came from China, Vietnam, Japan and other Asian countries.
Of course, over the past two decades, things have changed radically. Asian cuisine, whether Thai, Sichuan, Korean or Vietnamese, is among the kitchens of the city – and the country – the most appreciated. There are now dozens of restaurants in Cincinnati who sell Vietnamese specialties such as Banh Mi and Pho. But Ho attributes one in particular with the start of the trend. “Pho Lang Thang had a lot to do with it,” he said about the restaurant launched by the Bao and Duy Nguyen brothers and their friend David Le in Findlay Market in 2001.
There are also many more Asian markets in the city, whether it is the international cam market, the Indian Jagdeep market or Jungle Jim.
But as an official OG of Asian markets here in town, Saigon is still going strong. Ho laughs when he mentions the increase in the business he sees each time that an Asian cuisine becomes viral on Tiktok (the last was Japanese ice cream) and how customers of the Z generation are suddenly in love with things like Kewpie mayonnaise and bubble tea.
Nghiep’s son Nick Ho also entered the action. Now 36 years old, he and his wife, Nora Gavarrete, have established the street cuisine of Chino, a pop-up of the weekend in front of the Saigon market which serves Tacos de Rue Vietnamese, Pot-Gristics, Rangoon of Crab and Frit. Her fried rice with marinated chicken is one of my favorite things to eat in Cincinnati. The same goes for these tacos, which are served on a tortilla of flour with sweet marinated chicken, cucumber, carrots, jalapenos and fresh coriander with a Mayo coriander.
Chino’s also makes pop-ups in local breweries and turns with two other restaurants serving food at the TQL stadium. Nick and Nora will soon take Chino on the road with a catering truck that will be opened most weekdays. And this weekend, you can find them at Asian Food Fest, where they will serve most of the elements of the menu mentioned above, as well as a bowl of tacos.
Like his father, Nick grew up in Norwood and spent a lot of time hanging out with her two brothers and sisters, Danielle and Ryan, on the market. Unlike his father, Nick took a while to develop a true love of Vietnamese food. Although he still loved fried rice that Nghiep cooked at home, he was more attracted to American fast food than Asian cuisine. It took a trip to Houston at the age of 12 to finally come.
“I was hungry and we went to a Vietnamese restaurant where I had a bowl of Pho,” said Nick. “This is when the valves opened.”
These days, Nick spends a lot of time watching YouTube videos for inspiration. The youtubers who impress him are the older chiefs aged 70 and 80 who cook with the kind of energy and passion, even about thirty like him can only dream. Aside from the internet demonstrations, he says that the person who always inspires him the most is his father.
“Everything I know, I learned from him,” said Nick.
Asian Food Fest: Try the Vietnamese Taco of Pho Lang
Lang Thang Group will have Vietnamese foot tacos at Asian Food Fest, during Saturday and Sunday at the short street plaza.
The 14th annual Fest of Asian cuisine takes place on Court Street Plaza between the Walnut and ELM streets from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday April 26 and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday, April 27. Chino will be located at stand 513 near the Kroger building on short street.
