April the 24th, 2025 – The 3rd Zagreb Asian Street Food Festival is now open and already exceeding expectations with its mouth watering and always creative offer.
Josip Juraj Strossmayer Square in the very heart of Zagreb has finally come back to life again, and no matter which side you approach it from, you’ll be tempted by exotic aromas and flavours from a total of 11 stalls.
The 3rd Zagreb Asian Food Festival is offering over 50 different Asian specialities from April the 23rd to the 29th.
Immediately after the opening of the 3rd Zagreb Asian Food Festival, plenty the capital’s residents and guests descended upon the many stalls with grins of approval. They quickly consumed not only their favourite dishes, but also some new ones. It was especially interesting to observe the more than positive reactions of Asian tourists visiting the bustling Croatian capital.
Local fans of Asian gastronomy were also full of words of praise for the creative offer and excellent novelties presented at this year’s already traditional festival. They were extremely happy to sample the new dishes on offer at the stalls of already well-known veterans of the Asian Street Food Festival.
A good example of the above is that, in addition to the legendary gyoza that Purple Monkey is best known for, the new Squid Sticks and the fun Popcorn Chicken did well. These are two completely new Purple Monkey dishes created exclusively for this occasion.
At the neighbouring SoHo house, the most interesting morsel of all was Sohorrito – sushi in burrito format, which is being offered in five versions: tuna, chicken, prawns, salmon and vegan. Then there’s the interesting Squid in Kadaif – soft and juicy squid balls wrapped in crispy kadaif.
Another of the favourite and always particularly creative participants of the festival is definitely Jellyfish in Space. At the 3rd Zagreb Asian Street Food Festival, they’ve been delighting visitors with their tasty Bao Buns Pastries with kimchi and mango sauce.
They’re also offering Bao Buns Pulled Pork, Bao Buns Shrimp Surimi, Bao Buns Salmon Tartar and four signature cocktails that pair perfectly with each of these buns.
Even before the opening of the 3rd Zagreb Asian Street Food Festival itself, the news that Noel* by Ivan Temšić would appear attracted a great deal of attention. As the first Zagreb restaurant to be crowned with a Michelin star under the leadership of Ivan Temšić, Noel has been showcasing its creativity in an oriental style, focusing as much as possible on classic and recognisable Asian dishes in their “street food” version.
To simply say that visitors were delighted with each of Temšić’s dishes from the first day would be an understatement. Their offer includes irresistible dishes like Katsu Sando, Gyoza, Korean fried chicken wings, PorkBelly Bao and Yakitori shrimp. In addition to the rich and balanced flavours, visitors have also been more than happy with the professionalism and accessibility shown by this talented young chef.
The extremely popular Curry Bowl, which offers Sri Lankan specialities, is also making its premiere at the 3rd Zagreb Asian Street Food Festival. The excellently organised and focused team led by Brian Senaratne won a lot of deserved praise for the curries they offer in chicken, black pork and even vegan versions, as well as for their excellent chicken rolls with curry mayonnaise.
That being said, Curry Bowl’s biggest hit of all this year is its Kotthu – a traditional Sri Lankan dish prepared with a special technique of cutting tortillas, wok vegetables and meat (chicken, beef or black pork) and served in the form of a roll topped with cheese and traditional sauce.
This hearty and filling dish is also hailed as a hangover cure.
All lovers of traditional Thai flavours are able to enjoy the now legendary Pad Thai again this year at the Thai Thai stall. In addition to Pad Thai, this stall is also offering two new dishes this year – sour and spicy Tom Yum soup with shrimp and rice noodles and spicy crispy chicken with rice, for which only words of praise could be heard. They also have a delicious dessert: fresh young coconut stuffed with sticky rice and coconut ice cream that tastes just as amazing as it looks.
Another highly anticipated appearance at the 3rd Zagreb Asian Street Food Festival is certainly that of chef Mario Mihelj, who has been preparing the famous Chinese street food dish Rou Jia Mo (pronounced ro-dja-mo) for the first time ever in Croatia.
This is an Asian speciality in crispy bread made of pulled dough similar to burek, filled with specially marinated strips of beef or chicken in combination with wok vegetables and Chinese spices, side dishes and sauces.
Different, full of flavour, juicy, excellently balanced… these are just some of the comments circulating about this MasterChef jury member’s culinary creation.
Dessert lovers will also want for nothing at this year’s festival. Many people were already eagerly waiting for their turn on the very first day for the new creations of the talented pastry chef Juraj Klepić, who at the Gdje je Jura shop is preparing Fry Dubai – pistachio gelato with kadaif, pistachio paste, milk Belgian chocolate, yuzu gel and chopped pistachio.
He also created Tropic Fry – vanilla gelato with mango, passion fruit, crumble and coconut, as well as Dubai strawberries with pistachio cream, kadaif and Belgian milk chocolate.
The Kawaii shop, on the other hand, entices all those who pass by with the irresistible scents of of caramel, which it coats with fresh fruit, thus creating Tanghulu, a traditional Chinese dessert that crunches under your teeth.
They’re also offering tasty Japanese Harajuku crepes – thin and soft pancakes filled with creamy soft serve ice cream, fresh fruit and colourful toppings, as well as matcha ice cream and black sesame ice cream.
At the SoHo and Purple Monkey houses, visitors can enjoy mochi ice cream in four amazing flavours: coconut, chocolate, pistachio, and mango and passion fruit.
The Ginglebells stall is a true oasis for high quality cocktails, from their legendary classics like Mojito, Gin Tonic, Skinny Bitch, London or Moscow Mule cocktails, to Asian specialities: Yuzu Paloma, Yuzu Mojito or Yuzu Collins.
The central bar takes care of all other alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, from Šoškić wine, Staropramen and Grif beer, to premium brandies and Spritzes, among which the Geisha Spritz stood out on the very first day. Coffee lovers will also be able to enjoy top-quality Well Bean coffee here, and we can’t possibly fail to mention that all the stalls are serving top-quality naturally fermented Kikkoman soy sauce, which contains only four ingredients: water, soybeans, wheat and salt.
In addition, every day from 18:00 to 19:00, there’s a Happy Hour with a 10% discount on payments made with ZABA Mastercard cards.
A rich accompanying programme, in addition to daily performances by top DJs, will also be brought by the Staropramen Movie Night on Friday at 20:30, when the Thai comedy “How to Get Rich Before Grandma Dies” will be shown. There will also be interesting workshops on offer. These range from the fascinating Mochi Pounding workshop led by Maki Nagayoshi from the unique Pink Pig restaurant on Sunday at 13:00, to the Kikkoman Tantanmen ramen workshop led by Nastasja Chiara Petrić, scheduled for Monday at 17:00.
Then there’s the Materia matcha workshop scheduled for the same day from 18:00.
In addition to entertainment and education, the 3rd Zagreb Asian Street Food Festival will also boast a humanitarian character. In cooperation with Fisherija and the RK Zagreb handball team, a humanitarian sale of Fisherija sushi snack boxes will be held on Sunday, with all proceeds intended for Davor Rostuhar’s project that brings new technologies to small schools across Croatia.
Handball players Matej Mandić and Luka Lovre Klarić will participate in the humanitarian sale.
For all the latest news and how to register for the workshops, follow the Asian Street Food Festival on Instagram and Facebook.
Location: Trg Josipa Juraj Strossmayera/Josip Juraj Strossmayer Square, Zagreb
Duration: April the 23rd to the 29th, 2025
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 12:00-00:00, Sat-Sun 11:00-00:00
Entrance: Free
