Central Park was a bustling hub as the Huntington Beach Sister City Assn. hosted its first Japanese Cultural Festival, which was organized by an ambitious high school student.
Hundreds of people gathered at the park Saturday were greeted by the sound of resonant taiko drums, the sight of traditional Japanese dances and the smell of various Japanese foods.
Attendees had the option of buying a super-sized sushi roll or a heaping plate of nachos topped with spicy tuna from Samurai Burrito of Fountain Valley or a plate of steaming pork okonomiyaki — a Japanese pancake — from Gaja Moc in Lomita.
The food vendors saw plenty of foot traffic, but many of the hungry waited for nearly two hours to get their hands on the phenomenon that is the ramen burger.
Huntington Beach resident Tammy Green, 32, checked her watch and said she had waited for an hour and 37 minutes for a ramen burger with cheese.