Cravings Food Village is a new Asian-centric food hall that opened its first location in Chino near the 99 Ranch Market in October. Cravings is  split into two different sections, one for groceries and one for restaurants.

All the restaurants in the food village are chain stores that can be found in multiple other locations too. In the restaurant area, there are about eight different vendors, including a variety of ramen bars, ice cream shops and Asian fusion restaurants. Most of the restaurants had long lines, and the place was crowded with families and teenagers.         

Soon, the strong aroma of fried foods was too much to handle and the delicious smell of fried chicken led me to a vendor named Wingman Kitchen. Its menu offered fried chicken integrated into different dishes.

I ordered the Corny Chick Waffle Fries for $7.50, which consisted of popcorn chicken on a base of waffle fries, topped with corn cheese and bacon.

The order took around 20 minutes to arrive and by the time my fries finally arrived, I was famished. I took a bite and immediately fell in love. The popcorn chicken was tender on the inside but had a crunchy exterior, and the salty flavor mixed well with the sweet corn cheese. The waffle fries were also fried to the perfect crisp, and the crunch factor made the dish much more tasty.

After my fries, I decided it was time for a drink, so I ordered milk tea at Pinky’s Tea Bar. I settled on a matcha rose tea for $4.25, one of Pinky’s most famous drinks, and my order only took around two minutes to be prepared.

The presentation of the tea was very appealing, since it came in a pink and green ombre. After mixing my drink, I took a sip and was pleasantly surprised by the taste. I was expecting it to be overly sweet, but the sugary fragrant rose flavors balanced well with the bitter matcha, giving the drink a milder but more enjoyable taste.

I finished by visiting Cauldron Ice Cream, a shop I had been waiting a long time to try.

After seeing all the aesthetic posts of Cauldron’s treats on Instagram and Snapchat, my expectations for its ice cream had definitely risen.

I ordered a simple Matcha ice cream in an original Puffle cone for $6. This took around 10 minutes to arrive, but when it did, I was extremely excited to try it.

But after my first bite, I was a bit disappointed. For the high price of $6, the ice cream tasted mediocre and the waffle cone lacked any unique flavors. Overall, I was let down due to my high expectations of the store.

Before I left, I entered the grocery section of the food village to see if the store offered any unique Asian snacks or foods. Despite all the hype Cravings was receiving online, I failed to find anything special in their grocery section.

I was expecting a few rare grocery items, but all the vegetables, fruits, and snacks they offered could be found in any other Asian supermarket, such as the nearby 99 Ranch Market.

However, many of the items were at a discounted price, and most snacks featured a buy one get one free deal.