Imagine starting your morning with Dalgona Coffee, a refreshing drink topped with crushed Korean candy, munching on Nepalese Momo dumplings for lunch and finishing the day with creamy Uni Pasta and a Japanese creme puff for dessert. 

Aurora’s annual global food competition, Global Flavors, is highlighting local restaurants and caterers around the city and members of the public are encouraged to try nominated dishes and vote for their favorites.

A world of food is on this year’s roster of competitors, with nominated dishes from countries including Korea, Peru, Nepal, Japan, Nigeria, India and Brazil. 

Members of the public have until May 24 to try the nominated dishes and vote for their favorites on Aurora’s website.

The competition winners will be announced at Global Fest, which will showcase Aurora’s international influence, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 14 on the Aurora Municipal Center Great Lawn, 15151 E. Alameda Parkway. 

Aurora is among the most diverse cities in Colorado, with about 33% of its 400,000 residents speaking a language other than English at home and 21% foreign-born. 

The city’s diversity reflects in its food. Throughout Aurora, there are 440 small cuisine businesses, including authentic, specialty restaurants and markets and dozens of food trucks boasting tastes from around the world, according to a news release from the city.

Last year’s winners were SweetPepper Kitchen’s Jollof Rice, HoneyBee Asian Bistro and Sushi’s Flaming Tiger Roll and Ladydee’s Authentic Nigerian Cuisine’s Heritage Red Beef Stew.

I tried a few of this year’s nominated dishes:

Angry Chicken, 1930 S. Havana St. #13-14

Angry Chicken specializes in Korean fried chicken “with a tantalizing fusion of Indian flavors,” according to the restaurant’s website. Nominated dishes:

• Original Korean wings, $14.99 for 6-piece + additional $1 for sauce: I tried the original wings and they were as crispy and delicious as advertised. The fried rice flour coating was perfectly crunchy and flavorful around the warm, fresh chicken. I got sauce on the side, but didn’t need it because the chicken was spiced perfectly.
• Angry Mango Shake, $7.99: This was the perfect drink (dessert?) to follow the salty chicken wings. Served in a fun glass, the Indian-style shake made with mango pulp, milk and yogurt was so refreshing that I couldn’t stop drinking it. For fans of the Mango Lassi, this is essentially the same thing. 

Coffee Story, 2222 S. Havana St. Unit A1

Serving up a variety of Korean treats along with your normal coffee menu, Coffee Story is unique in the world of coffee shops. Where normally a cafe would have muffins and the like, Coffee Story had a colorful variety of Mochi donuts — a mix between Japanese rice cake and American-style donuts, croffles — croissant waffles covered with toppings, and Korean corn dogs. Nominated dishes:

• Korean corn dog, $4: A corn dog filled with cheese and covered in potatoes, the Korean corn dog at Coffee Story was great comfort junk food. It was filling for the cost, a perfect balance of crunchy on the outside and cheesy and warm on the inside, and overall delicious. I had to seek out some vegetables afterward to cleanse the palate. While not the healthiest dish, certainly yummy.
• Dalgona Coffee, $6: Dalgona, I just learned, is a Korean candy also known as honeycomb toffee. This explains why it was so yummy sprinkled on top of my iced coffee. As a coffee lover, I’m often skeptical of sweet coffee. The taste of the Dalgona Coffee wasn’t much different than a coffee sweetened with honey, but the crunchy candy pieces on top were a fun addition.

Aroma do Brazil, 10722 E. Iliff Ave.

Aroma do Brazil specializes in Brazilian barbecue (churrasco) and calls itself the “home of Brazilian cuisine.” Nominated dishes:

• Grilled “Picanha,” $23.99 for a combo including the Picanha, rice, beans, house salad and fries: I did not try this (a reporter can only try so much food in a day!). Picanha is the top part of sirloin steak grilled with kosher salt, according to the Global Flavors website.

• Brazilian Passionfruit Lemonade, $8.75: At first, I was a little off-put by the cost of this drink. When I got it and saw how big it was, I changed my mind. Not only did I get a lot of bang for my buck, but it was also a tangy, refreshing boost to my very warm day. Brazilian lemonade uses sweetened condensed milk, which made it unique compared to the lemonade I’m used to, but the passionfruit tang combined well with the milky flavor. It tasted like drinking passionfruit ice cream.

Leezakaya, 2710 S. Havana St.

Leezakaya “captures the essence of Japanese culture” in its food and ambience. The restaurant’s website refers to it as “Japanese pub culture,” boasting an “energetic” atmosphere. Nominated dishes:

• Uni Pasta, $28: A creamy pasta with sea urchin. I did not get a chance to try this. 
• Japanese Shu Cream Puff, $6.50: This differs from a regular cream puff because it’s made with wheat flour instead of traditional all-purpose flour, according to the Aurora Global Flavors website. I haven’t had very many cream puffs in my life, but this tasted like a standard delicious cream puff. The pastry was flaky and soft and the cream inside made it an addicting and messy dessert.

Momo Dumplings, caterer with pickup location at 14200 E. Alameda Ave. #1039B

Momo Dumplings is a catering and online order company that serves authentic Nepalese Momo (dumplings) and Indian curries, according to their website. They do not have a traditional restaurant, but rather an online ordering system and a pickup location inside the Town Center Mall. Finding it was tricky, but the food was good. Nominated dish:

• Momo, $11.99: Dumplings filled with a choice of chicken, pork, vegetable or lamb. I was a little thrown off by the ordering situation, and think the dumplings would probably have been better fresh. They were still very flavorful and comforting to eat. 

Other foods in the running that I did not have a chance to try

• Gangnam GT‘s Jjambbong pasta, 1930 S Havana St. Unit 15: Spicy seafood soup, pasta, cream and chili paper

• HoneyBee Asian Bistro and Sushi‘s Tsunami Roll, 18541 E. Hampden Ave. Ste. 126: Created specifically for Global Fest, the roll has shrimp tempura, avocado, cream cheese, crab mix and baked salmon

• Kickin Chicken‘s Chicken Katsu, 13650 E. Colfax Ave. A2: Crunchy fried chicken thighs served over fried rice with mac salad and katsu sauce
• Ladydee’s Authentic Nigerian Cuisine‘s Stewed Black Eye Beans with Spinach, caterer at 1720 S. Helena St.: vegetarian dish with stewed black eye beans and spinach
• Pollo Picante‘s Pollo Asado, 10498 E. Colfax Ave. Ste. E: grilled chicken marinated in chile guajillo, dry chili, salt and pepper
• Pisco Sour Restaurant and Lounge‘s Mahi Mahi a lo Macho, 14050 E. Evans Ave.: Mahi Mahi buttermilk battered and fried with shrimp, calamari and green-lipped muscles in a creamy seafood sauce
• The Tofu Story‘s Tofu Puree, 2060 S. Havana St.: A traditional Korean soup with tofu
• Thank Sool Pocha‘s 80’s Bento Box, 2222 S. Havana St.: Traditional lunch box with the nostalgic taste of Korean home cooking, made with Kimchi, spam and eggs
• Seoul K-BBQ and HotPot‘s LA Galbi, 2080 S. Havana St.: A traditional Korean meat stew