Warning, this is going to be long, so save it for a long Monday commute or getting stuck in the abominable West-End traffic.
We made the same mistake as the East End Halal Fest. We came almost right when they opened.
This relatively long running food fest has a reputation for being so popular that it gets crowded quickly and that the line-ups for paid samples are long. Consequently, trying to be a well-planned strategic mom, I opted to drag everyone out of bed early on a Sunday morning to get there right when they opened to avoid the rush. I didn’t even let my husband have breakfast or tea, thinking we would get plenty to eat there.
My mom took pity on him in the car and gave him nuts and granola bars she had packed. Only she would think to bring food to a food fest.
I was successful in some ways, we definitely beat the rush… and got there before more than half of the vendors. Some were setting up, some hadn’t even shown up yet. Many still weren’t ready even when we were leaving at 1:30. Sigh, I love the talent and initiative of Muslims, I don’t love their lack of punctuality.
Being systematic, I ordered everyone to go row by row and to see all the options before deciding what we wanted to try. The Kid had other plans once she saw the bouncy castles the our little agent of chaos went right for it. She had a whole bouncy castle to herself. The kid’s program was actually pretty cool. They had two Reptilia zookeepers show off a bunch of scaly, slithering animals. The Kid got to hold some and had almost one-on-one attention at many times from one of the zookeepers. I felt a little less bad about being there so early. Toy Story played on a screen with a carpet for kids to park it and zone out for a bit. This place definitely earned kid-friendly points with me.
We eventually continued along our route, deviating regularly from my attempts on being systematic and organized.
My foodie favourites:
The Pie Guyz! I’m not a fan of sweet pies, but man, savoury pies are a whooooooole other story. I played it safe and was totally basic and went for the butter chicken pie, which is unsurprisingly their most popular choice. The pastry part was perfectly flaky and rich. The filling was definitely a mild butter chicken so I could really see it appealing to a wide range of people. Sadly, this guy is located in Brampton, which is too far a trek for me to make on the regular. He mentioned that he contemplated going to the East End Halal Fest that was held a week ago, but he decided against it. I hope he changes his mind next year. Overall this was one of my favourites. Just enough novelty and enough familiarity to make me happy.
On our way out, the Halal Dumpling House was ready and I needed something to use up my last two tickets. I loved the soft exterior and savoury interior of the steamed chicken and vegetable dumpling. They don’t have a bricks and mortar place yet, but I hope it isn’t another Brampton/Mississauga place as I’d definitely like to have more. I would have bought more tickets just to have more dumplings had the cranky Kid had all but collapsed in her chai-deprived daddy’s arms.
I love Kunafa’s and have been to the Scarborough location more than once and happily had a square. It needed a little extra syrup to make up for the dryness of sitting out, but the stringy gooey extra stretchy middle surrounded by the crispy crunchy outside was totally worth it. Also, worth mentioning, the coupons they gave us at their booth and the ones in the grab bag were expired from 2018…. a little concerning, but let’s be honest I’m 100% going to try to use them anyway.
Foodie on the fence
The much hyped apple-pie samosa was definitely on my list going into this food fest. I’m not a huge fan of sweet pies in general, but I had to see what the hype was about. It was reminiscent of those hand held apple pies that fast food places have, but maybe less sugary sweet and less like an apple danish. It got points for portability and innovative-ness, but ultimately it isn’t something I’m eager to add to my dessert table anytime soon.
I tried the Nigerian Stew, it comes in a bottle and essentially they just heat up the thick red sauce. It wasn’t bad, but I felt like it needed some filling or something. Maybe to be served with some bread?
I’m a huge fan of Manti/Mantu, especially the turkish beef manti, so I had to try the samples of manti that comes frozen in a bag from Halal Fine Foods. I tried both the vegetable and the beef and I like them both well enough, but they were not as good as going to a restaurant, like Pasha, Sofra Istanbul and getting it fresh. It is nice to know that it is possible to have this as a quick weeknight meal without having to get takeout.
Hungry and a little bleary eyed, my husband opted to try a Doner from a place called Fusion Cuisine who were probably the first booth we saw on our way in. The meat was flavourful and my husband’s belly was a little less empty. I imagine it is called fusion for having Doner and Biryani and Chow mein all on the same menu. The sample was good, but none of the food options to me where different enough to make myself go all the way to Brampton to try them out in their restaurant.
Better luck next time
The only thing I have to come back to is the lack of organization and punctuality of the vendors. Chachi’s Chai Bar sticks out for me because we had to get my husband his morning chai (my fault for depriving him) and every time we came back, and I’m talking no less than 3 times, the Chai was not ready and they just kept telling us to come back. A chai bar with no chai is a sad situation at an event like this full of people with blood that runs thick with tea. Also, how is there only one place making a proper chai?!
My mom was fascinated by the Potato Spirals on a Stick even though I could have sworn she has had them before. The selling point for her were the spice and sauce options to dress it up. They were ok, but not anything that you can’t get at a regular food truck. The spices and sauces were also very necessary, but still not enough to make it stand out from all the other spiral potatoes on a stick.
Something I wish I had tried
The Nihari Slider looked really appetizing and the smell was calling at me, but sadly the line was too long. I’ve got you in my sights for next time!
Final verdict (TL;DR)
This food fest definitely has a lot going for it and I would most certainly go again. The overall event is well put together and the opportunity to try new things is worth it in my books. I still don’t think I would go later in the day, at least not with the Kid, because it was super packed and lineups were getting really long by the time we left. Having said that, I have serious FOMO from not having tried more things since a lot of vendors were not ready on time. I loved the children’s programming and that the Kid got something out of it too. It also helped us break up our time there to digest a little bit.
Foodie Muslim 