Waiting in line seems to be one of those facts of life we all have to experience like taxes and death but I good food festival is worth the line.
This past weekend I decided to go to the Toronto Filipino food festival by Kanto, a night time food festival. You know those shipping containers near Bathurst and Dundas? Well it was there and I was glad to see other vendors decided to be open and see if they grab a few people.
Getting there I just charged right to the back of the line not even waiting to be stunned by it’s length. I could already tell it was a little disorganized but any food event is bound to me, you just never know how many people are coming! When I got to the end I was starving and waiting for Pepper my sister join me. With luck Gushi one the other vendors had set up a little stand outside their container with a sign for gushi chicken and Takoyaki. I jumped on that chicken because Japanese fried chicken on a cool relaxing Friday night after work hits that spot. The first bite the skin isn’t oily and the meat is tender juicy, with a slightly spicy mayo that gives it a nice step up for the evening. At the bottom of the box was a dipping sauce. A mixture of sake and soy sauce, I only liked to take little dips of this sauce as I found it to be to sweet in large amounts for me, a lady in front of me was drinking the stuff right out of the box! I was so happy with this I wanted another but decided to save my self for what I really came for. I shall return though!
The line the line gah it only felt like it was moving when people gave up and left! Pepper showed up laughing asking me what I was thinking and also inform me to answer our mothers emails. I wrote back to her, to thank her for the carrot muffin she bought me. We got our tickets, 1 ticket was $5 and some items were one and some were two you get the point. You should have heard me when I found out we was in the drink line we dropped that line and when to the food one in flash of a second!
Pepper didn’t want any meat she got a lovely noodle dish called Pancit while I got pork belly with rice, pork/chicken skewers and let me say I was so excited for this meal and it was a let down!
The skewers were cold rocks and twice as hard to chew, I thought the chicken would have been great because there was a hint of orange on them but sadly cold ice and forgotten memory of the flavor they once held. I then dove into my pork belly it was good but the rice with the sweet sauce it came with was better than the belly that was some what cold and felt like it had been tossed back on the grill.
I have no problem waiting in line for great food but I don’t think it’s to much to ask that when you go to a event that is saying its a BBQ event to have your BBQ at least at room temperature ! My fried chicken from earlier sure was hot!
Pepper and I were walking away I couldn’t even finish the last few bites of my belly and I’m strongly against wasting food, if something died for your meal you finish it! The evening felt like a let down but then off in the distance I saw the blinking lights of Nam Wam.
Nam Wam I have been trying to track down their Thai bubble tea and mango sticky rice for ages! Pepper and I shared a milky mango and a sticky rice. Evening saved! That milky mango fills my dreams to this day I wake up wishing I had one in my hand, it’s creamy refreshing slap of mango cheered me right up after my let down. The sticky rice gah it came hot, warm and gooey. The stunning blue rice mixed with the perfectly ripe mango made the evening feel not so cold that day.
Important lesson to learn life comes in waves sometimes things will be a let down but if you keep an open mind you will discover some unexpected joys! I will for sure be going back to Gushi and Nam Wan!
One Bite Closer 