Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Sunshine and Stuffed Hot Dogs @ Foodies Festival, Syon Park


Hello! How was your weekend? We had a long one here in the UK (and in the US) - John was watching the cricket at Lord's on Saturday and I tried to catch the last of Chelsea in Bloom (and totally failed, as it was raining and half of the floral displays had clumps of dirt trying to cling on for dear life), but on Sunday, we managed to squeeze in a few hours at the Foodies Festival in Syon Park before John had to leave for Helsinki on a business trip. I was super lucky and managed to score two tickets to the festival via a contest that Yelp was running on Twitter, so we made the hike from North London to the beautiful park in West London. I hadn't let anything pass my lips that morning, so by the time we reached the festival at 1 p.m., I had a major case of "hanger" - you know, hunger-induced anger (sorry, John!).

The vibe at the festival was buzzing - with families (and dogs!) abound. Despite the presence of a Pimm's tent, I had chicken drumsticks for eyes by this point, so I charged about aimlessly in search of the most filling, outrageous meal I could find ...


 ... which eventually arrived in the form of this truffle mac 'n cheese hot dog from Gourmet Griffin.


Handing out double-stuffed hot dogs from the window of a vintage 1966 Bedford camper van just might be the classiest version of a food truck that I've ever seen.


After wrangling with the unruly macaroni and cheese (with perfectly al dente pasta, I'll add!) and smashing down the delicous herbed pork sausage sandwiched between the brioche bun, my blood sugar levels still hadn't quite been restored, so I went charging around again in search of our next conquest, all at the same time yelling at John for not giving me enough time to take the photos I wanted (helpful, and not at all rude, right?).

After making a couple of loops around the festival, we finally settled on a stall that had quite an exciting looking menu (sadly, we missed out on the rainbow fries, but I'm still intrigued!):


The Wandering Bun's pork belly bun with Thai mayo and slaw filling looked downright mouthwatering. I watched them put together two of these famous buns before deciding that I needed one ASAP (sidenote: check out the sheer intensity of the mayo-squeezing down there ... I mean, I seriously need to adopt that level of concentration in the kitchen, rather than the haphazard aim-and-misfire method that I typically employ).


But the bun itself ... oh my goodness. Some seriously intense flavors, with an interesting tangy, chilli kick! That crunchy slaw was epic, btw.



But I skipped a step. In between "courses", I'd stopped by The Brownie Bar to ogle their selection of brownies. Question: when asked to choose between over 30 different flavors, including salted caramel, millionaire, lemon meringue blondie (!!!), and s'mores ... which would you go for?? I almost always pick salted caramel anything, so went with that in this instance.


We also bought one of these incredible brownie-stuffed cookies ... yep, you read that correctly: a brownie within a cookie.


It just had to be done. The brownie was lovely and gooey, encased by a soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie. Must. Find. Recipe.

By now, my blood sugar levels had satisfactorily restored themselves, but I couldn't help purchasing a little tub of toffee waffle hazlenut ice cream from Simply Ice Cream, which is based in Kent.



Throughout the day, there were food demonstrations being given by top chefs and cocktail-making masterclasses ... all which looked interesting and fun. If we had more time (and - let's be honest - had I been in less of a mission to quell my hanger), I might have sat down to participate. But I was too busy stuffing my face with brownie-cookies (or, "brown-kie", as someone suggested over on Instagram?) instead.

Honestly? I would have liked to see a few more adventurous recipes and items on the menu at the Foodies Festival - some were pretty run-of-the-mill items, such as hog roasts and paella. I think we're pretty spoiled with the food markets near us in Dalston/East London e.g. Broadway and Netil Markets in London Fields and Sunday (Up)Market near Brick Lane/Spitalfields.

What's the best food festival you've ever been to? I really liked Smorgasburg in Broolyn, which is self-described "flea food market", rather than a festival, though I've been to Bite of Seattle in the past, which was a lot of fun too (not to mention, free!).
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17 comments

  1. Such a shame we missed you there. Thought it was a fun day out, but agree that it could've been a bit more adventurous stall wise. Would have been nice to see some local suppliers and producers there instead of the regular Foodies festival ones who travel the UK with them.

    Rosie xx

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    1. My thoughts exactly, Rosie! Hope to meet you at another point - perhaps at one of your GrubClub events! xx

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  2. I know I've already made this comment on your Facebook page, but I think the Truffle Mac n' Cheese Hotdog deserves two...WOW!!! Also, brownie stuffed cookies should totally become a thing. Had a little chuckle to myself imagining you charging around in desperate need of food. Hanger is a real problem people! I wish Rich understood it a little better! It would save so many arguments.

    Polly xx
    Follow Your Sunshine

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    1. Bahahaha ... they were so good. Hanger - the struggle is real ... for our husbands, HA!!!

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  3. Looks like so much fun - the Brownie Bar is my idea of heaven! It was great to meet you yesterday at the picnic

    Suze | LuxuryColumnist

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    1. It was SO lovely to meet you!!! (p.s. you're even prettier in person! *runs away*)

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  4. Did you say Brownie Bar...OMG!! When I first saw the truffle Mac n' Cheese I thought it was gigantic and then I realised it was a close up!
    Lots of love,
    Angie
    SilverSpoon London

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  5. I'm kind of REALLY glad I did not know about this because this = ( * x . x) would be the result if I'd been anywhere near this event. A hotdog stuffed with cheesy pasta? Pork belly bun?? Waffle hazelnut ice cream??? And let's refrain from even discussing the brownies, cookies, and brownies within cookies. Just...death.

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    1. You would have loved it for sure, Gianni! But I think you can find better at StreetFeast, Sunday UpMarket, etc. ... :) All is not lost :)

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  6. Hangry is a real thing!! Must be taken seriously haha.. Pictures looks great as always! and if you ever find a recipe for the brownie cookies please do share!! :D

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    1. Haha, thanks so much! Yes, I'll DEFINITELY share. Maybe. ;)

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  7. Looks like you had a fun time! I mean... that brownie bar! :)
    Too bad it wasn't a bit more adventurous when it comes to food. This is something I'm often disappointed about in food festivals in the UK (probably because I always go with high expectations!). I loved the Bristol Food Connections, though.

    Charlotte | The Midnight Blog

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    1. The brownie bar was the best! This was the first food festival I've been to in the UK and I had expected a bit more variety. As I mentioned in the post, I'm a little spoiled by my local food markets in London, as there's *always* something new I've never heard of or tried. Will have to check out the Bristol Food Connections! x

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  8. I still have food envy over all of this food! I actually have a secret idea for those brownie/cookie slices of heaven, maybe I'll bake soon..!

    Lauren xx
    The Lifestyle Diaries

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  9. Everything looks so delicious! I used to live across the road from Model Market in Lewisham so I went there a lot last year but my new favourite is Eat Street in Brisbane, so many awesome things to choose from that I still haven't managed to try everything!

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  10. Visited there last weekend with a group of friends, and had all the fun we could handle. I really like the ambiance at this venues San Francisco. There's a decent draft beer selection at a reasonable price and the bartenders are good at what they do.

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