The excitement has been real for this year’s Karachi Eat. The jury had set out to find the best there was to offer and also set a clause this year for eateries to add an exclusive item to their menu for the festival. What this ensured was that there was plenty of innovation and competition to keep things exciting.
We got to Karachi Eat pretty early, at 4 p.m. and while there were quite a few stalls still setting up, we decided to get our food crawl started. Even if that meant desserts first!
The first stall we went to was:
Caffé Praha
It’s one of the closest stalls to the entrance. And it was hard to resist the contrasting black of the ice cream against the clear blue sky. The product, called BlaCream, is a beautifully black soft serve in a chimney cone or cup. We chose the cup.
Price with the chimney cone: RS 350
Our thoughts: Highly instagrammable. Taste wise, it’s good but there’s nothing extraordinary about the ice cream. Also, keep in mind it stains your lips, teeth and tongue- temporarily.
Hobnob
We wanted to try the cronut as soon as Hobnob announced that it was going to be on the menu.
Price: RS 200 per cronut
Our thoughts: It is DELICIOUS. It was the only thing from the festival I loved so much that I got 4 more to take home.
Read: Renovation and Redemption for Hobnob Bakery
Lady Marmalade- Funnel Chicken
Have you seen how beautiful this is? It instantly reminded us of the donut burger from 2 guys 1 grll at last year’s festival and we placed the same level of expectations on it.
Price: RS 350
Our thoughts: We wanted it to be amazing, we really did. But it fell short. The sauce was fantastic, the chicken was good but the funnel cake itself was disappointing.
Slamvich- The Hell Melt
I can’t believe we almost skipped this!
Price: RS 300
Our thoughts: Helllll-a good. My eyes widened and I did a little jump as I took my first bite. We had been looking for a place that was worth revisiting the second day and we found it. What’s more is that wherever we looked, there was someone complimenting the slamvich sandwiches. Go here! Thank us later.
Sol
We had the Butterbeer and the Cubano.
Price: Butterbeer- RS 200
Cubano- RS 300
Our thoughts: We had mixed reviews when it came to the Butterbeer. One of us (ME, ME, ME) loved it, the rest wouldn’t have more than a sip. But it’s basically liquid butterscotch with soda- so why wouldn’t you try it?
The cubano took a while to be served but we waited because we really wanted to try it. The sandwich as a whole was alright, the mustard was a little overpowering but we were loving the addition of pickles. The major disappointment was the amount of meat. Sampling the meat separately, we LOVED it. However, there was nowhere near enough of it. So what do we want? MORE MEAT.
Shrooms
The hunter beef bun has been trending on facebook for the last few days. We got them hot out of the oven at KEF.
Price: RS 100 per bun
Our thoughts: When we broke into the spicy sauce covered bun, the cheese stretched at least 6 inches, no joke. The tiny bun had plenty of flavorsome filling in it. The best part is that it’s the perfect size for festivals such as these, and you do not have to get more than one.
Saniya’s Kitchen- Chili Lime Prawns
Price: RS 300
Our thoughts: We were so excited to try these. And we were so disappointed to have wasted 300 rupees on these. They were cold, and way too spicy. Our lips were tingling until we got another ice cream to cool our tongues with.
Lal’s
We live for desserts and well, when Lal’s announced they’re coming up with an exclusive creation for Karachi Eat – we knew we had to give it a try! We’re talking about their ‘Gelato Taco Sundae’.
Price: RS 300
Our thoughts: The tiny treat left us wanting more with its rich and creamy gelato flavour in ‘chocolate brownie’ sprinkled with brownie crumbs on top. The taco too was crisp and fresh. Overall, a must try!
Hot Bombz
They were such a hit at the last KEF that we knew we absolutely had to go there again. We ordered the hot stix.
Price: RS 250
Our thoughts: My very hard to please colleague LOVED them. If we weren’t so stuffed by the end of the night, we probably would have gone for a second serving of the hot sticks. Do give these a try, you won’t regret it.
Kuiya
Kuiya introduced Long Chiray for their special menu item, it’s basically made from chickpea flour and has sweet and spicy toppings (as per your preference). We got the masala long chiray.
Price: RS 150
Our thoughts: We’ve loved their kuiya, and wish we had gotten that instead. Although the long chiray were an interesting addition to the menu, they weren’t as good as their signature item.
No Lies Fries
Another stall with super long lines BUT also, super quick service. We ordered the pesto fries, the fried chicken poutine and the nug-nukes.
Price: 800 for three items
Our thoughts: The fried chicken poutine does not disappoint in the least. We were so happy that we decided to give this a chance. The pesto fries are also a great addition to the menu. Even though we’re purists and did not particularly rejoice the fact that they mixed the pesto in mayonnaise, but we understand the commercial purpose of doing so. HOWEVER, the nugnukes are nug-NOs. They were cold, chewy and bland- don’t get them. Stick to their fries; they’re hot, crispy, thick cut and tasty.
Bonus points: They were using environmentally friendly utensils. Other stalls need to take note of this!
Om Nom Bros
The pictures looked absolutely drool worthy of the buenelos surprise. We got the sweet buenelos, filled with chocolate and served with a side of more chocolate.
Our thoughts: They are filled to the brim with chocolate sauce. It isn’t the best quality chocolate, you can tell by your first taste. And the bun seemed a little underdone, perhaps due to the thin consistency of the sauce. These looked great on social media, but looks can be deceiving. True in this case. We would not recommend it.
Social Hub
Can the night ever end without a cuppa chai (in our case matka chai)? Um, nope!
Price: RS 100
Our Thoughts: So we tried their Matka Chai and we weren’t disappointed like we were with others (chotu chaiwala, we’re looking at you) because of excessive sweetness and watery consistency. This one did the job as the taste was balanced – more flavour, less shashka deal!
14. Red Volks
There was a long line for the hot rods at Red Volks.
Price: RS 200
Our thoughts: We did not love the Hot Rod, it’s basically a K&N hot dog dipped in batter and doritos/Cheetos and fried. But we did sample their pulled beef burger and it tasted great, so that’s where the magic’s at y’all.
What we’re looking forward to on Day 2:
Burger Bros
Jolly Rancher Candy Floss
The Chew Bar, Ribs
Another Slamvich
Rigo’s donut cone
From Burns Road With Love
Awesamosas Doritos Chaat
and so much more. Keep watching this space for more updates regarding Karachi Eat 2019!