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| Karachi Eat 2015 – A foodie’s paradise |
Karachi Eat came back with a bang this year. The second year of the food festival saw roughly 30,000 visitors over the course of the weekend. Many of Karachi’s favourite eateries took part in the festival, including Okra, Lals and The Deli. Desi food was also popular, especially the Chapli Kebab stall and the Khyber Koyla Karahi stall. The festival also featured many home bakers and bakeries and was a great opportunity to try less well-known establishments.
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| Desserts from The Deli |
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| Yummy cupcakes everywhere |
With an event of this size, there were many inconveniences and Karachi-ites weren’t shy about taking to the social media to complain. Although there was a valet service, parking was a nightmare and traffic was bad – particularly on Saturday when Karachi police closed off half the road for another event.
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| There was more rush in the night than in the day |
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| Yet people thronged for their favourite foods at Karachi Eat |
At peak times people were complaining that it took up to an hour to get into the venue and there were long waits for food, especially at popular stalls. The most sought-after stalls such as Beefeater tended to sell out fast, there wasn’t enough seating and there was insufficient provision for toilets.
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| Food lovers stay committed through long lines.. |
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| Slow roasted beef tenderloin sandwiches available at Beefeater |
Apart from the toilet issue, with was particularly a problem for the very old and very young, the complaints were symptomatic of Karachi’s culture of entitlement. Whether upper or middle class, we are used to being waited on which is why many complained about the inconveniences of a huge festival by Karachi Eat.
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| Karachi Eat – An enjoyable family day out with food all around! |
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| Food lovers getting comfortable sitting in the grass |
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| There were plenty of table sitting areas |
The fact is that a festival that caters to such huge numbers of people is going to involve queues and discomfort and long waits. Whether you are at a music festival like Glastonbury or a food festival like Smorgabord in New York, you have to expect inconvenience and queues. Of course, there were issues that needed addressing – by both the management and participating stall holders. For example, some stalls needed to revamp their menus to improve turnaround. Organisers needed to review the seating space give to sponsors – corporate sponsorship is vital but shouldn’t be to the detriment of the event as a whole.
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| A Lifebuoy hand washing booth – One of the better corporate sponsorships |
There should have been more local food and fewer home bakers – people craved haleem and paya and there were too many cookies and cupcakes. In general though, the event was what it should be – a celebration of food.
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| Karachi Eat 2015 |
Arriving at around 3 on Saturday, I found plenty to try. The Okra stand was doing great business, as was Spoonful’s dessert stand. Their strawberry samosas were one of the hits of the festival.
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| Strawberry samosas in the making |
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| Spoonful’s strawberry samosas were the talk of the festival |
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| A little piece of Okra’s fine dining at the festival |
There were so many delicious things on offer that I wish I had thrice the stomach space. I enjoyed jalapeno poppers from Cosmopolitan, some delicious mini bun kebabs from Nano’s kitchen and porcupine prawns from China Kitchen.
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| Mini bun-kebabs from Nano’s Kitchen |
I was tempted by chaat from Red Rabbit, Tikkas from Spice, Dosas from Food Choice. In the end, I plumped for Arbi Parathas from Spice – deep fried pockets of deliciousness that probably made my arteries whimper!
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| Street food: Dossa from Food Choice |
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| Street food: Dahi bharay and chaana chat from Red Rabbit |
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| There were plenty of healthy food options too- A nuts salad from Evergreen |
There were so many yummy options for dessert that I had to pack some to take home. I ended up sampling Ice Dream’s icecream made with Liquid Nitrogen – it was fascinating to watch but nothing to write home about taste-wise. It’s worth mentioning here that, as a physicist, I was horrified by how close children were allowed to get to the Liquid Nitrogen – this stuff burns and should have been kept at more of a distance. Here’s a video of the icecream being made:
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| Ice Dream’s ice cream made with liquid Nitrogen |
I returned around 1:30 on Sunday with my family, which was even busier than Saturday. Okra wasn’t around on Sunday but most of the other stalls were there. My hubby and I started with Chapli kebabs and moved on to Karahi by Khyber Koyla Karahi.
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| Chapali Kababs were a must have at the festival |
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| Preparation underway! |
The Chapli kebab was very popular – I believe they served over 7000 people over the two days. The Karahi was a bit of disappointment – the taste was good but the meat was gristly and poor quality.
Saniya’s Khowsay was another of the hits of the festival and one of my boys did try Khowsay – though I’m not sure which stall he tried it from. He wasn’t impressed and was insistent I say so in this blog. As someone who doesn’t have a huge appetite he was very disappointed that the one thing he chose wasn’t up to scratch.
There were other highlights though – slushies, churros, fresh sugar cane juice and the truly sensational strawberry cheesecake from Royal Bakeries who bake Dutch goodies. Apart from the fact that the cheesecake was so good, I must mention that Royal Bakeries actually works with disadvantaged transgender people to give them a safe environment to work in.
This wasn’t the only charity at work at Karachi Eat. Radio FM had set up a rickshaw where people could take pictures to donate to 141 schools – a charity that aims to build a school for every child killed in the APS Peshawar attack.
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| 141 Schools for Peace |
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| Proceeds from this Radio FM 91 Rickshaw went to the 141 schools org |
As well as too many different types of food to enumerate, there were a couple of stalls selling great baking supplies and handmade soaps. Although the latter was especially incongruous, it was enjoyable to browse through these stalls.
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| Baking supplies – Edible accents |
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| Baking supplies available |
All in all, Karachi Eat was lots of fun – if a little tough on the waistline. It was far from perfect but certainly worth all the minor inconveniences – I hope to see it back again next year.
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| Karachi Eat 2015- successful in bringing the citizens of Karachi together in the name of delicious food. |
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| Sausage rolls |
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| Freshly baked bread |
Copyright 2015 Karachista. All rights reserved
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