Karachi Eat is what got everyone hooked to food festivals a couple of years ago. Starting in 2016, the festival became known to bring the best food vendors or as they’d call them, ‘heroes’ in one place and serve nothing but unique and one of its kind food items. It’s where we tried our first scoop of nitrogen ice cream in Pakistan, where palak pakora chat became our must-try grub, where Peshawar’s famous chapli kabab became staple and where chocolate gol gappas rather unsuccessfully tried to make their way to our hearts.
Two years on, food festivals are a trend that has caught on like wildfire but we kind of feel loyal to Karachi Eat for opening its doors to us. It has played a huge part in making Karachi – the city of lights that never sleeps – now also the city that eats a lot.
We’d advise you put your diets on hold this weekend…
In an exclusive conversation with Something Haute, a team member of the biggest food festival (organized by CKO Architecture) of the city explained why KEF is truly unique. “The purpose of the EAT festival has always been about bringing people together and creating a platform for aspiring foodprenuers. ‘The EAT festivals are owned by the city, not by any one brand’ is the mantra. In this sense, the EAT will always remain unique.”
For this year’s food extravaganza, 90 ‘heroes’ (food vendors) will be present. “We went through a challenging process of working with our participants in order to curate 90 ‘special entries’ which were specifically designed for the EAT festival. These entries are all being launched at the Karachi Eat. No other festival curates the menus of each of their stalls,” the team explained.
Like each year, restaurants as well as independent vendors, prepare unique items that are not available on their regular menus. Are there some heroes who are bringing something unique this year?
Left to right: Jolly Rancher cotton candy by Sweet Escape, Taiyaki Soft Serve by Delina, Butter Beer by SOL
“The heroes have been carefully selected, some of the ones that do stand out are Bunvelo Surprise by Om Nom Bros, Taiyaki Soft Serve by Delina Ice cream, Disco Kakra by Desi Gali, Butter Beer by Sol and Tantuni by Tantuni House.”
While everyone will be presenting their unique tastes at the EAT, the team has their top five picks:
‘Khao Dossa’ who is serving ‘Stuffed Idli’
‘Le Saint Honore’ is serving a wide selection of Saint Honore
‘The Chew Bar’ for the meat lovers out there, is serving Dibs on the Ribs
‘Popaholic’ has prepared a special flavour popcorn just for Karachi Eat called ‘Mars Mission popcorn’
For those who aren’t afraid to try out new things, ‘Lady Marmalade’ is serving Fried Peanut Butter & Jelly.
Additionally, bringing in an authentic khausey flavour, SpiceOgetti will be serving the delicious Burmese delicacy along with their special entry for the EAT, ‘Malpura Madness’ which you should not miss while you’re there!
SpiceOgetti’s ‘Malpura Madness’
While everything seems promising, what should motivate people to attend KEF given the fear of huge crowds and past management issues?
“It is the one time in the year when Karachi is truly celebrated. People look forward to just enjoying their city and the EAT has proudly set the stage for it. In a nutshell, people should look forward to the food, friends and those gorgeous K-town sunsets.”
The team member furthered that their philosophy has been to organize the event at public parks which are unfortunately unable to accommodate big crowds. “ It’s a learning process and we are trying to address these issues keeping in line multiple factors such as security, accessibility, aesthetics, logistics etc. It’s a balancing act and this year round we hope to have a better flow both in terms of traffic and ticketing.”
Tamasha along with other underground bands of Karachi will be performing so be sure to enjoy food, music and great company from 11th-13th January 2019 at Beach Park, Clifton.
