Every Fringe Festival I decide on a last minute ticket to see some struggling comedian from the other side of the world or spend a boozy night at the dusty Garden of Unearthly Delights. However, this time I kept it together long enough to try some culinary delights - hopefully? I see the return of some old favourites – the return of some not so favourites. Oh! And it definitely would not be The Garden without crap beer and dead grass everywhere.
A few new additions are the Gourmet Mexican stand and The Crepe Escape. These stalls may have been present in past years but as I mentioned I was very drunk at the time. The ingredients before you at the Mexican stand are fresh and well presented, my burrito is made to order and the result is a cold, doughy mass of cheese – not fun.
The Crepe Escape offer delicious cooked batter with a few select ingredients. The results are delightful, substantial crepes worth the coin. The Golden Syrup Crepe ($5) was a perfect after show treat. Adelaide is not taking to the crepe sensation, business is slow and I would hate to see these guys cope with a rush of hungry show goers. One point of interest was the ‘hippycrit’ that served our crepe on a styrofoam tray.
Ozzie’s Turkish Pastry flagship dish is their stuffed savoury BBQ’d pastries. The size of these stuffed pastries are deceptive as you ogle the BBQ’ing breads of ample size and are ready to tuck into what seems a bargain of foot long proportions – and you receive merely half. The taste of the spicy lamb spinach and fetta filled bread is terrific ($9). Well worth their cunning sales tactic. They do dips and olives and serve on recyclable paper plates – good form.
Beyond India are here in force as expected. Their steady rise to the pinnacle of festival food service is justified. Go for the Butter chicken or Vindaloo, Naan & Raita if standing in their line up undecided. These guys do it well and you realise why when you see them pump out the curries at WomAdelaide, North Adelaide Food and Wine Fest, Tasting Australia and here at the Fringe. Spiffy pressed fibre plates and wooden cutlery - Consummate pro’s!
Sadly there are a few sluggish venues dragging their feet. The Quiet Waters serve up reasonable value nutrition but may not appeal to your sense of style. It tends to resemble a sloppy gruel. The Chip Cone stall is fast growing old – it is tricky packaging to deal with and more often than not soggy and sad. Not worth your dollars. For the kids or little people there is the Sweet and Sour Candy stall which seemed well positioned between the Gelatissimo servery and the useless knick knack sellers.
The choices are many and varied at The Garden which is one Gold Star for food but minus one for the lack of imagination in the drinks sheds. When I think of the choices at poorly catered festivals such as the Royal Show I recoil at the thought of DagWood chomping, flossed up show goers, but at least I can enjoy decent local ale.
My tip for The Garden of Unearthly Delights is send friend A to get some BBQ’d Turkish bread from Ozzie’s, friend B to get some curries to share from Beyond India, Friend C to find a table where you won’t be roped into holding some smelly freaks unicycle in front of the greedy public. You get the bottle of red wine, sit back relax and let the culture wash over you.
A few new additions are the Gourmet Mexican stand and The Crepe Escape. These stalls may have been present in past years but as I mentioned I was very drunk at the time. The ingredients before you at the Mexican stand are fresh and well presented, my burrito is made to order and the result is a cold, doughy mass of cheese – not fun.
The Crepe Escape offer delicious cooked batter with a few select ingredients. The results are delightful, substantial crepes worth the coin. The Golden Syrup Crepe ($5) was a perfect after show treat. Adelaide is not taking to the crepe sensation, business is slow and I would hate to see these guys cope with a rush of hungry show goers. One point of interest was the ‘hippycrit’ that served our crepe on a styrofoam tray.
Ozzie’s Turkish Pastry flagship dish is their stuffed savoury BBQ’d pastries. The size of these stuffed pastries are deceptive as you ogle the BBQ’ing breads of ample size and are ready to tuck into what seems a bargain of foot long proportions – and you receive merely half. The taste of the spicy lamb spinach and fetta filled bread is terrific ($9). Well worth their cunning sales tactic. They do dips and olives and serve on recyclable paper plates – good form.
Beyond India are here in force as expected. Their steady rise to the pinnacle of festival food service is justified. Go for the Butter chicken or Vindaloo, Naan & Raita if standing in their line up undecided. These guys do it well and you realise why when you see them pump out the curries at WomAdelaide, North Adelaide Food and Wine Fest, Tasting Australia and here at the Fringe. Spiffy pressed fibre plates and wooden cutlery - Consummate pro’s!
Sadly there are a few sluggish venues dragging their feet. The Quiet Waters serve up reasonable value nutrition but may not appeal to your sense of style. It tends to resemble a sloppy gruel. The Chip Cone stall is fast growing old – it is tricky packaging to deal with and more often than not soggy and sad. Not worth your dollars. For the kids or little people there is the Sweet and Sour Candy stall which seemed well positioned between the Gelatissimo servery and the useless knick knack sellers.
The choices are many and varied at The Garden which is one Gold Star for food but minus one for the lack of imagination in the drinks sheds. When I think of the choices at poorly catered festivals such as the Royal Show I recoil at the thought of DagWood chomping, flossed up show goers, but at least I can enjoy decent local ale.
My tip for The Garden of Unearthly Delights is send friend A to get some BBQ’d Turkish bread from Ozzie’s, friend B to get some curries to share from Beyond India, Friend C to find a table where you won’t be roped into holding some smelly freaks unicycle in front of the greedy public. You get the bottle of red wine, sit back relax and let the culture wash over you.
Giles
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