Last Sunday I returned to London’s Foodies Festival after spending the whole weekend there in 2012 (Read our review here). This year the festival was held on Clapham Common as opposed to Battersea Park which was handy for me, living so nearby. This year, I was joined by some of the girls who were equally as hungry when I met them at the tube. We decided to grab some lunch before making our way around the stalls after previously making the mistake of filling up on free samples from traders before we had the chance to purchase some of the great food on offer.
After a quick whizz round we settled on Jamie Oliver’s Barbecoa as the menu was both comforting and warm – just what was needed as we were freezing! I went for a slow roasted pulled pork shoulder with rich BBQ sauce and coleslaw in a roll. At £5 I thought this was pretty good value, although on this occasion we did have to eat it outside in the cold.
Feeling full and slightly warmer we headed to grab a coffee before making our way around the festival to see what else was on offer. There was an extensive selection of traders at the festival this year with independent traders such as Narna’s (excellent peanut butter brownies) Devilishly Good Brownie Co. with their gooey delights (read our review here) and the Marshmallowists, whose unusual flavoured marshmallow squares offer something novel yet tasty. It was also nice to see the regulars return like one of my favourites, Global Fusion, and Joe & Sephs whose gourmet popcorn went down a storm (read our review here). This year, there seemed to be a greater number of big names at the festival including Humming Bird Bakery serving coffee and cake – our favourites. Although tasty, I thought it was a shame to see traders with products I can pick up elsewhere. I believe a visit to a food festival should be an opportunity to pick up quality goods which you cannot pick up nearby, like Lallapolosa who only sell their freshly baked goods, like the salted caramel brownies seen below, online or at events like this.
After feeling pretty full from Jamie’s pulled pork and with a cupcake, rhubarb crumble and macron waiting for me back home, I decided not to pick up too many treats this year as I was simply overloaded due to other foodie events the same weekend. I did pick up a cute salted caramel dessert pot from On Patisserie who also run a cookery workshop alongside a selection of macarons and mini desserts. The dessert pot was scrumptious and a little similar to those by La Sagra who offer a large range of uniquel flavours such as Crème Brûlée (read our review here).
I had a pleasant day at the Foodies Festival London, although we didn’t stay long as the sun failed to appear so we headed off for a cup of tea at latest Clapham hangout, The Dairy. No doubt I would have stayed until close if I had visited the previous day which saw temperatures reach 22c – typical!
This August, the Foodie Festival is returning to Battersea Park for a special event called ‘Feast’ where a selection of the UK’s top street food vendors will gather to serve some of the best on-the-go food. I just hope the weather picks up so I enjoy my three favourite things; food, drink and sun. Rain or shine, the Foodies Festival is a good day out and you can pick up advanced tickets to future locations for£15 here. Make sure you get there early and book yourself in to one of the many demonstrations and workshops from a whole host of famous foodies such as Shelina Permalloo, winner of MasterChef 2012. If you visited the Foodies Festival, we’d love to hear which sweet treats you picked up?
Living life, loving cake,
H x
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[…] Helen has been to a few foodie festivals and always enjoys them. You can take a look at her reviews here and here to see exactly what to […]
[…] fat and sugar (yippee!). I have previously come across Global Fusion at Taste of Christmas and the Foodies Festival where they sell their sweet cake-like bread in a number of different flavours. I’ve tried […]