on saturday, i was supposed to go to brighton. when my friends and i booked our train tickets, we were full of good intentions and wanderlust and we really wanted to go to brighton for some seaside fun. then, about three weeks ago, we realised that the weekend we'd planned to head down just happened to be pride. which wasn't a problem, but just meant that about four zillion other people would be having the same kinds of good intentions and seaside fun as us. and we don't like sharing our fun.
many conversations were had about whether or not we should still go; it'll be ok, it'll be fine, it won't be that busy, will it? will it? my guess was yes, it would be. well, the decision was made late on friday that no, we wouldn't be going to brighton, which was actually ok with me, because i scored freebie tickets to feast on east london's tobacco docks about the same time that the decision was made... almost as if the fates had made the decision for me... so, come saturday afternoon (after a well-earned lay in and a day of catching up on some chores), i grabbed bex and lp and we headed over to shadwell.
i'm not going to lie; it was... not as good as i was expecting. it was in the same venue that the london tattoo convention and (most recently) taste of christmas are held, and so i had in my mind that it was going to be choc-a-block of food stalls and taste testies and freebies and stuff. and.. it kind of was, but only at about 23% of the potential that it could/should have been in that venue.
considering it was more than a tenner a ticket just to get in, i was baffled about what that cost covered. possibly nothing, because that's certainly what it felt like. so, we wandered past maybe four or five food stalls outside the venue before making our way in for a looksee. the top level was pretty rammed with street food vendors - to be expected, but they just didn't seem to be well-placed for optimal customer-purchasing times.
there were lines everywhere, so much so that we missed half of the vendors because we just couldn't be bothered waiting to see what version of amazingly overpriced food they were serving. instead, we headed for the most amazing cocktail idea i've ever seen; little pouches of frozen drinks, clipped to a lanyard, with a straw for easy access. at £6.50 each, these were.... strong. and we had four each. in... about an hour and a half. i remember nothing after that. at least there was no line. or... maybe there was. who knows.
ohhh and the meringue girls! i mean, who doesn't love meringues, amiright? these babes though, had some of the prettiest little sweet puffs i have ever seen, and... i dunno, maybe we were drunk, or maybe we thought we were getting a bargain, but we definitely spent about £8 on meringues.you know what, it wasn't all terrible - go read katy's version of events, because it seems like she had a really good time there, and maybe i'm just a bit cynical in my old age. that, or i just expect quite a bit from my food festivals, having been spoiled rotten by taste and streetfeast and all the rest so far this summer. i can safely say i'm glad this one was free, because i wouldn't have paid to attend.
did you head along to feast this year; what's your take on the festival?
