One of the things I miss about living in Auckland is the fact that there are so many amazing things on all the time which we don’t get down here in Wanganui. I had heard about the Food Show before and it sounded like heaven to me, however I hadn’t made it to one yet.
We had planned a quick getaway to Auckland for a special birthday surprise for my dad for the end of July and I was very stoked when I discovered that the Food Show was on the same weekend!
I found the West Coast Cocoa stand pretty quickly and made a beeline for it as I had heard great things about them and had wanted to try their peppermint hot chocolate. I saw that they also did a chai drink as well which was pretty darn tasty. The three pack of cocoa for $25 was one of our few purchases for the day as they were so good!
We wandered around in the main area trying a lot of different samples and wondering how there could be so many different places that sell things you can dip your bread in! There were a couple of places that were selling kumara chips which were pretty tasty although they were quite sweet.
After an hour or so of wandering around we got to the end of the first building and discovered that there was a whole new area beyond that! We were getting ready for a proper meal by this point so went on the hunt for the stalls which would serve us an actual meal.
Both Kyle and myself had the panang curry and dad tried the vegetarian nachos, the curry was really tasty and had just the right amount of heat in it. The servings were on the small side however I completely understand that as everyone had been trying a lot of different samples so we didn’t need big servings.
We also grabbed a couple of different slices from Little Bird Unbakery to try (they were tiny, there is no way one would have been enough to share!). We tried the caramel slice and the raspberry cacao cheesecake which were both tasty and since they are free of refined sugar we didn’t get the afternoon crash from the sugar.
One of the downfalls of trying too many yummy foods can be getting a touch of indigestion (which is caused by stomach acid rising to the esophagus), which can be uncomfortable when you are out and about.
To keep indigestion at bay make sure you take your time when eating and don’t over stuff yourself! Try small samples of all the things and purchase product to take home rather than going back for seconds.
That is the main joy of the Food Show really isn’t it? To try samples of different products and find products which will become staples or yummy treats at home!
Some notable mentions at the food show included the $10 pack of gluten free pasta and pasta sauces from Barilla and the $10 pack of jerky from Jack Links. I also tried the other flavours of the Tom and Lukes Trinity Bars but I must say that the spirulina one is still my favourite.
Overall I really enjoyed the Food Show in Auckland for 2015 and am so glad we were able to attend this year! For those of you in or near Wellington keep an eye out as later in the year the Food Show is making it’s way down to you too 🙂
For those of you who went to the food show which stands did you enjoy the most??