Chilli Chilli Bang Bang

More Fire! 

10 May 2014 - Dalston Yard

Round two of our season of Big Eatings saw Tweat Up & Street Feast join forces with Wahaca chief Thomasina Meyers for a celebration of the mighty chilli - Chilli Chilli Bang Bang. The event promised more capsaicin-crammed street foods than one could point a spiced-stick at, chef's demos and the usual meeting of booze and vibes that usually make Tweat Ups so great. Plus, we were promised the Big Eating cards that will certify us as stone-cold legends (kind of).

Unfortunately, for us at least, this bang bang went off like a damp squib.

Ignoring our better instincts, we decided not to be some of the first through the gates and arrived mid-way through the afternoon session. This may have had something to do with the fact we had entry to both sessions taken care of, and thus could double our booze allowance. However, it turned out to be a fatal error.

Being conscientious carnivores,  we had fully pre-planned our afternoon's eatings, but by 3pm - a good two hours before the end of the session - everything on our list had sold out. Well, not everything; more on that later. Clearly there is a lesson to be learned there, always go early. But I'd also argue that lots of vendors running out of food mid-way through the event suggests that the planning could have been better - something I've never been able to say about a Tweat Up event before. Maybe they'd over-stretched this time. It did seem very busy in Dalston Yard, with massive queues and some really bad bottle-necks in the labyrinthine venue, meaning you were constantly pushing past people. The weather probably didn't help here - the occasional biblical shower forcing people to cower under the roofs and leaving large puddles in their wake, and also resulting in fire 'pits' (read tubs) being placed around the venue, filling the place with smoke. And the girlfriend's view of the toilet situation was 'absolutely rank'.

In addition, the promised Wahaca margarita & bottle of hot sauce included with entry turned out to be vouchers redeemable at another time and place, and the Big Eater cards STILL weren't ready.

So as far as we were concerned, the vibes quota was lacking (and given how many others were over-heard pissing and moaning, it seems we weren't alone). Which was a shame: like I've said before, these things are usually amazing so I'm certain this was a one-off mis-step.

OK, rant (almost) over - it wasn't all bad.

While all the stuff we wanted to try before hand turned out to be unavailable, what we did eat was all good. While I was in the queue waiting to be told SmokeStak had run out of everything but pulled pork, the girlfriend was discovering Nanban had run out of the curry-pan donuts. But following a nice chat with chef Tim Anderson & his lovely wife, she came away with one of the final few servings of the pulled pork yuzu curry that went into the donuts (that Tim assured her was better anyway). And that was an absolute delight.

The pork was incredibly soft and juicy - melt in your mouth meatiness. The cheese on top was a great, and unusual touch, adding a salty gooey-ness. The onions on top added a different texture, and the whole dish had a subtle heat to it. Also, the perfect curry to rice ratio, meaning it was great value for money. Take note, food sellers everywhere:

Next up, I went and secured a bit of sweet Thai pork belly from Som-Saa, served on a betel leaf with some peanut and 'mouse-shit' chillis (sold out: flank steak with chilli jaew, and crispy pigs ears). I liked this - it had a great balance of hot, sour & sweet that is the corner-stone of Thai cooking. The girlfriend's piece of pork was too tough for her, so she was less impressed.

We then hit up Bao for their classic slow-braised pork belly gua bao with dou ban jiang pickles and peanut powder, and a pigs head terrine (sold out: the lamb gao bao with aioli and jalapenos, and their amazing fried chicken). Incredible - the pork sweet and sticky, the bun light and fluffy, and the pickles and fresh herbs really shone through. Dish of the day, no doubt. I'd like to see a cook-off between these guys and Yum-Bun. That would be awesome. A proper bun fight.

The terrine was a bit of a non-event, though. I liked the crisp pickled daikon that came with it (I do love a good radish), but the terrine was bland and just a bit fatty. Oh well - the bun was so good, this can easily be forgiven.

Our final food was the indian slider trifecta from Rola Wala, served on mini naans, each with a different heat level. Mild was shredded BBQ mint chicken with crispy Kashmiri chicken skin - a 3/10 heat rating. Medium was beetroot dal with scotch bonnet and coconut crusted corn kernels - 6/10 for heat. Hot was goan-style pulled pork with carolina reaper crackle, a 10/10 heat rating that promised 'a wave of fire'.

Overall, they were good. Even though the heat-ratings were probably oversold: the pork 'bad boy' was more like one of the fire tubs than a towering inferno. And the naans were maybe a little too crispy. But that's by-the-by; the key thing was the excellent flavours. The beetroot one wasn't overly beetroot-y (just as well as the girlfriend thinks it tastes like wet earth), and the corn kernels added crunch to what was otherwise a bit mushy. The chicken was nice and fresh, juicy and the mild spice was refreshing. While not as hot as I was expecting, the pork was definitely the best of the three - it had a rising heat, and... Definite shout out to the pickled onion garnish on them all, which added a vinegary sweetness to proceedings.

After that, we had space for one more dish, so headed over to Slider bar to see what magic the taco wars winners could produce. But despite it being just gone 4pm and there still being food left, it seemed the Breddo's boys had decided to knock off early and were shutting down. Which was a touch annoying. Then after being told by the barman they'd run out of chilliback juice, we decided to bring an end to a slightly disappointing afternoon.

Look at what you could have won...

On our way out we walked past the SmokeStak guys prepping for the evening service. The beef ribs they were pulling out looked and smelled amazing. Which kinda just rubbed a little salt in the wounds.

Oh well, roll on the 22nd and Auction Against Hunger. That sounds like it's going to be epic, and we'll get there for the opening time. We might even have our cards by then...