Five days of street food… definitely a foodie’s dream, and Hyderabad’s food-blogger Neidhi Kumaar got to experience it all at the World Street Food Congress 2016 in Manila, Philippines. A food festival that covers 10 countries and had over 12,000 people in attendance required one to go prepared. Neidhi says with a laugh, “I planned my itinerary to ensure that I could try as many dishes as I could! I managed 22 out of the 25 must-have foods.”
With so much food to savour, they were obviously some hits and some terrible misses. Neidhi says, “The best foods that I tried were the Vietnam Banh Can, authentic seafood pancakes, the Truffle Lechon by Pepita’s Kitchen; I saw the largest line here everyday to taste the lechon (pork) that was served with truffle-flavoured rice, and the meat melted in each bite. Then there was the Mee Siam from Malaysia — a bowl filled with thin rice noodles in spicy samba sauce topped with fish cakes, seafood and eggs. And one can’t forget the sticky rice banana from Vietnam — wood grilled soft banana enclosed in sticky rice wrapped in banana leaf. There were two dishes I tried and marked them off my list as being too adventurous. The Betamax, chunks of coagulated pork or chicken blood grilled and served along with vinegar sauce; and the ISAW, grilled pork or chicken intestine served on sticks. I wouldn’t try again,” she says.
