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| - Before I begin my review/breakdown, I have to caution others about the high prices. This festival is a pilot project, from what I understand. They never ran it in Mississauga before, and as such, it was somewhat smaller than I expected in terms of vendors. As a pilot project (which is a piece of information that wasn't relayed well to many, if any, attending), prices are going to be higher in order to minimize the initial risk and setup costs.
I am more than willing to pay more for slightly-smaller-than-normal portion sizes if it means this event will return to the community. And yes, I did go and buy some tickets after doing my responsibilities as mentioned below. I always enjoy seeing festivals in Port Credit, because it's my backyard and everyone is - for lack of a better phrase - part of a large family I have.
Anyway, onto the review.
Fantastic. Loved it. Couldn't get enough of it.
I was given a unique opportunity to act as a judge on behalf of Yelp with the Mac and Cheese Festival. It's not something I've ever done before, and after hearing from a friend about how great the experience was judging entries at the Mississauga Rotary RIbfest a couple weeks back, I figured I would jump on the chance immediately. It was a very last-minute thing, but I had an incredible time.
The best way I can describe this festival is "multicultural". Yes, I know we have enough multicultural festivals in the city, but there was a wide selection of inspired mac-and-cheese dishes, including jerk chicken m&c, mac-and-cheese spring rolls, vegan mac bowls, a butter chicken variant... the list goes on.
I will go through all of the dishes, as we had to try each and every single booth. Be still, my beating heart.
Soul2Go: Vegan mac-and-cheese served in taco bowls. The one I tried was with cauliflower, although there was also a "fully loaded" bowl that was being served. I was blown away by the mixture of cauliflower and shallots. Were it not for a later booth, this would have easily been my pick of the competition. It just bursts with flavour in every bite.
Maezo: Butter chicken mac-and-cheese. Good, but the butter chicken greatly overpowers the cheese. If I wanted butter chicken, I'd just go down to Toronto for it.
Sabana: They weren't even being judged in the competition, but they still fed us! They went above and beyond the call of duty there. We all tried cheese-curd covered nachos. Ridiculously decadent. I had to stop myself after a couple bites. Damn good!
Sul Irmaos: An easy pick for top dish of the competition, the ribs-mac-and-cheese is on a whole other level. I will fight anyone who says it's too expensive. It's bursting with rich flavour, and the ribs were cooked to perfection. I polished off that plate like no one's business.
Jerk Brothers: The owners also went over and above my expectations, serving huge combo plates of jerk chicken, jerk-spiced mac-and-cheese, coleslaw and shortribs. 90% of the dish was stellar, but I found the m&c to be a bit weak on this one.
Bacon Nation: A one-way ticket to the hospital, LOL. We all had bacon-wrapped mac-and-cheese and m&c-stuffed spring roll. The roll I tasted was surprisingly rich, but very nice. Good in moderation.
Fired Up!: My secret favorite of the festival. Smoked-meat and mac-and-cheese smothered in mustard. Yeah, the mustard overpowered the dish to the point of distraction, but I couldn't get enough of it. Would have scarfed down the whole thing if I wasn't on the clock.
Marco Polo: Lord have mercy, was this messy. I'm fairly certain a few Yelpers saw me with lettuce and aioli sauce hanging from my mouth. The buttermilk chicken/mac combo is killer, and tastes so, so good. An easy top 3 pick.
Spice Lounge and Tapas: "Al dente". Just "al dente". Liked it, but didn't love it. The duck confit was the best part.
In the end, Sul Irmaos won for that delectable rib-mac-and-cheese dish. Worth its weight in gold, and then some. It was a fantastic experience from start to finish, and I give my sincere thanks to Kris and Amy for organizing things at the last minute.
I'm hoping this will become a mainstay, because it's a killer festival and the food lineup was incredible. Also a shoutout to the organizer, Phil, who explained the concept of the festival and his goals for future events in the area. I'm betting this will continue and bring in even more vendors in future years.
Well worth a visit, and highly recommended.
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