What’s hot, what’s not: Eateries that stole the show at Karachi Eat 2020

Karachi Eat 2020 is the metropolis' biggest food festival, with food ranging from American and European to Pan-Asian and desi — a little bit of everything was available at the three-day event.

While many ventures were in second or third years running after successive stints over the past, other home-based start-ups had put up stalls for the first time. A few eateries, however, stole the show with their innovative and unique items, some of which were introduced for the first time in Pakistan.

Drty Dogs

Drty Dogs were a play on the classic hotdog but with a twist. People stood in long queues just to get a taste of the famous hotdogs everybody had been talking about on their social media.

The venture featured two items — Mexican hotdog and a Korean-style hotdog — both priced at Rs350.

Speaking to Geo.tv, the owner explained how the team had come up with the idea, what made their dish stand out, and that this was the first time they had put up a stall at Karachi Eat 2020.

"Karachi Eat has always been phenomenal. Nothing has changed this year either. We know we have a good product. … We thought it would be 50/50 [between Drty Korean and Drty Mexican] but clearly people are more inclined towards the Drty Mexican," he said.

He added that a lot of work and research had been gone into concocting a perfect product. "After four to five months of hard work and research and development, we decided on these two products," he said.

When asked about what made their products so special and popular, the eatery's representative said: "We realised that the hotdog is always an afterthought. You either have a burger chain or regular Pakistani food, hotdogs are always a last minute addition.

"We thought what was lacking in Karachi was a chain that focused fully on hotdogs," he said, noting that quality could never be compromised.

He said he and his friends worked tirelessly for the foodie community to have the manifestation of the perfect definition of a hotdog. "Some of the challenges that we faced were getting the right recipes. We’re perfectionists; it has to look perfect, it has to taste perfect.

"From the bun to the sauces to the flavor to the heat of the sausage — that was the toughest part," the owner said.

"We don’t have an outlet as of yet … maybe in a years’ time? But we are open for catering," he added as he talked about the increased demand of their products.

Basic

Another venture, Basic, really stood out in the crowd, as a small metal truck stood amongst the other, well, basic stalls. With a rainbow-coloured title, the eatery could be seen from metres away as a long line of eager customers could be seen leading up to the counter.

The owners, who were also the ones putting together the products, explained that their venture also only had two dishes. I guess less is more.

They explained that the items they had were a Taiwanese-origin dish. They had steamed baos (buns) — one savoury and one sweet option.

Another venture, Basic, really stood out in the crowd, as a small metal truck stood amongst the other, well, basic stalls. With a rainbow-coloured title, the eatery could be seen from metres away as a long line of eager customers could be seen leading up to the counter.

The owners, who were also the ones putting together the products, explained that their venture also only had two dishes. I guess less is more.

They explained that the items they had were a Taiwanese-origin dish. They had steamed baos (buns) — one savoury and one sweet option.

"It's a steamed bao, the bun is made from steaming it and has different fillings [inside]; one of them is spicy fried chicken and fresh basil and the other one is a fried bao served with ice cream and different toppings," said representative Maria Khursheed.

She explained that due to the popularity, they plan to introduce other flavours such as pulled beef. They, however, also don't have an outlet as yet but their metal cart is portable and can go anywhere.

Clucky's

Another eatery that seemed to be among the most popular ones this year was Clucky's.

With a long waiting line, the items seemed like something everyone wanted to get their hands on. People could be seen taking pictures of their infamous chicken and waffles with a number of different sauces on them. They also had other options like chicken with fries, as well as with rice.

Chicken and waffles is a popular South American dish created for people who like to add a sweet touch to their savoury. They're a combination of two things people absolutely love; fried chicken and waffles.

One of the representatives said their menu may be small but any and everything on it was special.

"It all depends on what you feel like eating. If you want mild you’ll get that, if you want spicy, you’ll get that and if you want sweet, that is also available" he said.

The eatery also has an outlet in Karachi's Defence Housing Authority (DHA) neighbourhood for all those who just could not get enough of that chicken and waffle.

Sweet Escape

After a huge success last year at Karachi eat, this favourite opened its door to another round of Jolly Rancher-favoured cotton candy. This time, however, with three additional flavours.

"The response last year was really good; therefore, we continued it this year as well," a team member said.

"A lot of people started approaching us to cater events. We currently have a cart in Clifton and plan on expanding in Winterland in the PAF museum," he added.

As people waited in huge queues to try their delicious cotton candy, with flavours ranging from blue raspberry and grape to green apple and premium butterscotch, the owner explained that their best-sellers were grape and watermelon flavours.

Yoshi's

The first of it's kind — a Japanese-themed restaurant — Yoshi's introduced their take on the traditional Tokyo street food called "Takoyaki".

The representative explained that they had substituted "Tako," which is octopus in Japanese, to "Ebi," which is prawn. Ebiyaki were essentially Osaka-styled tiny balls filled with shrimp and were made on the spot.

The idea of Japanese street food coming to Pakistan is something that is definitely very interesting and seemed to be a hit among the locals.

Kuiya

A take on the Memon cuisine, the home-based Kuiya surely hit it off with their innovate food items. Along with Kuiya — which are essentially boiled potato cups with masala-covered chickpeas as the filling — the eatery also introduced 'Namak Pyaarey'.

After a great response from prior years, the venture put up a stall for the fourth consecutive at the esteemed food festival and explained that they were also open to "catering and small gatherings".

When asked about the inspiration behind their products, the owner said it started off as friends and family trying different versions of the potato pocket and thought that other people should try it too.

"We loved it so much and thought, 'Why not share it with the world?'"

He said they had different flavours such as masala Kuyia, meetha (sweet) Kuyia, and pizza pepperoni Kuyia, among others.

As the name suggests, the Namak Pyarey — introduced for the first time — were filled with pyaar (love). Who doesn't love a combination of sweet chocolate, cinnamon, and ice cream with salty, crispy, flaky namak paray?

Their most popular offerings, however, were the khatta meetha (sour and sweet) and masala Kuiyas and due to the popularity, the owners have packaged the spices into boxes to sell through their social media accounts.

Panwaari 

Another thing that people seemed to really enjoy was the fire pan at Panwaari. The live fire on the desi treat made the serving very performative and everyone wanted to get a taste of the creative delight.