EotR food

[Better Late...]

Someone has posted on another thread about the food being pricey, and saying he feels that with one exception he never got a "meal" but just an expensive snack. I find the exact opposite: the portions are far too large for me, and having paid approx £6.50 - £8.00, it is galling to end up throwing anything up to half of it into the bin. Could vendors be encouraged to do as the Wide Awake Cafe does, and offer half portions where feasible ? I know they'd charge more than half price, but I could live with a small surcharge. It's not good for the festival's green credentials to have so much food wasted (surely I'm not the only one with a "daintier" appetite...)

And someone else posted that it is basically stodge, stodge and more stodge: yes, perhaps there could be more salads available but on the whole the food is nourishing compared with that at many public venues. From my point of view theree are far too many stalls whose names are just a front for curry, curry and more curry, (or substitute the word chilli for curry) but there are certainly enough other choices to keep me happy for a long weekend without having to eat the same thing over and over again.

[wackojackohighcliffe]

Didn't have a problem with the size but I did with the food (price was expectedly high). I couldn't find a proper pudding on site - cakes are not puddings and the crepes were crap. Bhatti wraps were hugely dissapointing. As were the wedges.

Pizza was very good value. So too the chicken (not enough potatoes though and the roll was tasteless). I'm sure it all used to be better.

[ljsawyer]

Not sure what people are complaining about with the portions and prices. I got a decent plate of potato wedges with spicy salsa for £3.50 one evening and that was easily enough for dinner

I couldn't find a proper pudding on site - cakes are not puddings and the crepes were crap.

[nigeyb]

And where were Pieminister? Gutted not to see them in amongst the stalls. The Goan Fish Curry was a bit of a winner though.

[shoebox]

This year I discovered the momos at the Tibetan kitchen thing. A quid each and I couldn't get enough of them. Also enjoyed the Bhatti Wraps, chicken and pies. I normally have a Goan fish curry, but didn't this for some mysterious reason.

Prices were high, but I felt that generally you did get a decent meal for that. Can't really complain.

[shugie]

And where were Pieminister? Gutted not to see them in amongst the stalls. The Goan Fish Curry was a bit of a winner though.

[wackojackohighcliffe]

Not sure what people are complaining about with the portions and prices. I got a decent plate of potato wedges with spicy salsa for £3.50 one evening and that was easily enough for dinner

What about the waffle stall? That was amazing, £5 for the best dessert I've had in ages!

[baroquepop]

Having reformed my eating habits in the last year, the lack of my usual amount of fresh fruit was a problem, and I was led into temptation too often. A proper market-style fruit stall selling (i.e. not a smoothie/wheatgrass etc) so I could snack on a banana or apple would be most helpful.

In general I found the food stalls and their prices to be acceptable, not bad nor exceptional.

[Yokel Again]

Pies - simply not as good as Pieminister I'm afraid. the pie was OK, chips and gravy were awful. :-(

The rest of it was Ok - although hadk x2 meals a day cooked back at the camp as it saves 3 of us about £100 over the course of the weekend!!

[MattL80]

I think overall the prices are pretty reasonable. People seem to forget that it costs more to cook/refrigerate in the middle of a field. As far as I remember the average price seems much the same as the previous few years.

Good size portions too in my opinion, I never found myself leaving anything, nor was I left wanting more at the end of it.

My only complaint is that there are far too many purely vegetarian food stalls. From a rough count well over half had no meat. I like meat. Hmmmmm, meat...

[GeordieMartin]

Hmmm. For me, just not enough variety. There is some great food there, don't get me wrong, but as a vegan i seemed to have to eat either curry or chilli, always something spicy. Falafel etc etc. I din't think the portions were that big, not tiny but not great and i think for £7/£8 you'd expect a decent portion.

Because i was sick of curry/chili i gave in one morning and had the fish kedgeree and have to say, portion was it was the best and tasted pretty bloody good (although i still feel guilty about it now)

I like the idea of a fresh fruit and veg store, or maybe a 'cook your own' style set up where there are loads of ingredients/spices etc and you cook them yourself there and then. Or even two big barbecues, a vegan/veggie one and a meaty one? As i said, just a bit more variety, all seemed a little samey this year and could have done with a few more stalls. imo.

[RedLemon]

long critchel bakery was great as ever

[DaveT]

One of the highlights of my first EOTR was the standard of the food. I'm not a festival regular (aversion to camping though I even fought that this year). Couple of Glastonburys in the mid 80's, Reading 89-91 and Isle of Wight about 6 years ago. This was brilliant in every way compared to them. We brought some breakfast basics with us, so only ate out in the evening and thought it was superb. Each meal we had we bought one and shared it between two of us and commented that it would be too much for one (and i'm not a particularly slim bloke) and they were excellent. Loved the Curry Shed dishes we had on the last night!

[paulwa]

I have no problem with the food prices. I'd say they've hardly gone up in the last 3 years when, let's face it, the price of your weekly food shopping will have rocketed. Cheaper options like chips, potato wedges or the fabulous roast chicken and stuffing bap I had on Sunday were also available. The quality was great across the board, especially the Salmon Kedgeree breakfast from the Goan Curry outlet.

[Swindlebiscuit]

We need the return of the halloumi wraps, people. We need this so much.

[Better Late...]

I have no problem with the food prices. I'd say they've hardly gone up in the last 3 years when, let's face it, the price of your weekly food shopping will have rocketed. Cheaper options like chips, potato wedges or the fabulous roast chicken and stuffing bap I had on Sunday were also available. The quality was great across the board, especially the Salmon Kedgeree breakfast from the Goan Curry outlet.

[Infinite Jest]

Perhaps I should team up with someone who just wants to eat carbs !

[Swindlebiscuit]

Let's all hang around Better Late, mouths agape like hungry orphans as he/she flings rice grains into the wind.

We need never buy food again.

[sadwitch]

I think for a festival this size the food variety is really good. We cooked a bit to save money as we were broke but you could get cheap filling foods from the bakery or potato place and £7 isn't too bad for a good curry served in the middle of a field. Of course things cost a bit extra at a festival because of the costs involved. It was much better than at NDH. I think the campsite general store was selling fruit but perhaps a few more salad type offerings would be good. I think the largish portions are a winner as I tend to not eat regular meals at a festival.

[baroquepop]

Roll on to NDH next June. The Welbeck Abbey farm shop/tent was pretty darn fine. With the kitchen demos./tasters as well I'd say NDH is EOTR for foodies.

[Blannyboy]

Must admit to being partial to the burritos, and a mention to the Tibetian food (momos) and the Goan fish curry

[MattL80]

Damn, I wish I'd tried the momos.

[airwaves]

Best value on site - Roaming Rotiserie - Mrs Airwaves and I shared a half chicken with potatoes for £7 and there was sufficient for the two of us.

Tastiest meal on site - the Morrocan boureks - we had one each on the Thursday and went back on the Sunday.

Regarding choice there were more '1st choices' for us than there were available eating nights - Roaming Rotiserie, Morrocan, Tibeten, the Pie place, The Story, Grand Bouff, Goan Fish Curry - but i was disappointed that the tent with outdoor fish BBQ (previously in the Peacock Bar area) wasn't there, and I've never forgiven the fact that the 24 hour cooked BBQ ribs place that was there one year never returned.

[Better Late...]

Best value on site - Roaming Rotiserie - Mrs Airwaves and I shared a half chicken with potatoes for £7 and there was sufficient for the two of us.

[sadwitch]

My sister LOVES the grande bouffe but said it was much worse than previously and the service was crap. They were also rude at ndh.