K-Days 2023: It's time to prove that I really do "eat everything"

New to the blog this year, I decided that I should probably attend K-Days to eat some of the items that most people would "have to be dared to try." I do claim to eat everything, after all. There's even a contest for creative midway foods each year so the various vendors usually try to come up with really wild or trendy items to surprise and challenge the fair-goers. I was pretty excited to pick out some of these items to try! I did find that some of the items were a bit tricky to locate because not all of the vendor booths are clearly marked with the same names as what appears on the website. But in the end I did succeed at finding everything that I had planned to eat! Here are the foods that I ate at the fair this year:

Spicy Pickle Lemonade from Concessions Inc ($12.00) This is the spicy contender to your favourite Pickle Lemonade on the midway. Infused and garnished with fresh jalapenos, this refreshing drink will surely give you the kick you need to K-Days on! I LOVED THIS. From the first sip, it was a match made in heaven for me. It truly tasted like drinking spicy pickle juice... And maybe that's a problem for some people. For me, (a person who drinks the pickle brine out of the jar) this was perfection. A little hit of lemon, a little hit of heat, a lot of pickle. SIGN ME UP!

Corn Ribs from Mr Vegetable ($13.00) Discover a new way to enjoy corn with fun and flavorful Corn Ribs. This curly corn is made of cobs quartered into strips, then brined, seasoned, curled, and deep-fried to perfection. This crispy snack is bursting with international flavours and perfect for snacking & sharing! IT'S CORN!!! Corn ribs are having a moment and are a total food trend at the moment. Case in point: There were two different vendors offering them at K-Days. This was my first time trying the trend and they were pretty good! Easier and more fun to eat than regular corn on the cob, this corn was full of deep fried brown flavour.

Loaded Pickle Cheese Fries from R&J Concessions ($16.00) Indulge in a flavour-packed frenzy with fresh cut french fries that are fried to perfection and topped with white cheddar cheese curds, crispy dill pickle chips, and a drizzle of a homemade dill ranch sauce. Can you tell that I like pickles? This might have been my favourite item overall. The fries themselves were really delicious and I loved the creamy dill ranch sauce that everything was drenched in. Plus you get actual pickles in the mix? This one was a win on every level for me!

Quesabirria Ramen from Saltspring Noodle Bar ($16.00) This exciting fusion dish combines gooey melted cheese with savoury beef stew, creating a hearty and irresistible noodle experience. Grab your chopsticks and savour the delicious blend of cultures in every bite! It's like ramen and birria tacos met and had a baby! This dish was the "least weird" to me because it was more like a really cool fusion idea and less of a "shock item." And it makes sense because birria tacos are always served with a consommé on the side to dip and sip into. So using the ramen broth in its place really worked! Loved this idea and it tasted great.

Kool-Aid Chicken Burger from Chicky's Chicken ($18.00) Get ready for a Kool experience with a juicy chicken patty glazed with a sweet cherry red sauce that's unlike anything you've tasted before! This one might be considered one of the weirder items but I really liked it! It definitely smelled like Kool-Aid and was the colour of Kool-Aid... But somehow I wasn't mad at it? It kinda delivered on the salty-sweet front and somehow wasn't too offensive at all. This was a "it's just so crazy that it might work" situation for sure.

Peanut Butter Pickle Dog from Little Coco's & Big Coco's ($13.00) This fair favourite features a perfectly crisped batter, a juicy hot dog, and the refreshing taste of a dill pickle, all complemented by the incredible combination of comforting peanut butter and a homestyle jam drizzle. This one was pretty wild. Inside of the corn dog was a pickle and inside of the pickle was a hot dog. The engineering of this thing was pretty impressive. Of all the corn dogs available, I'm sure that this one was the most ridiculous. Peanut butter? Jam? Pickle? Hot dog? I will take all of that! (Pretty messy and difficult to eat though!)

Ketchup Ice Cream & Mustard Ice Cream from So Cute Ice Cream ($13.00 each) You put ketchup and mustard on everything, but have you tried it on ice cream? The Ketchup Ice Cream and Mustard Ice Cream flavours won't disappoint the adventurous K-Days foodies out there! Tangy and delicious, the waffle cones are dunked in your favourite condiment, rolled in matching sprinkles, and garnished with none other than a fry or pretzel. These two were probably the two items that I heard the most hype about. They really bothered some people, ha ha ha! But honestly, I wasn't mad at either of them! Again, it was kinda that savoury-sweet thing that I don't have a problem with. The ketchup and mustard flavours were definitely there in a big way but the ice cream component toned it down just enough. The garnishes were cute too. Unfortunately, they were all out of sprinkles when I visited. But yes, the cones were also dipped in actual ketchup and mustard. My favourite bites were the ones that had a bit of ice cream and a bit of dipped cone. Am I a monster? I had a ton of fun trying all of these wacky foods! I will say that the prices of each of these items were very high. You would never pay this much in the "real world" for the same food. However, it was a very entertaining way to spend the day. Personally, I enjoyed everything that I ate and I did not find that any of them were terrible. I can't wait to see what they come up with next year!