Review of Horn OK Please Food Festival, Delhi

Having reviewed ‘The Grub Fest’(read here) earlier, I recently visited ‘Horn OK Please’ Food Festival, at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

HORN OK PLEASE FESTIVAL:

Organized by Delhi based events website ‘So Delhi’, Horn OK Please, claims to be Delhi’s “biggest” and “happiest” food festival. They offer different food experiences and unique activities.

You can shop, skateboard, bull-ride or enjoy children’s activities at the Horn Ok Please Food Festival

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT AT THE HORN OK PLEASE FESTIVAL:

There are food trucks, food carts, beer & cocktails (but not my current favorite beer, Hopper!), loads of momo and kebab options, an entire area dedicated to Chinese food, and a plethora of desserts.

You can also shop at the “Quirk Bazaar”, enjoy numerous activities like skateboarding on a half-pipe, a mechanical bull, a silent disco area, musical performances, and a children’s play area.

Clockwise from top: Hot Chill Garlic momos from Dilli 19, gol-gappas from Evergreen, lemon shikanji from Lemonji, galouti kebabs and ulte tawe ka paratha from Food’s Fever truck, strawberry bubble tea from Dr. Bubble’s, black chocolate monster from Icekraft

WHAT I ATE AT THE HORN OK PLEASE FESTIVAL:

My brother and I shared different options, to try a larger variety. We started at momo-land, ideal for the cool weather. At “Dilli 19”, the momo king, we ate the most popular dish- hot chilli garlic chicken momos. These tasted more like Chinese chilli chicken than momos! I recommend trying their tandoori momos or going to a different stall, if you’re looking for authentic momos.

My brother enjoyed gol-gappas at the “Evergreen Chaat” counter. The khatta pani was disappointing but the hing pani was tasty.

We washed all that fieriness down with a delicious but extremely overpriced lemon shikanji from “Lemonji”.

For main course, we zeroed in on Gurgaon based “Food’s Fever” truck, serving Lucknowi and Chinese food. Our galouti kebabs served with ulte tawa ke parathe, were delicious and complete value for money. They’re located in the middle row, and I highly recommend a visit.

For dessert, I tried the bubble tea from “Dr. Bubbles”. Unfortunately, they weren’t serving the milk based tapioca drink I love, only fruity variants. The strawberry bubble tea with cranberry bubbles was too sweet for my palate. My brother tried the seriously chocolatey ‘black chocolate monster’ from “Icekraft”, which was yum!

Silent disco and musical performances

REVIEW OF THE FESTIVAL: SHOULD YOU VISIT IT?

The footfall on Friday evening was surprisingly low. This could be because it was the first day. It could also be due to a failure in targeted marketing and a clearly disorganized layout. Food trucks were languishing in the middle, while food stalls were lined up on the sides. There was no clear demarcation of where everything was. One randomly walked in to the dessert area, without being led there with signages etc. This led to major confusion in choosing what to eat.

The extra activities are unique to the Indian festive space, but seem unnecessary. There weren’t many takers for skateboarding and bull-riding in this crowd! The silent disco only picked up after 8:00 p.m. but seemed more popular than other activities.

The children’s area was almost empty, as children were few and far between. The shopping wasn’t much to my taste, clearly catering to a younger crowd. “Bandish Unchained” was the band playing when I was there, and they were quite bad.

However, organizational mishaps and pointless activities aside, all the food I tried was fantastic. Food festivals are the best way to try eating joints in your city and find new favorites.

I recommend a visit if you like exploring fun things in your city. The Horn OK Please Food Festival may not be Delhi’s largest or happiest festival, but it’s certainly an enjoyable weekend outing.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:

Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium

Days: 16^th– 18^thNovember, 2018

Time: 12:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Ticket Price: INR 300

Kids under age 8 go free

Bira offers Happy Hours till 6:00 p.m.

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*This is not a sponsored post.

**All photos are taken on my phone. Copyright belongs to nooranandchawla.