New Foods at the CNE (Warning: includes bug dishes!)

[cindybubbles]

I didn't want to hijack this thread, so I made my own here.

As us Canadians should know, the Canadian National Exhibition opened last Friday and will run until Labour Day, as usual. For those of you who don't know, it's kind of like a Canadian version of a State Fair.

And, as usual, here are the foods that are debuting this year:

http://theex.com/main/food/new-foods

Now also featuring the Bug Dog, which I tried yesterday. This is not, I repeat, NOT food tampering, but a delicacy served by Bug Bistro in the CNE's Food Building.

P.S.: I also tried Bug Bistro's mealworm spring rolls with extra crickets on the side. Both were pretty good, but a tad expensive.

[Aria]

I was wondering what the heck you were talking about, particularly since I've lived in Ontario and I figured this had to be going on there... then I googled it and was like, "Oh, the Ex!" Pweh, I had no idea what the real name was. It looks like it's gotten more interesting since I was a child.

[cindybubbles]

It looks like it's gotten more interesting since I was a child.

Yes it has. The Better Living Centre is now home to The Farm, while the majority of the exhibits moved to the new Enercare Centre (used to be the Direct Energy Centre before they renamed it), which is attached to the Horticultural Building and the Ricoh Coliseum.

The Food Building remains where it is, but hosts several new food vendors. Swiss Chalet has been there for years, if you haven't been to the EX for a long time. Epic Burgers and Waffles closed three years ago because of contamination problems with their cronut burger, but they reopened again, and here they are with the new churro burger.

The crickets on the Bug Dog and the ones I had on the side with my mealworm spring rolls were crispy and earthy. A bit weird, but not bad for my first time eating bugs!

I haven't seen the Horse Palace yet, though. Mostly because my adventures in the CNE involve food.

[wolfie]

The crickets on the Bug Dog and the ones I had on the side with my mealworm spring rolls were crispy and earthy. A bit weird, but not bad for my first time eating bugs!

I'm surprised the health inspector hasn't shut the place down. After all, it sounds like those items have FAR more than the allowable number of insect parts.

I haven't seen the Horse Palace yet, though. Mostly because my adventures in the CNE involve food.

Have you tried the Filly Mignon or the Porterhorse Steak?

[dalesys]

... FAR more than the allowable number of insect parts...

It's OK. They're made of insect wholes.

[cindybubbles]

The bugs come from a local cricket farm, so I'm sure that all tests were done before they would be able to sell the bugs.

I went to the CNE again and had this Spam Double Down. I almost had a heart attack while eating the thing. Never again!