Disclaimer: I’m a foodie and I think food-based meetups are the best thing to happen to our society since sliced bread.
That said, Islamabad was rather late to the food fest party *grr* BUT BETTER LATE THAN NEVER AMIRITE? So you can imagine just how excited I was when I found out that Bites & Vibes would be definitely be hitting Islamabad after fantastic stints in Lahore and Karachi – foodpanda’s my new hero!
What’s Bites & Vibes you ask? Why, only the coolest, hippest and tastiest event out there! Foodpanda’s highly successful entry into food festivals involved pairing groovy music with tantalizing food – that’s a combination everyone gravitates towards and it shows! The Lahore and Karachi editions of the event were smash hits, featuring delicious food from local eateries such as Sarak pe Karak and Bamboo Union (Lahore) & Del Frio and Big Thick Burgerz (Karachi). The likes of Patari, Teen Taal and Darvesh kept audiences enthralled with music all day – what better thing to pair great food with?
It was with high hopes, therefore, that I made my way to the Arts & Crafts village, Shakarparian. Readers, said hopes were not only met but exceeded beyond my wildest estimates! I’ll get to the food in the bit (obviously) because I want to give a shout-out to everyone involved in the setup – Bites & Vibes was a joy to be at! The ambience was great, from the music wafting into your ears to the sounds of joyous children on the bouncy castle and carnival rides, from the way each stall was lovingly crafted to the overall décor in general. Just delightful!
Onto the main course now, the food! My word, there was a lot of it, and delicious, to boot! There was something for everyone, from the desi delights of Rahdaari and Chattha’s to the exquisite servings of Murasaki Japanese Cuisine. Hareesa lovers got to sate themselves at Nostalgia while fans of the flavours of Hunza got to hoard Wild Thyme. This is just the tip of the iceberg! There were burgers, tacos, waffles, marshmallows and more! Surrounded by so many bits of heavenly food, NONE COSTING MORE THAN RS. 200, was too much for me to bear, folks. I lost control, I failed to rein myself in, I… binged. And oh, what a binge it was – each bite more mouthwatering than the last, every smell enticing me onto the next stall where I got to savour even more morsels of concentrated ambrosia…
Ahem. Essentially, what I’m trying to say is, Foodpanda’s Bites & Vibes was EXACTLY the sort of event that the dwellers of Islamabad had been craving since ages – you truly had to be there to experience it!
P.S I also got to meet the very cool RJ Wes Malik 😀