Wow, apparently this year is already the 6th year of Best Food Forward. It felt like it was just recently that I had my first BFF experience, and now looking back, it’s amazing how this food fair served as a launch pad for some of the successful food business right now. Manang’s Chicken, Burgers & Brewskies, Schmidt’s Hotdog, and Crunchy Crab, are all Best Food Forward “graduates”. It’s also the home of some of my favorites like The Bald Baker, Deep Dips, Chokolate Atbp., Go Brewed, and Brownie Bar!
Attending Best Food Forward’s sneak peek has already started to become a yearly thing for me, which is why I was one of the eager taste-testers during the preview a few days ago. Here are some of the food concessionaires you should expect from Best Food Forward 2016:
Crackle Chips
This is no doubt one of my personal favorites during the preview. These homemade chips have interestingly creative yet surprisingly great-tasting flavors – Bicol Crunch, Himalayan Salt, and the soon-to-be-launched Salted Egg. It’s a good thing that they’re generous with their samples because I can finish one whole container on my own!
Joy Bakes’ Classic and Quezon de Bola Cheese Rolls
Soft and cheesy would be the first things that would come to mind when you get a bite of these cheese rolls. It was flavorful yet not overwhelmingly sweet either. I can imagine this to go well with hot coffee. Speaking of coffee…
Wheelys Café
Nope, this is not your typical coffee shop – Wheelys is a worldwide chain of “bicycle cafes”, which aims to revolutionize how and where we take our coffee by serving organic coffee in bike-powered coffee carts.
Not only will this movement make it easier for anyone to start their own coffee business, it also lets coffee lovers like me enjoy truly organic and great-tasting coffee in an eco-friendly way. I got a taste of the Thai coffee they served and I kid you not when I say that it’s really good!
Raclette
The melted wheel of cheese trend seemed to be picking up this year, and it’s inevitable that we also have our own version here in the Philippines. If all those cheese-scraping videos online also made you drool, Best Food Forward would be your chance to fulfill that cheesy fantasy.
Mama Empanada
These classic chicken empanadas have been an original recipe since 1979. The taste pretty much reminds me of the empanada I used to have for merienda when I was a kid – one that has a sweet crust and is tightly stuffed with flavorful fillings.
Crab Cakes
To be honest I’m not quite sure if these are really called crab cakes but that’s how these goodies tasted like to me. Tastes even better when had with actual crab meat! If I’m not mistaken, these were made by RGE Agridev Corp., an exporter of refrigerated and pasteurized crab meat.
Ozawa Noritako
Imagine a fusion of sushi and tacos and this is what you would get. What I loved the best about the Noritako is the generous amount of meat that you get in each taco shell. With flavors like Beef Tenderloin Steak, Pork Teriyaki, Chicken Karaage, and Pork Tonkatsu, this is one delightful treat for meat-lovers like me!
****
You can grab a bite of each of these and more at Best Food Forward on October 15-16, 2016. The event will be held at the SMX Convention Center, SM Aura Premier, Taguig City, and would be open from 11am – 8pm.
See you there! Oh and let me know if you need tickets *wink wink*