IT’S ONLY ARCTIC ROLL, BUT I LIKE IT — KERB Weekender

Having given the American-themed ‘Noshville’ a miss earlier this summer, it would have been remiss of me to skip the enticing (and ludicrously named) ‘It’s Only Arctic Roll, But I Like It’ street food extravaganza laid on by the folks at KERB.
As a tribute to “guilty pleasure” foods, the line-up promised fried chicken pancake sandwiches and milkshake-filled doughnuts amongst other tantalising offerings. How could I say no?
Sadly the eponymous arctic rolls (ice cream wrapped in sponge, for those not in the know) were not in attendance.

The festivities took place over two days in Granary Square by King’s Cross, and I attended on a pleasantly sunny albeit insanely windy Friday afternoon.
In addition to the array of food stands there were also bars, DJ sets (busting out some true guilty pleasure hits), games and even a lucky dip!
I had to take a stab at the lucky dip on the off-chance I won free KERB lunches for a year.
Having watched two kids both draw pot noodles (and look suitably perplexed) I opted to go for a mystery prize rather than chance a wrapped present, and ended up with a free drink token. Score.
I was presented with the citrus-y vodka and soda concoction pictured opposite which went down a treat.
But now on to the food.

To kick things off I went straight for the Only Jerkin’ special: ‘chicken and waffles with a twiss’. Specifically this was mango, coconut, honey and cream soda battered fried chicken atop banana waffles served with spiced rum ice cream and chilli syrup. Wow.
It astounds me that mere mortal minds can dream these things up, but here we are. I can’t claim to have tasted each and every one of that plethora of flavours, but the fried chicken was damn good that’s for sure. Waffles and ice cream were basically added bonuses.
Tasty, tasty bonuses.

It is with a heavy heart that I must report I did not consume this. But just look at it in all its glory.
My partner indulged in the Other Side Fried offering of smoked honey butter-slathered fried chicken, crispy bacon and pickled blueberry buttermilk pancake bun — otherwise known as “fried chicken pancake sandwich”.
This really wasn’t a festival for the health-conscious.

Although uncooperative when it came to taking photos, my second main (shh, that’s a thing) was a treat as well.
“Chip butty” is pretty much the definition of a guilty pleasure food , but not one normally within my repertoire. This little box of joy — a curry chip paratha butty from Curry On — caught my eye though, and not a single regret was had. (Well, maybe one or two…)
The basic dish was already pretty formidable, but then someone foolishly gave me the option to slather mango chutney and raita all over it. Pretty darn wonderful, if messy!

Last but by no means least I went for the Vicky’s Donuts strawberry milkshake doughnut. Because of course I did.
I’m a sucker for anything where the word “milkshake” is concerned, and I was particularly keen to see how they’d married the nectar of the gods with the…fried doughy treat of the gods.
Alas I was to be a bit disappointed as — contrary to the event marketing — the doughnut wasn’t stuffed with milkshake but rather topped with something strawberry flavoured, more the consistency of icing.
That isn’t to say it wasn’t great though, because it was still fantastic. The base doughnut and glaze was incredibly reminiscent of Krispy Kreme, but the “milkshake”, fresh strawberry and white chocolate straw were novel and welcome additions. Did someone say sugar overload?

What a treat. I would have happily tucked into pretty much every dish on offer, but alas I was limited by both funds and stomach real estate.
I look forward to seeing what KERB have in store for us next!
I visited the KERB weekender ‘It’s Only Arctic Roll, But I Like It’ on 21/07/2017 and paid £8 for the chicken and waffles, £7 for the curry chip butty and £4 for the regular (read “large”) strawberry milkshake doughnut.
