london wingfest

after recently proclaiming my newfound love of frank's red hot wing sauce, i was thrilled to hear that not only were they sponsoring london wingfest, but that there were a couple of tickets available with my name on them. i can't think of a better way to spend a sunny saturday in london than being finger-deep in sticky wings and cold craft beer, can you? nope. so i grabbed my wingy partner in crime, and we hit the east london car park with our bibs and dollar bills at the ready.

except there were no bibs, or dollar bills, but there definitely was an inappropriately flippy dress for the amount of wind out there in that car park that day - especially considering how full my hands were with other *more important* things, like... eating wings. one pound wings to be precise. from over 15 different wing houses. houses? shops? traders? traders! over fifteen of them in fact, vying for the position of the best in town. a coveted spot that had previously been won by some of the current competitors, so - the competition was fierce. and typically, i have forgotten the names of most, or who served us what. bad blogger, very bad! 

the deal was this: each van/trader/wing team had to offer two types of wings for the crowds to then vote as their faves of the day. one of these varieties *had* to be a buffalo wing, and the other could be anything they wanted. between the two of us, mike and i tried a bloody great selection of those on offer, and came away with our very own top five. i'm not a big fan of buffalo, i think it's a bit bland, so i went for the *other* option every time, and i was rarely disappointed.

the fave of the day was by far the franks red hot and honey wings, which i'm not even just saying because they were kind enough to send me along. it might seem that way, especially as their particular wings were a bit smaller than others and certainly nothing to look at, but when you've got a sauce that hot, sweet and as sticky as theirs, you don't need to fuss about with presentation. mike's fave was a deep fried truffle oil and parmesan creation, and our equal second faves were a soy and garlic, chinese inspired wing with fresh chilli and seasame seeds. 

our agreed *most inventive* wing of the day was one that was battered in tequila and lime, and came with a tiny pipette *filled* with tequila for you to shoot after you'd licked the salt off the wing, and before you bit into the juicy meat. i mean, what's not to like about that?! nothing, is the answer. in fact the only thing we didn't like was the amount of people in there that day (we bypassed a queue of more than 100 when we entered) - easily too many for safety, and the incredibly horrendous porta loos. other than that, it was a brilliant event, and one we left with full bellies and definitely a little drunker than expected. mega thanks to frank's again, for fueling my wings obsession once more!

[edit] i should probably tell you a bit more about the event, huh. like the fact you have to pay £14 to get in, but that gets you a wicked wingsfest hat, a bottle of frank's redhot to take away, and a southern comfort cocktail at the bar. you're also then given a score card and pencil to keep track of your wings, and asked to vote before you leave. as we only stayed a few hours, we missed the announcement of the winner, because the event ran from about midday until late in the evening. it's a big old day! there was live music, a wing-eating comp, and other activities to keep the revellers entertained while they lined up for their wings. and did they line! it was heaving by the time we left (the reason we left), so grateful for the entertainment!