Out & About #242 | Mississauga Waterfront Festival 2016

With blazing hot summer days on their way, the most proper way to celebrate is a lazy afternoon by the waterfront, preferably with ice cream in one hand and a pocket-sized camera in the other. For the suburban folk of Mississauga, this means leisurely trolls along the Port Credit harbour.

Apparently an annual tradition for the past twenty years, the Mississauga Waterfront Festival made its way back to Port Credit Memorial Park for a weekend of food trucks, live music and entertainment, and carnival attractions. While last year's event had featured an unexpected amount of decent food vendors, it brought me great disappointment to discover that a list of vendors for this year's festival hadn't even been posted on their website at all!

​Vendors and food aside, I decided to revisit the festival in hopes of witnessing improvement from the previous year's poorly-lit mess of a dreary Friday night.

In reality, it was more of an opportunity to attempt long exposure shots with a fellow photographer friend once the sun had extended past the horizon. The only weekend that our schedules happened to be free coincided with the Waterfront Festival anyway.

Prior to heading off on a mission to find parking along the waterfront was a brief stop at Sugar Marmalade.

Almost a year has passed since my last visit; within this year, I've noticed that they've not only expanded their menu to included shaved ice (in addition to Taiwanese snow ice) and bubble waffles, but also partnered up with local pastry chefs to launch new items such as mille crepe cakes and cheese bread. (Check out my post on their recent collaboration partner here!)

Our table opted for Fresh Mango with Sago Mixed and Black Glutinous Rice with Durian in Coconut Milk, while I specifically ordered a Green Tea Egg Waffle for sharing. The first dessert was rather appalling when compared to Tracy Dessert's rendition with proper chunks of ripe mango as opposed to the spoonfuls of artificial syrup used at Sugar Marmalade. However, it was also pointed out that Tracy Dessert priced their menu items a tad higher as well.
The Durian dessert was one of the least popular items, though the Green Tea Egg Waffle was admissible. A compilation of store-bought red bean paste, green tea ice cream, medium shiratama balls, and a thorough drizzle of sweetened condensed milk, the dessert was as filling as its appearance had indicated. The overall combination of chewy mochi, coarse red bean, and smooth ice cream was great, though a little less condensed milk and a waffle with firmer, crispier properties would have resulted in an even more enjoyable experience. For $7.99 though, the portion size was definitely decent.

We then proceeded to head south in search of parking spots along the Credit River.

The Mississauga Waterfront Festival, also commonly abbreviated to MWF, wasn't stated to be in operation until 6:00 pm. In the meantime, we cobbled past awkwardly-arranged metal fences to secure ourselves a comfy spot for geese-watching along the river.

View the entire Lakeshore album HERE !

Famished geese had flocked to our area at first, but retreated following the realization that we were not carrying any food items worth their interest. We remained until the remaining member of our party had assembled, and proceeded to explore the grounds of the festival.

Sheer disappointment hit when I failed to locate a single bubble tea stall; I had purposely avoided purchasing Chatime before our disembarkation, but was utterly devastated at the lack of Asian-style food vendors and insane number of overpriced grilled food and vintage jewellery stands occupying the pathway. I settled for a Large Lemon-Lime and Blue Raspberry slush instead, though wasn't particularly happy to surrender a hard-earned $4.50 for the icy, multi-toned drink.

No longer able to spot any stalls of interest, we set out to secure a shooting location over the bridge just as sunset was taking place.

Capturing the moving lights of the carnival rides were our next order of business, so we simply walked around the area in search of sustenance while the daylight gradually dulled to darkness. Ultimately, there wasn't a single empty restaurant/bistro/pub to be found: wait times were even over two hours at some late-night diners!

The sky had darkened at an alarming rate, and we soon found ourselves setting up along Lakeshore in anticipation of capturing colourful streaks of light from the mobile amusement park rides.

Following the carnival ride shoot, the group agreed to set out for Korean comfort food at K-Pocha, especially seeing that it was one of the very few locations open past midnight.

< Pictured above and below: Spicy Chicken BBQ w/ Cheese, Tteokbokki w/ Pork Belly and Cheese, Spicy Pork Hock, and a side dish of corn >

K-Pocha has been persisting on my list of go-to restaurants for nearly two years at this point. However, its operating hours of 5:00 PM to 2:00 AM aren't always the easiest time to arrange a meetup. In spite of having tried their Half & Half Fried Chicken Combo and Corn Cheese for takeout, I had never really dismissed the fact that I had yet to undergo a dine-in experience.

But alas, fatigue had hit me greatly, and additional food intake would have immediately prompted a food coma behind the wheel. Although extremely painful to watch, the rest of the group engaged in a live mukbang, leaving behind nothing else but the glorious fragrance of spices and ungodly sight of cheese pulls. (/deep breaths/)

Upon our departure, it was clear that the desire to revisit the restaurant had never been stronger.

The group had actually meant to participate in the second day of the festival as well, including an early afternoon rowing demonstration. However, the previous night had left majority in a state of deep slumber. The now-expanded six-member group eventually gathered on the MWF grounds sometime around 3:00 PM instead.​

I suggested trying out the carnival rides, considering that the several new faces hadn't attempted any of them prior to this visit. Each carnival was priced differently, and ranged from two tickets per person (children's rides) to four tickets (deemed "Spectacular Rides"). After a brief moment of discussion, we settled for 36 tickets and ended up riding two 3-ticket rides.

By this time, I was famished and more than eager to eat my heart out. Recalling an early morning Instagram post from foodieelove sent me straight to Liko's Hawaiian BBQ for Pork and Chicken Skewers and a Kahlua Pork Bun.

 TThe skewers were extremely flavourful, with the acidity of the pineapple adding a refreshing zing to the grilled bites of goodness. My sole complaint: the Pork Skewer was a tad tough for my liking; the Chicken Skewer was very tender, on the other hand.

Our group had initially agreed to exit the premises for the sake of trying ice cream from independent shops along Lakeshore, though I selfishly stopped them mid-field to allow me to turn back for the Kahlua Pork Bun. This ended up being a great decision, as the Kahlua Bun exceeded my expectations for local Hawaiian food, proving to be even more tender than the pulled pork dishes tasted in Kaanapali. The sauce, albeit thick and rather sticky, was the perfect condiment to ensure a tangy savouriness throughout the entire consumption process.

After some fifteen to twenty minutes of sluggish strolling, we made our way to yeh!, a frozen yogurt and crepe cafe that I had been itching to try out since my dunk'n dip excursion.

Oddly enough though, I wasn't exactly in the mood for frozen yogurt. The sugary sweet samples hadn't been too convincing either. Two members of the party settled for yeh!, while all but one of the remainder took interest in Scoops' homemade artisan ice cream.

< Pictured above and below: Apple Pie Crisp, Mango Sorbet, and Watermelon Sorbet >

The last stop of the day was Kenzo for dinner. While takoyaki sounded more than appealing, I had already committed to a prior dinner appointment and politely excused my leave after grabbing a Lemon Yogurt Drink from Chatime.
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Nonetheless, the two-day adventure had been even more entertaining that expected. Perhaps the variety of food vendor weren't that important after all.