Sunday 29 September 2013

CAMDEN: Deep Fried Candy Bars!

As we entered Camden Market on a rainy Saturday last month we were greeted by rows and rows of food stalls, selling delicious smelling food of all cuisines: Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Indian, Brazilian, Turkish, Mexican, you name it! Benches were packed with people seated, eating, talking and generally enjoying themselves despite the rain (it lasted all day...)
A mini poster that caught our attention
We were at a loss as to which cuisine or food stall to go for (they all looked so good!) so we worked our way from the beginning of the market, stall by stall, to the middle of the market, and then all the way round.

At each stall we were greeted by hello's, free samples of tasty food and shouts to come and buy the food. Most of the Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Indian stalls that we walked past were offering boxes of mixed dishes, small at £4 a box and large at £5 a box. The other cuisine food stalls were similarly priced and most of them were Halal as well which was an added bonus!

Before we filled up on all the free samples we were getting we knew that we had to decide on a stall, which we finally did. The stall we chose was on the other side of the bridge, in Camden Canal Market.
This Chinese food stall was selling a range of tasty dishes, mixed in a box, small for £4 and large for £5. Some of the dishes they had to offer included sweet and sour chicken, fried chicken, beef teriyaki, egg fried rice and chow mein.
As you can see from the above photos we chose a mixture of the dishes, along with a spring roll and enjoyed our food seated near the canal, enjoying the beautiful view which can be seen in the photo below.
Now onto our highlight of the day: Eating deep fried candy bars we bought at The Original Original Crispy Candy Co, a stall in Camden Canal Market :D

After hearing stories about the deep fried Mars bar being a popular dish in Scotland, we were keen to try it out for ourselves. Lets face it, chocolate, you just gotta love, and anything that's been deep fried has that melt in your mouth crispness to it. When you add deep fried AND chocolate together....surely it has to be a hit?!

We weren't going to travel all the way up to Scotland to try these wonders out: why would we when we could have it right on our doorstep in London (well as close to our doorstep as it gets :) )
The Original Crispy Candy Co. not only does deep fried Mars bars but a selection of other chocolate bars, all deep fried with their own special buttermilk batter, and all their ingredients are imported from the USA! 

As you can see from the above photo there are 8 variations of deep fried candy bars to choose from: Bounty, Rolo, Oreo, Toffee Crisp, Creme Egg, Mars, Snickers and Lion. After choosing a chocolate bar, it is fried in their secret buttermilk recipe and you are then given the option of eating it coated in sugar (£3) or eating it with whipped cream, sauce and toppings (£4).

When we got to the stall we couldn't decide which chocolate bar to get as they all looked so good deep fried! In the end we decided to try the Lion Bar coated in vanilla and cinnamon sugar.
Here are some of the other things they do at The Original Crispy Candy Co. That oreo milkshake definitely sounds appetizing....mmm
Deep Fried Lion Bar in all its glory!
This close up photo of the deep fried lion bar was definitely needed! It oozes all sorts of happiness :D
Some people may find the thought of a deep fried chocolate bar a bit odd but rest assured when you bite into this, all your doubts will disappear! The crispness of the batter hits you first... Then comes the second layer...a gorgeous layer of chocolate melting into the inner layer of the batter...

...Next, all the other ingredients in the lion bar: the nuts, the chunky wafer biscuit in the middle, are mixed in with the melted chocolate!

It was an incredible journey for our taste buds, one we would make again and again!

One thing we would recommend is to try the deep fried chocolate bar then and there, as Nabs bought a deep fried Mars bar to eat at home later on that day and even though she heated it in the oven it just didn't have the same texture and taste as a freshly fried chocolate bar does.

We will definitely be visiting this place again! Though the next time we visit it might be in Convent Garden...the lady who served us said they may be moving to a shop in Covent garden... Keep an eye out on their website for up to date information! 
We finished off our day with a cup of refreshing mango Taiwanese bubble tea from this small Taiwanese stall just a couple of stalls away from The Original Crispy Candy Co :)
All in all it was a lovely day out in Camden...minus the heavy downpour of rain!

Atmosphere                       9/10
Service                              10/10
Food                                   9/10

Chocolatesushi Rating    9/10

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