I love the county fair. I still have to resist calling it the Del Mar Fair but it’s still the same old fair despite the name change a few years ago. I usually end up eating the same things even though they try and up the ante every year with their totally weird treats. I didn’t get to try any of the new, weird stuff but I really wanted to try the hash brown corn dog, but I couldn’t find it! Alas, here’s a recap of the delicious things I ate this year. I went with Laura on a Tuesday evening and everything below I got for $2 each for the “Taste of the Fair” special.
I don’t know how I have never tried the Australian Battered Potatoes before though this has been a fair staple for years. The $2 enticement finally got me to try this and I think it will be a new item on my rotation of “must-eat” fair foods. It was super crispy – kind of reminded me of a cross between a hash brown and a potato skin, but dipped and battered and extra crispy. I prefer the ranch to the melted cheese as well. For $2 you only get 1, which was fine to me. For $6 you get a ton, which would have been too many.
I tried to go artsy in this photo, but these are the Garlic Battered Mushrooms that I absolutely adore. The place that sells these at the fair has a restaurant in Encintas, CA, and yet I have never been there. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. This $2 taste was less than last year. They really cut back on portion sizes for the $2 tastes this year. But guess what? These are still awesome and delicious.
For my non-fried dish, I opted for a sausage. I love onions, but this was a little ridiculous. I had to take some of the onions off so I could enjoy it, and even then I could barely see or taste the sausage. Last I checked, I ordered sausage, not just caramelized onions. Oh well. Should have found a polish dog or something else to munch on.
I love getting the $2 baked potato. This is supposed to be 1/3 of a regular sized potato (!) if you can believe that. Pretty standard – comes with butter and chives, though they must have been feeling nice because they also gave me sour cream. Totally tasty and totally worth the $2.
This is the booth that was serving the “Deep Fried Butter”. Laura and I hung around the booth trying to catch a glimpse of someone ordering it so we could see what it looked like, but no such luck. I wasn’t going to order it myself, either. It sounded gross, though Jake told me (he’s been working security at the Fair this year) that one of the guards got it and it was sort of like a churro. Weird.
Our last stop of the night was at the Gingerbread House. Laura got the warm ginger cake (which was warm and had a good amount of spices with real whipped cream) and I got a bunch of cookies to eat later.
From l-r, clockwise: Cotton Candy, Peanut Butter, Churro and Gingerbread
The gingerbread cookie was my favorite of the bunch – soft and a little spicy. The cotton candy cookie just tasted like a sugar cookie to me; I think that’s what it was, just colored pink. The Churro cookie was kind of like a snickerdoodle but it tasted like there was maybe one other element to it. The peanut butter was just tasty. The cookies were a little over $1 each and if you buy 3 or more then you get a gingerbread man for free.
The San Diego County Fair
Now through July 5th
Closed Mondays
Oh my gosh! I’ve just moved here from Australia. I can’t believe they have Aust battered potatoes. They’re called scallops or potato cakes back home and come loaded with salt, no sauces. I’m going to make sure I get a bunch!