It’s the most wonderful time of the year – and Winterfest is back in Dundee.
Slessor Gardens has been decked out with a Ferris wheel, fun rides, an ice rink and Christmas stalls for the occasion, running until January 1.
Inside many of the stalls we found our reason for visiting – the food, drinks and festive treats.
But are they any good? And more importantly, are they worth the money?
Earlier this week Julia and I headed down to the market on a mission to taste our way through WinterFest, trying out each hot food vendor.
We put four savoury dishes, two desserts and a hot drink to the test to find out if they’re worth investing in.
The order
Halloumi wrap
I had a look around at the market’s vegetarian options and landed on the grilled halloumi wrap.
The wrap had deep fried halloumi, cheese, tzatziki, lettuce, peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes, with the option to add red onions, spring onions, chilis and jalapenos.
With most of the fillings – and critically the tzatziki – hiding further down the wrap, I found the first bites of pita and cheese tough to chew because they were quite dry. Although I will say, overall I enjoyed the halloumi and thought it was crispy and tasty, and there was lots of it.
The gyros stall also sells meat wraps with chicken or lamb and the same fillings as the vegetarian option.
Costing £8.50, it was quite steep considering the first half of the wrap was a challenge to chew. The star of the show was definitely the cheese.
Presentation
Maria: 3.5/5
Taste
Maria: 2.5/5
Yorkshire pudding wrap
Julia said this was one of her favourites from the various stalls.
The Yorkshire pudding wrap had a variety of filling options from beef and turkey to pork.
She picked the turkey with all the trimmings which included roast potatoes, stuffing, gravy, sweetcorn, carrots and green beans. She said the turkey was moist, and although she’d have preferred slices of turkey, she did enjoy the meat, especially with the gravy that had been poured all over it.
You can also add additional sauces like mint and cranberry to name a few, so she added the berry sauce which is a festive staple.
It was priced at £7.50, but Julia also added pigs in blankets. For £1.50 more, she got two small chipolatas wrapped in crispy bacon added to the wrap. While a lovely addition, she thought they could have been better priced at £1 to add as £9 all in seemed rather steep.
All in all though, this was an enjoyable dish.
Presentation
Julia: 4/5
Taste
Julia: 4/5
Pizza loaded fries
While a few of the fries and their container looked a bit worse for wear coming out of the oven, this was quickly forgotten by the first bite.
Maria really enjoyed the rich pizza sauce. She’s not a fan of ketchup, but this was a worthy replacement she might even try in the future.
There was loads of melted cheese on the fries and peppers mixed in throughout. As well as cheese and sauce, the fries come with one pizza topping of your choice.
If crispy chips are your favourite, getting them topped with melted cheese and tomato sauce isn’t a great idea, but if you – like Maria – believe that all chips are great, this is a good combo.
Priced at £6 it is an expensive portion of fries, but there was certainly nothing wrong with the taste.
Presentation
Maria: 3.5/5
Taste
Maria: 4/5
Curry bratwurst
Julia wasn’t overly enthused when she saw the curry bratwurst. While the sausage was thick, it was presented in a baguette that was quite doughy.
It didn’t look overly appealing and while the sausage was big and had plenty flavour, the sauce was very overpowering and had a strange consistency.
There was a lot of chewing in the meat and bread as well, and this made it a lot harder to consume.
However, there were plenty other bratwurst options at the stall which was good to see, and they were all cooked in front of you. At £7 she also thought it was a bit overpriced for what it was.
Presentation
Julia: 1.5/5
Taste
Julia: 2/5
Deep fried Oreos – four for £5
Deep fried Oreos were my first ever venture into sweet foods that have been through a deep fat fryer. And I wasn’t overly impressed.
While the sugar sprinkled on the Oreos was a nice touch, there was a lot of batter which made the cookie inside very soggy.
Overall, it felt more like eating a doughnut or a cake than a deep fried Oreo.
Though priced at four for a fiver, it was one of the more reasonable snacks we tucked into at Winterfest.
Presentation
Julia: 3.5/5
Maria: 3/5
Taste
Julia: 2/5
Maria: 2/5
Dutch pancakes
After a bit of a discussion about what makes pancakes Dutch, we decided to just tuck in and enjoy.
The pancakes were light and fluffy, a bit on the chewier side, but the chocolate nicely steeped into the warm pancakes. Ours were topped with Nutella and icing sugar, and we added Belgian chocolate as an extra.
I thought these were the highlight of the Christmas market food, and at £5 for eight mini pancakes, with an extra pound for the extra chocolate, the price point wasn’t too bad either.
Presentation
Julia: 3/5
Maria: 4/5
Taste
Julia: 3.5/5
Maria: 4/5
Biscoff hot chocolate
This has to be one of the nicer looking drinks I have ever picked up from an outside stall. Topped with heaps of whipped cream and Lotus biscuit crumbs – hiding lots of small marshmallows – it certainly looked a winner.
The whipped cream was light and tasted like it was made with real dairy. The caramel and cinnamon taste from the biscuits added a nice crunch and taste.
Unfortunately, the hot chocolate itself – which was full of Biscoff syrup – just tasted like normal hot chocolate. But on the bright side, we both enjoyed the hot drink.
A lot of the time, hot chocolate ends up tasting more sweet and sugary than chocolatey, but the team agreed that despite lacking the Biscoff taste it was a decent hot chocolate. Though at £5, they expected more of the flavour to come through.
Presentation
Julia: 4/5
Maria: 4/5
Taste
Julia: 3/5
Maria: 3/5
The verdict
Out of the savoury options, I stared longingly at Julia’s Yorkshire Pudding Wrap and wished for a vegetarian option as it looked and sounded good. It certainly was one of Julia’s favourites. Thankfully the pizza loaded fries were a good alternative that suits veggies and meat eaters alike.
The Dutch pancakes came out on top of the desserts, light, fluffy and full of chocolate. While the hot chocolate was nice, a normal hot chocolate without the added Biscoff syrup would have done the same job.
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