It may be the end of summer, but at least we have the annual PNE to look forward to, and mark the end of season with.
Many people visit the PNE for many different reasons, between the free entertainment, the educational activations, the showcase shopping, the rides, the games. However, I come for the food, and every year I look forward to this food presser. This is where The Fair’s marketing team rounds up the best and most exciting new offerings, and we get to try the top 9 before The Fair opens up to the public for the day.
This year, for the first in all PNE history, all the food vendors are strictly Canadian, so a handful of 2025’s featured treats are Canadian inspired with the flavours of maple and sugar shacks, BC born fruits, and West coast inspired through seafood. And the trend seems to be savoury and sweet offerings with the fusion of flavours.
We started off at one of PNE’s own vendors: Cheeky Italian Pizzeria for their BC Blueberry Mascarpone Crumble Pizza. This is a classic pizza crust topped with a blueberry ginger compote, a cinnamon orange mascarpone cream and a brown sugar crumble for crunch. This is the brain child of Andy Chong, the PNE’s new Executive Chef tasked with going through all The Fair’s offerings and elevating the experience.
His inspiration for this was born from the focus on BC local products and his favourite berry just happens to be blue. The pizza was a refreshing twist on having blueberry pie on the go. The group commented that it wasn’t too sweet with the juicy, tart berries and despite the generously piped on cream. The crust was your regular pizza breading and it helped to balance out the bolder flavours.
Year after year I continue to be a big fan of all of Summerland Soft Serve’s seasonal ice creams. Their creativity never ceases to amaze me, and this year they did it again with their one of a kind Cowboy Candy Ice Cream.
This series of kiosks are owned and operated by the Marchant family, celebrating 30th year at the PNE Fair this season. And for their contributions they were awarded a memorial plaque to commemorate the occasion.
Cowboy Candy is a non-dairy mango sorbet, rimmed with Tajin (a chili and lime seasoning), topped with a touch of sweet heat from candied jalapeños. The latter most is what is referred to as “Cowboy Candy”. This was another sweet and savoury mix that I found extremely successful. The tart citrus enhances the sugars in the fruit. A winner for anyone who adds tajin to their fruit.
The Rotato & Potato truck offers a variety of poutines and today we were trying their already popular JapaCurryBeef poutine, as a fusion take on a Canadian favourite.
These were crispy and soft potato-y centred fries, topped with a chunky curry that has a texture similar to ground beef in a bolognese sauce. I was expecting a sweeter and creamier Japanese-style curry. However this reminded me of Indian style curry with it bolder spice mix. Still tasty though.
International Perogies has turned their mini potato and cheddar cheese stuffed perogies into dessert with their new Apple Crumble Perogies. Their signature bite sized perogies are dusted with cinnamon sugar, topped with warm apple pie filling, drizzled with a smooth vanilla glaze, sprinkled with an apple crumble and Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal, then served with a side of sweet cream.
A shock if you are not expecting a savoury dumpling dressed so sugary. Like having fries topped with cream and sugar. The more you have the more you like it, as you head wraps around it and your tongue grows to appreciate its sweet straddling savoury characteristics. The mix of toppings and textures keep this one interesting.
I also appreciated the creativity of the Corndog King, making something traditionally savoury, more sweet with this UBE Corndog. Their family has been doing this for over 3.5 generations, since 1957 and they pride themselves on being able to come up with something new and exciting year after year.
And this year it is a corndog that is shaped like a chicken drum with purple breading and a cheese pull at the top. Half dog half mozzarella cheese on a skewer cooked in their one of a kind Corndog King UBE batter. Deep fried then dipped into Japanese white wine vinegar for contrast, before getting rolled in a ube panko crumb and topped with a generous drizzle of Kewpie mayo. I loved how playful this was and to be able to basically get two different corn dogs in one gave this longevity, alongside the mayo.
Another savoury straddling sweet corndog option is from Big Cocos. They have put a Canadian spin on to their foot long Corndog. This is a maple bacon battered and deep-fried, then topped with even more bacon, and drizzled with even more maple syrup.
I liked the length and the novelty of more is more. However with all the syrup the batter got soggy and mashed quickly in your mouth. The flavour was one toned, and I found it needed some acid for balance, through either one of the classic corn dog condiments: ketchup or mustard.
A trip to The Fair is not complete without some mini donuts. Originated in Canada, brought to Western Canada and made even more Canadian thanks to Little Donut Bakery. Known for their line of flavoured mini donuts including the classic cinnamon sugar, buttered French toast, and corn fritter. New for 2025 is the Tarte au Sucre.
They have transformed Quebec’s Sugar Pie into donut form with thin rings coated in sugar and condensed milk. It was sweeter with more moisture, and cakey.
The Pennsylvania Funnel Cakes booth is riding the Dubai Chocolate trend with their new Funnel Cake topping. Instead of spending money on actual and pricy Dubai chocolate bars, they have made their own pistachio chocolate drizzle for this cost effective and delicious treat.
Deep fried, golden brown dough topped with decadent Dubai Chocolate, crushed up pistachios, and whipped cream. The funnel cake has a perfect deep fried crispy texture and anything that goes on-top would be amazing.
Our food tour ended with a teaser of the upcoming two-day Tatus Festival. On August 29th and 30th the PNE will host the largestIindigenous festival in BC, welcoming 132 indigenous artists. And for the first time, as part of Tatus, the PNE is thrilled to have Indigenous chefs featured on the Safeway Cooking Stage. Today we would get a sneak peak look at that.
Two of those chef/restauranteurs includes the owners of the Lower Mainland’s only Indigenous restaurants. Chef Sarah Meconse Mierau, owner of Ancestors Café and Tradish Food Truck and Restauranteur Inez Cook, owner of Salmon ‘N Bannock Bistro. Both presented a Lemonade infused with Sweetgrass and Strawberry, with Sopalali Foam. This was a refreshing beverage with a great story. Encapsulating culture through local and native plant material, made into something to be shared.
In short this was such a great curated showcase and I cannot wait to return to The Fair to try more new and wacky food stuffs.
Pacific National Exhibition
2901 E Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V5K 5J1
(604) 253-2311
pne.ca/fair2025
