Halloween Horror Nights 31 (UOR) - Food & Drink

[Tbad556]

At the request of a bunch of y'all... food thread!

We've got lots of menus in the construction thread and it looks like select people got to try some of the food options tonight as part of a mock service:

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I got the Lacto Cooler from Giant Eagle up here, Voodoo Brewing is originally from Meadville, PA!

It is a Berliner-Style Weisse beer, which means the flavor is yeast-forward at the base. Then as is traditional with this style syrup is added, for this beer, it's Ecto Cooler green syrup. While some beers incorporate lactose int them for texture (milkshake IPAs) this has no lactose in it. The lacto from the name comes from lactic acid, a byproduct of fermentation.

Anyway, the actual beer.

I got green, it's a little darker than a bud lite colored green at St Patricks day in a college town. Smells sour with some bready notes. Beer tastes like a more sour version of Orval, yeasty but sour. There is NO hops in this. Then the syrup flavoring hits, and it's fine? But everything together just doesn't do it for me. Based on Untapped I might just not like this style, which I totally get. Normally I'd give it a 2.5 out of 5.

What sucks is HHN is not normal. It's hot, it's loud, you're outside in the sun, and this beer will NOT go well the crowd. I fully expect this to get the Green Milk treatment... and I like Green Milk! If this was a 4oz pour as part of a horror beer flight then I could see it working. But a 16oz car in the heat? OOOF. With that in mind I knock a half-star off, it's a 2/5. Classic "fans of this style should try" sorta thing.

That sucks because Voodoo Brewing does lots of great stuff.

 

[Clive]

Looks like lots of great options this year, both for food and drinks. Intrigued by the absinthe and "Save Your Tears" cocktails the most. A bit underwhelmed by the Meatz offerings (a Bloody Mary...?) but the sec dec is super cool.

The QR code showing ALL the menus is a game changer and will almost certainly save our party a bunch of time.

 

[Tobias]

Looks like lots of great options this year, both for food and drinks. Intrigued by the absinthe and "Save Your Tears" cocktails the most. A bit underwhelmed by the Meatz offerings (a Bloody Mary...?) but the sec dec is super cool.

The QR code showing ALL the menus is a game changer and will almost certainly save our party a bunch of time.

Agreed on a lot of counts here, I see plenty of food and drink I'm eager to try this year. As for the Meatz offerings, part of me is thinking they might be a little limited on what they can offer due to the tight space of Sting Alley, but that's me spit balling.

And same with the QR code menus, that can help prevent the usual indecisions of folks reading the menu right at the front of the line.

All in all, it's great to see them continuing to expand the food offerings for the event. It was one of the highlights of last year, and it's impressive to see how far they've come with offerings compared to pre-2018.

 

[Skipper Justin]

Looks like lots of great options this year, both for food and drinks. Intrigued by the absinthe and "Save Your Tears" cocktails the most. A bit underwhelmed by the Meatz offerings (a Bloody Mary...?) but the sec dec is super cool.

The QR code showing ALL the menus is a game changer and will almost certainly save our party a bunch of time.

Korean fried chicken/cauliflower sounds pretty great to me.

 

[HHNObsession]

They put up the food descriptions for the Chucky food tent.

 

[Clive]

Korean fried chicken/cauliflower sounds pretty great to me.

I should have clarified, the vegan option actually sounds pretty great. Just less thrilled about the carnivore options - but that's okay. Tons of cool stuff at the other venues. Looking forward to the Good Guy Burger.

 

[Brian G.]

What sucks is HHN is not normal. It's hot, it's loud, you're outside in the sun, and this beer will NOT go well the crowd. I fully expect this to get the Green Milk treatment... and I like Green Milk! If this was a 4oz pour as part of a horror beer flight then I could see it working. But a 16oz car in the heat? OOOF. With that in mind I knock a half-star off, it's a 2/5. Classic "fans of this style should try" sorta thing.

That sucks because Voodoo Brewing does lots of great stuff.

I have a feeling they went with a sour since they are "in" and that it had some ties to Horror.

 

[PenguinCowboy]

I've got my little list going *unfurls scroll as it rolls across the room*:

I'm excited about the sour; I know they are definitely not everyone's bag, but I personally haven't met one I haven't found something to like about. I probably could track it down around here and give it a go prior to the event. but methinks I'll wait to try it in the horror hullabaloo. The peach drink also sounds interesting, but tbh I've never been a crazy drinker at the event. For the price and Fraternity Rooms Party style drinks, I usually pass, but I do applaud the concentrated effort on giving each tent their own drink in the past few years.

As far as foods go, this is my current hype:

Definites:
San Fran:
-Burnt Offering Mac Bowl (love a good mac bowl!)

Great Pu....mpkin:
-Maggot Cheese Dog (Korean corn dogs are a treat when done right!)

Meetz:
-Offals (expecting basically Asian chilli boneless wings, lol)

Good Guys:
-Wanna Play Beinget (I was skipping until this became a savory dish; I'm living for the spicy and cheesy nature of it now!)

Gramercy:
-Horseshoe (Seems basic, but I'm a sucker for anything open faced; plus it seems like quite a lot of 'stuff' piled on top to pick at)
-Sambusa Coffin (if they can get it fried just right [a big ask for a festival booth, I know] this will be a winner for me no matter what)

Maybes:
Music Plaza:
-Witches Stew (hoping they offer this during the day given the booth it is at, but the skeleton cornbread is adorable)

Gramercy:
-Stovetop Popcorn Custard (genuinely no idea what this really is...my gut tells me it is literally popcorn over custard...I'm intrigued but won't be gutted if I don't get it)
-Pepperoni Pizza Skulls (love the look, but I know what I'm getting, so no real rush)

Jury's Out:
Good Guys:
-Good Guy Burger (I've never had a good doughnut burger...but damnit if they don't reel me back in every time)

General:
-Pizza fries (a staple, but not sure I'll have time)
-Smore fries (an even BETTER staple, imo, but see above)
-Fried PB&J (Good, but the price hike is major yikes, and I know someone else in my group will likely get it, so I'll snag a bite to satiate myself)

All these are definitely subject to change for sure, especially because we don't have the final descriptions of a few things, and I am a SUCKER for creative presentation (but I'm not holding my breath). I also was there for Mardi Gras and I took advantage of the gift card offer because it never expired and I could use it at any Uni dining location, so I have about $140 left to spend for this event (which is scary to think might only cover about 10-12 dishes, oof). Hoping they do something similar for the event, but again, not convinced.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I have a feeling they went with a sour since they are "in" and that it had some ties to Horror.

Its not a sour though!

 

[anihilnation]

Its not a sour though!

Had to look this up again, but yeah, Berliner Weise is sour, though I assume adding syrup takes that part away. Traditionally for Belgian lambics, a secondary fermentation is used with actual fruit, the most common being tard cherries; lambics also use wild yeast, whereas I think German sours use regular yeast. Sometimes I feel like they are experimenting too much with beer-styles these days, then I find the best beer is Trappist, which is inherently simple to brew.

 

[HHN Maddux]

That Good Guys Burger... hoping to ask for it without the jalapenos, cause the rest of that sounds GOOD!

 

[4hartthreat]

Yes, I am now very excited for this Good Guy Burger

 

[tittlediddle]

Are we missing pizza fries this year? Or have we not found them yet?

 

[ssirin88]

I've got my little list going *unfurls scroll as it rolls across the room*:

I'm excited about the sour; I know they are definitely not everyone's bag, but I personally haven't met one I haven't found something to like about. I probably could track it down around here and give it a go prior to the event. but methinks I'll wait to try it in the horror hullabaloo. The peach drink also sounds interesting, but tbh I've never been a crazy drinker at the event. For the price and Fraternity Rooms Party style drinks, I usually pass, but I do applaud the concentrated effort on giving each tent their own drink in the past few years.

As far as foods go, this is my current hype:

Definites:
San Fran:
-Burnt Offering Mac Bowl (love a good mac bowl!)

Great Pu....mpkin:
-Maggot Cheese Dog (Korean corn dogs are a treat when done right!)

Meetz:
-Offals (expecting basically Asian chilli boneless wings, lol)

Good Guys:
-Wanna Play Beinget (I was skipping until this became a savory dish; I'm living for the spicy and cheesy nature of it now!)

Gramercy:
-Horseshoe (Seems basic, but I'm a sucker for anything open faced; plus it seems like quite a lot of 'stuff' piled on top to pick at)
-Sambusa Coffin (if they can get it fried just right [a big ask for a festival booth, I know] this will be a winner for me no matter what)

Maybes:
Music Plaza:
-Witches Stew (hoping they offer this during the day given the booth it is at, but the skeleton cornbread is adorable)

Gramercy:
-Stovetop Popcorn Custard (genuinely no idea what this really is...my gut tells me it is literally popcorn over custard...I'm intrigued but won't be gutted if I don't get it)
-Pepperoni Pizza Skulls (love the look, but I know what I'm getting, so no real rush)

Jury's Out:
Good Guys:
-Good Guy Burger (I've never had a good doughnut burger...but damnit if they don't reel me back in every time)

General:
-Pizza fries (a staple, but not sure I'll have time)
-Smore fries (an even BETTER staple, imo, but see above)
-Fried PB&J (Good, but the price hike is major yikes, and I know someone else in my group will likely get it, so I'll snag a bite to satiate myself)

All these are definitely subject to change for sure, especially because we don't have the final descriptions of a few things, and I am a SUCKER for creative presentation (but I'm not holding my breath). I also was there for Mardi Gras and I took advantage of the gift card offer because it never expired and I could use it at any Uni dining location, so I have about $140 left to spend for this event (which is scary to think might only cover about 10-12 dishes, oof). Hoping they do something similar for the event, but again, not convinced.

Are you me?

 

[PenguinCowboy]

Are you me?

 

[Brian G.]

Are we missing pizza fries this year? Or have we not found them yet?

They’re coming. Just hasn’t been put up yet.

 

[tittlediddle]

They’re coming. Just hasn’t been put up yet.

I hope so. The first time I've been to the event in forever, I would really love some authentic pizza fries!

 

[HHNObsession]

 

[Clive]

The packaging is A+. Really going the extra mile.