The General’s In Town

President’s Choice General Tao Chicken, that is. If you’re a regular on Plato Putas, then you know one important fact. We love potato chips. From the downright obscure Squirrel flavour by Walkers Crisps, to the more snooty, upscale line of Popchips, we’re potato chip fanatics and not ashamed to admit it.

She Don’t Know She Drives Me Nutty

For some strange reason, my first encounter eating a Little Debbies Nutty Bar put a twang in my voice and a tap in my toe. There was no other way for me to describe my experience than to put my words into a good ol’ fashioned All-American country ballad. Git out the guitars and strap on some spurs, this one goes out to a little redhead named Debbie:

You fill my mouth with a nutty taste,
So sweet and crunchy I must embrace

Little Debbies. Oh Oh Oh, Little Debbies

Since the great depression you’ve been around,
Up and down these American towns

Little Debbies. Oh Oh Oh, Little Debbies

Pop It Like It’s Hot

Now, I’m probably the biggest potato chip fan around. My mantra is “All hail the potato chip.” Hey, my mom worked for Walkers crisps in the UK so I was practically raised by spuds. But nothing has won my heart more that Popchips, so much so that I wanted to share them with you, our loyal readers.

Don’t Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jack

I haven’t been to a baseball game since I was 10 years old, so I was filled with childhood nostalgia when I went to see the Toronto Blue Jays pulverize the New York Yankees on Sunday. The score was 14-8 for the Jays and I’d like to put myself in the win column too for properly managing my food expectations. Word-of-mouth and interweb research all indicated that the concession stands at the Rogers Centre (formerly the Skydome) are dismal. The classic hot dog (shown above) is only slightly better than the 50-cent Ikea dog, but this one clocks in at the jacked-up price of $5.

One delicious discovery was the BBQ Chicken Nachos ($7.75) featuring tri-colour nachos loaded with cheese sauce, smoked BBQ chicken, jalapenos, onions, salsa and sour cream. The sweet chicken is an odd mix with the other flavours, but it’s a leisurely treat and the crunch from the nachos blends well with the sound of heckling fans.

Occupying seats in the 500 level has its benefits ($12 price point, lots of room to stretch out since there’s few people around you), but the food up there should be avoided. A quick scan of the upper stalls, and it’s obvious this is peasant food.

The Good, the Bad, the EXceptional

I’ve eaten my way through The Ex before, but this year the artery-clogging consumption reached a feverish new pitch. Since the Canadian National Exhibition only runs for a couple weeks each year, there’s immense pressure to try all the gastric options, even if they’re gimmicky, disgusting or likely to cause, well, a gastric bypass. You’ve only got one long weekend left before the Ex closes on Sept. 7, so here’s a visual menu of the junkiest food we could find. First up is this year’s craziest novelty (shown above), Bacon Covered in Chocolate ($5), available on the Midway.

If you’re not down with this sweet-and-salty microwaved concoction, it’s always smart to go with Tiny Tom Donuts, a staple of the Ex ($5 per dozen). You can top them with icing sugar, cinnamon, apple cinnamon or chocolate. Watch the journey of how one lil’ donut begins his greasy birth, moves along the conveyor belt with its brethren, and meets an untimely demise covered in cinnamon sugar.