Dhaka Lit Fest is here to satisfy your appetite for literature, culture, art, etc. But when the pangs of hunger hit, it also has a vast range of delicious food to offer as well.
There are our delicacies like biryani, tehari, kebabs and pithas, as well as popular additions to our culinary fare -- waffles, momo and more. There's the all-time favourite ice-cream, soft drinks and coffee to refresh you.
The fair has both well-established food chains like Meena Sweets, Bellisimo, Tabaq Coffee, Lucknow, Banglar Mishti, Bengal Meat's Deli, Puro Pastry and Bakery, WaffleUp and Roll Express, and lesser known stalls such as the House of Tehari, Nawabi Catering, Sonargaon Pitha Ghar, Instaeats and Mridul's Kitchen with a variety of food and drinks.
Jannatul Kanan, a visitor coming from Narayanganj, said her kids seemed to be enjoying the food. They were eating waffles from WaffleUp, which was attracting good number of eaters at the fest.
Meanwhile, Mahmud Hasan Kayesh, a teacher at Independent University, Bangladesh, was eating phuchka with his son. He said he liked the khichuri he ate there, but the food here seems to be overpriced. "It's almost double the price it sells outside," he said, adding that it would've been better if the prices were a bit lower.
Anika, a student from Jahangirnagar University came to enjoy the fest, with her friends. She said the overall food arrangement was good but, given the prices, the servings should have been larger. They had eaten shwarma and phuchka and said both were tasty. One of her friends, though, complained the pitha was cold and rock-hard.
Anika said that compared to the first day of the fest, there were more varieties of food now and at more reasonable prices. Another of her friends added that prices seemed comparatively lower than the previous editions of the event.
People kept thronging the food corner throughout the day. Local people as well as the foreign guests were noticed indulging in local cuisines. People visiting the Lit Fest with their friends and families enjoyed chatting over their food. Overall, a festive ambience prevailed.
Rita Mujtaba, a Bangladeshi expatriate from London, came to visit the fest with her friends. She tried different dishes like beef tehari, phuchka and coffee. She found the food as well as the atmosphere lovely. She appreciated that the whole food corner was clean and there were dustbins at every corner. The vendors were also well-behaved. The overall experience was pleasing.
Foreign visitors were enjoying the food too at the Dhaka Lit Fest. Holly from the United States was visiting the Fest with her friends. She was having paratha, dal and panir. She said she is a vegetarian and that's why she's having dal-panir and she loved it.
The food vendors said they were happy to be here with their food. They are doing brisk business and the turnout of customers was good.
Pallab, a vendor from WaffleUp, said they are happy with people's response. About their attracting a huge crowd of customers including children, he said people are coming to them because their service was good and prices reasonable.
An employee of the Meena Sweets, Uttan, said despite there being good competition due to the high number of shops there, they received quite a good response from both their regular customers and new ones. Compared to previous years, they are getting a better response this year, he added.
Noshin Binta Ammun, daughter of the owner of online food shop Mridul's Kitchen, said their highest-selling items are phuchka, malai cha and momo.
Overall, people seem to be happy with the food arrangements at Dhaka Lit Fest. In between their immersion in art, culture and literature, they enjoyed the gastronomic delights too!