Location: 100 Princes’ Boulevard, Toronto
Website: https://www.theex.com/

Another year of the Ex, another batch of weird foods.  A slightly smaller batch than I was hoping — I really wanted to try the pickle cheesecake on a stick, which seems like it should not exist and was therefore something I felt an odd compulsion to try.  Alas, I couldn’t find the vendor that was serving it and eventually had to abandon that dream.

Fried lobster on a stick from Lobster on a Stick

This was actually one of the less odd new items at the Ex this year (there’s nothing particularly weird about it, aside from the inherent oddness of a luxury item like lobster being served at a carnival); it’s just a tempura-battered lobster tail on a stick.  Still, aside from it being a bit tough, it was tasty, with the two sauces on the side (dill and garlic butter) being a nice complement.

Jamaican patty mini beef patty pierogies from Supreme Pierogi

Beef patties and pierogies aren’t necessarily a food I would have thought of cramming together, but hey, what do you know — this works.  It’s essentially a pierogi exterior with beef patty filling.  It’s lightly fried, giving it some texture.  The slightly chewy wrapper works well with the Jamaican-spiced ground beef, and the filling is exactly what you’d find in a patty.  This sounds weird in theory, but when you eat it, it makes complete sense.

Ramen-crusted frog legs from Farm to Fryer

This is maybe the weirdest-sounding item of the three I tried, and you know what?  It was my favourite.  I’m not entirely convinced that anything should be ramen-crusted (the ramen bits straddled the line between pleasantly crunchy and overly hard/dry), but the frog was freshly fried and very tender, with the texture of a good chicken wing.  My expectation was that this would be cooked in advance and dry, so I was pleasantly surprised by how well-prepared it was (and the sweet chili sauce it was topped with was tasty).

I guess it was a good thing I couldn’t find the cheesecake, because I was three for three, and I can’t imagine pickle cheesecake would have been particularly palatable.