Like water and oil, initiative and government are two things that just don't connect - in these parts at any rate - and therefore the Food Street project of Gawalmandi comes as a bit of a shock to the system. To think that the government actually encouraged this project seems unfathomable, yet it is a fact.

So, what is Food Street?
Basically it is non descript kind of street, not very long, off the infamous Laxmi Chowk of Lahore and it consists essentially of a bunch of streetside restaurants, juice and milk shops and sweet shops. The shops are all bunched together on this short stretch of a street which has now been given the official name of Food Street. During the day it could be any of Laxmi Chowks busy lane's bustling with traffic, smog and rickshaws that dart around in a most unpredictable and almost psychotic manner. As the sun begins to set, the auto workshops and their ilk start pulling down the shutters - and as darkness begins to fall, the rather unkempt, typically untidy street starts to metamorphose. Within minutes, out come the tables, and the street-side pots and pans, and on go the flames. Then the lights that are designed to illuminate the decorated rooftops are switched on and Food Street well and truly comes alive.

By about 8, the crowd starts swelling appreciably and soon there won't be a spare inch in sight. We arrived early, to avoid the throngs and to be able to tuck leisurely into most of the items on offer. The first stop was a tikka and chop place that had been recommended to us by everyone we had yet come across who had previously been to the Food street. We tucked into a plate full of tikka's but the chops proved to be far tastier and juicier. What was a pleasant surprise was that neither the tikka's nor the chops were inundated with red chilies. However, next time around, one will avoid the tikka's altogether and go for the chops alone, which are far superior to the other meat on offer. This particular place, The Pak Tikka Shop did a roaring trade and is clearly one of the most popular restaurants on the street.

Walking further along the brightly decorated and kite-festooned street, there were mounds of "channa" (chick pea's) on display - spiced up to perfection and served with fried dough puri's - a totally Lahore experience. Beware though, that most of the food on evidence is deep fried in gallons of oil and ghee - cholesterol levels be damned!
Moving on there were plenty of places along the street offering the usual fare of chicken tikka and seekh kebab's, a far more appetizing prospect to those items dripping with oil. The tikka's and seekhs that we sampled were tasty and satisfying without being in the truly memorable category.

Perhaps the most delicious bite that we came across was the fabulous partridge tikka beautifully spiced up. The partridge meat was sumptuous and probably the most memorable thing we feasted on that night. The fish had been highly recommended to us and judging by the crowds flocking to the shop, it must have been a little special. Yet most local fish comes with plenty of bones within and we weren't convinced. They also looked quite lethally spiced! Perhaps next time around one will be braver. Moving on, there were shops selling another traditional dish, nihari and siri pai. Perhaps a bit of an acquired taste and not for the squeamish - the nihari and pai ought be be given a miss by vegetarians…….in fact there is not much on food street that caters to the vegetarian. For most locals vegetarianism is something that is inconceivable…Pakistani's are devout carnivores. A fellow from the Frontier was cooking the regional speciality the Chappal kebab which is minced beef which is given some solid spicing and fried up in a huge wok frying pan thingy.

The sweet shops looked daunting with their massive mounds of sugary sweet halwa's and puddings on display. The Gajjar ka halva looked delectable and the gulab jamuns even better. We sampled some of the ice cream at the only ice cream stall on the street. Chaman's was far superior to say the very least. Then finally I felt I couldn't leave without trying out the famous cold milk with crushed pistachio and almond and rose water and god knows what. The first sip nearly had me retching as lumps of disgusting wormy stuff filled my mouth…….someone pointed out to me that the place was called Faluda house and faluda is basically this spaghetti like sweet stuff that is mostly served as a topping on the local ice cream variant kulfi. The milk was full of this yucky faluda stuff and I had to ask the chap to give me a glass without the faluda which he did with a slightly quizzical expression on his face. The milk without faluda was far better. By the time we departed which was about 10.30 or so if not later, the place was beginning to really fill up rather nicely even if it was only a weekday.

The food was unfortunately well below par even if it was generally a fun experience. However the the most fascinating part of the trip was the enterprise and initiative shown by those powers that be that allowed and encouraged such an enterprise. There should be Food Streets in all the major cities of Pakistan to be enjoyed by rich and poor and what's best of all is that the street is quite an equalizer of sorts as cars aren't allowed……the rich are forced to trudge along the streets with the poor rather than stuff their faces from behind their Pajero's and Land Cruisers!