The family and I were celebrating the 5th birthday of the Dinky Drinky Box, where I happened to catch a food van that had been on my radar for some time.

The food van was Papas Locas or “crazy potatoes” and serves poutine and loaded fries.

I immediately noticed their retro 80’s theme with its UV colours and Pac Man inspired art work. Better still, their logo had the face of a border collie on the front. Being an owner of two myself this instantly met my approval 😂

The menu has two loaded fries options, two poutines, three sides, and a load of sauces and added extras.

I started with one of their loaded fries, called “The Chicky One” for £11.

This is described as ‘skin-on chips, spicy breaded fried chicken, melty cheese, curry sauce, jalapeño peppers and parsley’.

It is served in a recyclable bowl and a wooden fork. The bowl was filled to the brim with a concoction of pure indulgence. The crispy breadcrumb chicken was absolutely doused in a mild curry sauce and thick stringy cheese that mixed together in a thick gooey delight.

I was genuinely impressed with the heroic portion of jalapenos that were nice and chunky which added a fiery kick that made all the difference to a hot head like me.

The chips, on an individual level, were fairly standard but all the ingredients in the bowl complimented each other in a way that made them work. You can’t really go wrong with chips when they are saturated in cheese and curry 😂

It was a delicious dish and something I would definitely have again.

I noticed some “K-pop bites” on the menu for £6.50. These little gems of pleasure are made from spicy breaded chicken in a Korean BBQ sauce.

I was only complaining the other day on my visit to Yori about the poorly executed Korean chicken. Papas Locas showed us how it is done. This is exactly what I envision in my head when I ordered Korean chicken. Rich, sticky, sweet, and messy, but most of all, cooked all the way through in their Korean sauce.

They were great fun and unashamedly messy. I particularly liked the size, as they were too small to eat in two bites but just too big to eat in one, so you are forced (at gun point) to eat them in one huge mouthful…and that’s just fine with me 😂

Naturally, I went back for seconds to explore the menu further (yes, the diet is going great, thanks for asking!).

Next, was their Mozzarella Dippers. These are served in a portion of 5 with your choice of dipping sauce. I decided to pick the “Cherry Cola BBQ Mayo” because it sounded completely off the wall.

The mozzarella sticks were big, crunchy, crispy, and gooey, with a mild spice adding flavour to the bread crumbs. I found these perfect for sharing and big enough as a single portion to fill you up. The cherry cola sauce wasn’t anything like I imagined. It was nice and smooth but quite anemic.

Hot off the press was a new dish on their menu called the “Daruma Bites” – A Japanese twist on the K-pops I had earlier.

They look similar to the K-pops but slightly darker due to the miso sauce it is made with.

Opinions were unanimous at our table – everyone loved them! The only opinion that was split was on which of the two people preferred. I am a big fan of Korean food, so preferred the K-pops but wife was firmly in the Daruma camp. In fact, she describes them as “mind blowing”. I couldn’t argue, she was absolutely right.

Conclusion

Everyone at our table today loved Papas Locas. It’s comfort food in its purest form. Everything we had was cooked perfectly and universally enjoyed by everyone at our table. I cannot recommend the K-pops enough!

I look forward to visiting again and exploring the poutine.

Thanks for reading!