The CNE, Toronto's nostalgic fair signalling the end of summer, is back, and so are all the wacky food creations that come with it. Every year, the carnival foods get more outrageous, and this year is no exception. We all know that pickles have been having a moment, but glorified glizzies are hot on their heels as Toronto's next polarizing food obsession — and they're both out in full force at the CNE.
Nostalgic childhood treats are less divisive but just as prevalent, easily winning the hearts of millennials and earning confused “huh?”s from zoomers too young to remember Dunkaroos — or how delicious they are.
Between bites, there's a new Space Experience inside the Enercare Centre where you can live out your childhood dreams of being an astronaut; plenty of live entertainment, from bands to acrobats and anxiety-inducing high-divers; and loads of shopping. But let's be honest: trying all the ridiculous CNE foods you can only get once a year is the best part.
To help you save precious room in your stomach — and your wallet — we try as many of the weirdest CNE foods as we can, sorting the genuinely delicious from those that are more fun to look at than eat. Consider our stomach aches your gain.
The weirdest CNE food for 2026
The best:
1. Popcorn Falafel Poutine from Donia's Donnair, Outdoor Concession
Wacky poutines rarely lure me in, and this one doesn't look the most appetizing at first glance, but if you like falafel wraps and poutine, you'll love it as much as I do. The typical fries and cheese curds are loaded with vegetarian gravy, while pickled turnips, sweet dates, little falafel bites and sweet-and-tangy donair sauce really punch up the flavour.
2. Cinnamon Toast Crunch Mozzarella Stick, Food Building
This sweet and savoury mashup was thrown into my hands, so I don't know where it came from, but it is absolutely worth hunting down at the CNE this year. Fried mozzarella is covered in a Cinnamon Toast Crunch crumble and served with icing. It's everything I want in a snack: sugary, salty, gooey, crunchy and nostalgic all at once. You can get just one, or a flight with four flavours featured: Butter Parmesan, Cinnamon Toast, Nashville Hot, and Root Beer BBQ.
3. Dunkaroos Cheesecake Pop from Mr. Pickle, Outdoor Concession
Less weird and more nostalgic carnival treat, this cold slice of cheesecake is dipped in a Dunkaroos coating that crystallizes into a crunchy shell for the perfect bite. And it's served on a stick, so you can eat it on the go.
4. Dill Pickle Pegrolls
Someone should have added dill pickle to pierogies years ago. These are served in a crunchy spring-roll wrapper with all the dill-potato-cheese goodness on the inside.
5. Lobster on a Stick, Food Building
It's exactly as it sounds: juicy lobster, battered, deep-fried and served on a stick for for portable protein (and lots of grease).
The worst:
6. CNE Sweet Heat Dirty Soda from Dirty Sodas, Outdoor Concession
I don't know what this one was supposed to taste like, but just no. I do love their other dirty sodas, though.
The rest:
7. Sweetcorn Wasabi Lemonade, Food Truck Frenzy
Apparently there's a 50/50 ratio of corn to lemons in this drink, but it tastes like a lemonade with a whisper of corn and a hint of wasabi. If you want to try something "weird" but aren't feeling that adventurous, this is a safe choice.
8. Funnel Cake Fire from Marry Me Mochi, Food Building
It's sweet. It's a doughnut. It has strawberry jam inside, fresh strawberry slices on top and a little dollop of whipped cream. That's about it.
9. Sushi Pops from HK Station, Outdoor Concession
I'd rather eat the sushi at Bestco, but it's fun that it comes in a little push pop for easy eating on the go.
The best:
10. Pickle Cheesecake Pop, Outdoor Concession
I don't think anything can ruin the delicious delicacy that is NY-style cheesecake — and I'm a pickle lover. So to say my hopes were high would be an understatement. The cheesecake was creamy, the chocolate dip helped it stay together in the heat and the dill pickle potato chip coating was so crunchy, adding just enough saltiness to the sweet bite. I'll be getting this again before summer ends!
11. Footlong Butter Chicken Taquito from Rick's Good Eats, Food Truck Frenzy
If you like butter chicken, you'll like this. It tastes exactly like it sounds, with the weird factor being that it's a footlong. A good beginner bite for those who want to get in on viral foods and not risk their sanity (or taste buds).
12. Strawberry Toast Crunch Chicken and Funnel Cake, Food Truck Frenzy
This one is a massive dish, which I respect, and can count as both dinner and dessert. It's a funnel cake that's hot-sauce-drizzled, with Cinnamon/Strawberry Toast Crunch cereal-crusted fried chicken (droolworthy), vanilla ice cream and cotton candy.
13. Crème Brûlée Japanese Cream Sandos, Food Building
While Taylor eyed the doughnuts at Marry Me Mochi, I only had eyes for the torched sandwiches getting handed out in troves. The hardest part was picking just one, so I would venture back for the Biscoff.
The worst:
14. Pickle Flavoured Coffee, Outdoor Concession
Of all the items I was on a mission to try, this was my top one. Tied with the KD Smoothie, but I'll get to that. An iced Greek coffee, whipped into a smoooooth foam with a burst of dill pickle flavour. I was intrigued with very high hopes. I gave it a stir, took a sip. And I almost threw up. And this is coming from the girl who willingly drinks pickle beverages OUTSIDE the CNE, has a pickle lip gloss in current rotation and indulges in a pickle freezie after a workout. I love dill! But pickle and coffee are just not meant to be.
15. Space Rocks, Heritage Court Enercare Centre
Extremely fun to watch these nitrogen-infused bites get made, and breathing out smoke makes for an excellent selfie. The ones we tried were chocolate-covered rice cakes and they were so dry it felt like chewing sand. Very cold sand.
16. Cotton Candy Kickin Chicken from Mr. Potato, Food Building
Chicken and waffles? Love. Cotton candy? Love. Dill pickle coleslaw? Love. But too spicy for someone who thinks ketchup is spicy (kidding, kind of).
The rest:
17. CNE Sweet Heat Hot Sauce, CNE Drip Shop
This stuff is EVERYWHERE. Inspired by cotton candy and made in small batches, I think it would make a fun souvenir. But it truly didn't need to make an appearance on so many dishes.
18. Smash Burger Dumplings, Food Building
The only thing I don't like about smash burgers is how messy they can be, but these dumplings solve that!
19. Cotton Candy Waffleicious, Food Truck Frenzy
A step up from the usual corndog you grab, this waffle-battered jerk chicken hot dog does have a bit more flavour. I liked the mango mustard, pineapple relish and honey jerk BBQ sauce, but it felt like the cotton candy and CNE Sweet Heat sauce were just meh.
20. KD Smoothie
This smoothie is getting so much attention online, and it was the other item at the top of my list to try. I live for weird food combos. Truth be told, it's not that weird. The mango and pineapple overpower the KD Shaker Original Cheese flavour a fair bit, which I guess could be a good thing for some folks, but I wanted more. It reminded me of having cheese and melon on a plate, a little savoury with the sweet. I might be the only one requesting more cheese, please.
The CNE is on from August 21 to September 7.
