The British Street Food Awards

Back in the middle of September I decided I’d take a trip over to London to visit my brother and of course do some serious eating, eating being the point of all of my holidays.  However it was only by chance that a couple of days before I left that I came across something called “The British Street Food Awards” on a food blog and realised then that this was now the purpose of my trip. Who could turn down the chance to eat at some of the most celebrated and venerated food trucks from all over the UK, all in the same place at once. This was The Oscars of street food and I accidentally fell arse first straight into the middle of it.

The whole operation is run beside Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant in Hoxton and he has some involvement (though how much I’m not sure of). Fair play to him anyway for whatever his role is, it’s a brilliant idea and the whole street-food movement in the UK has really exploded over the last couple of years (something which I suspect will blow up in Ireland in the near future).  We arrived at 12pm and a serious crowd was already gathering, the sunshine really dragging the punters out in droves. First up we went to the bar and of course it was a craft beer bonanza, no Heineken taps in this joint.  We tried some of their unique cocktail creations which were filled with pomegranate segments, fresh ginger and whatever else the hipster bartenders could conjure into a cocktail.

First up on the food mission was a Fried Chicken joint called Spit & Roast (we see what you did there lads). These guys seemed to be one of the main attractions as I queued for probably 30 minutes for a bite of a chicken bap served to me by a dude who I’m nearly sure was Jarvis Cocker. Fried Chicken is the food trend of the year and Spit & Roast seem to have hit everything pretty much spot on, bang on the Zeitgeist if you want to sound like a wanker. All they were offering was a “Buttermilk Fried Chicken Thigh, Apple and Celeriac Slaw in a Bap” and wings. The 30 minute queue was worth the wait though, it was bloody sensational. Chicken thighs are a much better option for something like this as they don’t dry out nearly as quickly as breasts. The thigh was coated in a delicious spicy seasoning and served in a basic bap with outstanding slaw. There was also a delicious bbq sauce tying the whole thing together, really top notch stuff.

We also tried some of their wings and they continued the poultry excellence.  Coated in the same seasonings as the thigh they were amongst the finest I’ve eaten (didn’t even require Franks, now that is something) the one thing you could really taste was the quality of chicken. Big meaty wings which don’t taste like rock hard hammers which have been chucked at you from over the counter by Charlene the waitress from Eddie Rockets, are something to be savoured and appreciated.

Alright Jarvis!

Next up on the awards trail were a Welsh seafood crew called Café Mor. These guys were also pulling the crowds big time, queuing for extended periods being the order of the day. Such were the big crowds at the event that the organisers took to twitter to apologise for the long delays. No matter, it’s great to see so many people interested in what has established itself as a food phenomenon, this all leads to a raising of standards and a public rejection of paying 8 quid for a Big Al’s burger from some truck smothered in that Kandee Ketchup you used to get at school.

Anyway, back to Café Mor, I’d never heard of them before, probably because they’re Welsh so I was interested to sample what seafood they had on offer. Of all the stalls there on the day their menu was probably the most extensive, most of the other vendors opting for two or three offerings each.

First up was the Lobster Roll. If I see Lobster Roll on a menu I’ll step over my own grandmother to get it. It’s the perfect balance of luxury and poverty rolled into one; decadent lobster meat stuffed into some unassuming bun (usually of the cheap hot-dog variety). This one didn’t disappoint, loads of fresh lobster with very few adornments (i.e none), served in a roll of some description.  It was accompanied by a very decent coleslaw (forget fried chicken, this is the year of the coleslaw, it seems to come with everything). All very good and while not being the best Lobster Roll I’ve ever tasted (thank you Burger + Lobster) it certainly was very good nosebag.   

Next was a selection of their “Hot Seashore Wraps”. Now I thought I knew what a wrap was but this certainly wasn’t it. I watched the guys making and cooking them on a sort of giant paella pan and from what I can gauge I would describe them as “Savoury Stuffed Dumplings”, they obviously prefer “Seashore Wrap”. 

The first of these was “Wild West Pembrokeshire Crab with Sweet Chilli Sauce, Sweetcorn and Spring Onion”. The crab tasted ultra-fresh and nothing beats that straight out of the sea flavour you get from quality seafood. The sauce kicked proceedings up a notch but the addition of sweetcorn didn’t do it for me. I’m not a big fan of sweetcorn anyway but texturally I didn’t think it felt right (Note: this dish went on to be the overall winner in the “Best Sandwich” category at the awards which makes me question who and how they're scoring this thing).

Their next wrap was “Smoked Welsh Sewin with Cream Cheese, Lemon Zest, Dill and Laverbread”. Sewin is sea trout and this was absolutely delicious. It should’ve been obvious anyway as rich cream cheese cut with lemon adding some nice fragrant dill is a classic combination. This working in tandem with the sewin should have alerted me earlier to the fact that I shouldn’t doubt the trout. You couldn’t taste the laverbread anyway which was a huge bonus. Laverbread (seaweed) does that thing that certain types of cheese do by exploding its noxious flavour in your mouth until all you can taste is that rotting-vegetable type flavour. Laverbread is disgusting, end of story.

Their final sandwich was “Laverbread Pesto with Welsh Cheddar and Tomatoes”. Great, fucking laverbread again. I took one bite and threw it at my brother, I wouldn’t disgrace this blog with a picture of it.

Café Mor’s final menu item was a pretty bog standard Seafood Chowder which didn’t particularly taste of anything, including seafood. It would be better described as “An Under-Seasoned Smashed Pea and Potato Medley served in a Polystyrene Cup”. It didn’t do anything for me or my friends and I found it strange that seafood specialists couldn’t get their soup to taste of any discernible fish. All in all a mixed report for Café Mor, some great stuff mixed with some nautical disasters.

On my journey to get the beers in (from the oh-so-hip Camden Brew Co…..dickheads) I spotted one stall which didn’t have a baying hoard outside it; The Mussel Men. These Scottish dudes specialise in Moules-Frites, mussels and chips to anyone who isn’t French. Mussels cooked in white wine and shallots with skinny fries are an all-time classic and when done right are the ultimate in comfort food. The delicious sauce combining the wine and salty liquid released from the mussels is almost the ultimate in chip-dipping.

While queuing the Mussel Men have the novel idea of getting one of their staff to challenge you to an arm-wrestle (these are Mussel Men after all) but then actually trying to engage in a “Thumb War” like the ones you used to have when you were in school. Needless to say I found this incredibly annoying and had to fight off the urge to stuff him head-first into the steaming mussel pot. Other people found it humorous but they looked like hipster aresholes so I’ll maintain my position on this.

After that saga I’m delighted to report that the moules-frites were outstanding. These were moreish moules, huge and of excellent quality (turns out that quality Scottish seafood thing isn’t just jock propaganda) and the chips were drenched in that delicious emulsified winey (nice word) sauce. I brought one box over to my four friends and the whole thing was scoffed in seconds. The only complaint I can make is that I was the only person in the queue who didn’t get any parsley garnish, I do love my garnish. Must have been my impolitesse with that thumb war twat.

The final stop on this street food adventure was a place called Green Goat. I’m not really sure what they specialise in but they certainly have aspirations of something higher than fried chicken. We queued (again) at about 5pm and they had only one menu item left. As we were ordering the guys told us they were informed that the huge volume of people was unanticipated by the organisers so the traders were completely understaffed and understocked. Some of the vans ran out at 4pm with thousands of people still lining up, causing chaos at the trucks who still had supplies. It was this reason that I missed out on trying loads of the stalls I was interested in but I can always use it as an excuse to come back to London and try them, wherever they’re based.

Back to the Green Goat and their final menu item: a “Cornish Scallop, Cream Tea Scone, Whipped Butter and Strawberry Jam”. This really was quite something and the most gastronomic thing I tasted on the day. The fresh charred scallop on the slightly sweet scone, mixed with the rich butter and sugary acidic jam melded perfectly. An outstanding flavour combination, I was initially hesitant about covering a scallop with something I’d rarely put on toast. Really delicious anyway and you could tell these guys were chefs as opposed to a couple of hippies who bought a van and may have owned livestock at one stage.

By this stage of the day there was either no more food or hour long queues for ice-cream. We decided enough was enough and went off to the boozer to get rightly pissed. The British Street Food Awards are a brilliantly conceived idea, executed (almost) perfectly and something I feel will grow far bigger by next year and beyond. I’d love to see something like this back in Ireland in even a miniature scale of what’s on offer here. It only takes a couple of traders who take what they’re doing seriously and a commitment to offer a quality product to produce a whole movement. Hopefully this is only around the corner. Now that’s something worth queuing for.

****/*****