Tag Archives: London

Who’s on at the Exhibition Road Show

1 Aug

West London marauders! Take a look below to see who’s on for the next five days of eat.st at Ex Rd:

 

Wednesday 1st August (6pm-10pm)

Ruby Violet – last day!

Streetza – here all dates

Dosa Deli – last day!

Van Dough – one day only!

Roost – 1st day!

Yumi Co

Taste of Tawa

Kimchi Cult

Buen Provecho

Bleecker St Burger – here all dates

Gurmetti – must be tried!

Crumbs & Doilies – returning!

Daisy Green – here all dates

Fleisch Mob – one day only!

Speck Mobile – Austrian invasion

 

Thursday 2nd August (6pm – 10pm)

Sorbitium Ices – 1st day!

Roost

Speck Mobile

Anna Mae’s – 1st day!

Horn OK Please – returning

Taste of Tawa

Kimchi Cult

Streetza

Buen Provecho

Bleecker St Burger

Gurmetti

Daisy Green

Molly Bakes – last day!

The Bowler – returning!

Yumi Co

 

Friday 3rd August (6pm – 11pm)

Tongue ‘n Cheek – new in!

Vinn Goute – new in!

Horn OK Please

Anna Mae’s

Streetza

The Bowler

Roost

Kimchi Cult

Speck Mobile

Yumi Co

Bleecker St Burger

Buen Provecho

Daisy Green

Gurmetti

Sorbitium

 

Saturday 4th August (11am – 11pm)

Vinn Goute – last day!

rainbo – new in!

Tongue ‘n Cheek

Roost

Buen Provecho

Daisy Green

Crumbs & Doilies – returning!

Anna Mae’s

Taste of Tawa

Sorbitium

Bleecker St Burger

Gurmetti

Bhangra Burger – returning!

The Bowler

Yumi Co

Buen Provecho

Horn OK Please

Jamon Jamon – returning!

Streetza

Sunday 5th August – final day (11am – 10pm)

Speck Mobile

Taste of Tawa

Roost

Bhangra Burger

Daisy Green

Bleecker St Burger

Gurmetti

Streetza

Sorbitium

Tongue ‘n Cheek

rainbo

Crumbs & Doilies

Jamon Jamon

Horn OK Please

Daisy Green

Anna Mae’s

The Bowler

Buen Provecho

Yumi Co

 

The Exhibition Road Show takes place all along Exhibition Road, South Kensington, SW7

http://exhibitionroadshow.co.uk/

 

More eat.st at King’s Cross for the Olympics

25 Jul

As much loved as our Monday-Friday lunchtime market at KX is, some people just don’t have the time to get there in their lunch breaks. I often get messages from people asking, ‘Do you think I’ll be able to make it from Vauxhall/Bermondsey/Tottenham Court Road, queue for lunch, eat it and make it back in an hour?’. I always say, go for it – but slightly worry about the digestion process after….

Pic courtesy of Helen Graves

So, help is on its way – for all of the KX daytime non-participators, as well as the hungry people waiting to catch the Javelin to Stratford. From this Saturday, July 28th, and for the full 16 days of the Olympics, eat.st will migrate South to the foot of King’s Boulevard at Station Square, serving from 11am-8pm daily. Now that’s a window for all the hungry/greedy/adventurous and fun to jump through. Whether ‘working from home’, taking a long lunch or heading over after work, we aim to feed.

We’re starting off small – Buen Provecho, Sorbitium Ices and Elephant Juice over the first weekend, then rolling out between four and eight traders each day. As well as this perky little trio, we have on the rota:

Bleecker St. Burgers – new kid on the van scene, doing the straight-up burger/slider/fries thing


Buen Provecho – pork pibil? Ceviche especial? MMmmm
Daisy Green – fro-yo and quirkster toppings
Dosa Deli – stepping up to challenge Horn OK to their KX crown

Eat My Pies – and his lovely mum, Jackie, showing us how they and their Scotch eggs roll
Elephant Juice – daily appearance to quench the thirst/hangover of proper smoothies
Fleisch Mob – Austrian street food from all round adorable guy, Mark
Gurmetti Limited – custom-built van-ette doing the gurmetti thing. Propio bello

Horn OK – bhel puri and dosa heaven
Jamon Jamon – returning to the fold with paella pans on fire
Kimchi Cult – Cult classic and KX stalwart
Kooky Bakes – Ice cream Whoopie Pies, what else is there?
Molly Bakes – and did we also hear SHAKES?
Monty’s Deli – Another adorable Mark – this one doing the Reuben thing with some major TLC
Mother Flipper – yes, he does and they’re one tasty little package
rainbo – Choc Star allumni Shrimp & Ben bring their 1948 Ford pickup into town, with mad gyozas on board

Pic courtesy of Good for Lunch

Sorbitium Ices – Their menu is dizzying. These guys KNOW ingredients
Speckmobile – Butter me up, baby. Serving schnitzel that I dream of
Tava Wava – the Bedouin tent of spiced and fragrant wraps. Massive tawa. Also called Mark
The Ribman – for one day only – don’t miss the window for another Mark to bust out his ribs
Tongue ‘n Cheek – Heartbreaker, risk-taker. We love it.
URBAN-ICES – Triking in from Dalston, Carla will pull out lollies unlike any you’ve ever seen

Pic courtesy of Wilkes

VadaszDeli – the Latino/Hungarian thing works for us. Try it, it’s tops
You Doughnut – this pair roll some mean dough and then roll it in delicious glazes. Moreish
Yum Bun – the queen of the bun, Lisa slays them all

eat.st at Station Square, N1C – 28 July – 12 August, 11am-8pm, daily.

Follow the @EatStreet Twitter feed for more info on who’s on, when. This is a role-call of flavour you’re not going to want to miss.

Forward!

eat.st at the Exhibition Road Show for the Olympics!

17 Jul

Lots of news on where we’ll be during the Games – first up we bring news on a project we’ve been working on for some time…

The Exhibition Road Show is all about celebrating the shared space that has got Exhibition Road all svelte and suave. For nine days – 28 July – 5 August – the entire Road will be taken up with music, dancing, games, brass bands, drums, bars and….US! So, not only will people be able to quaff proper cocktails from our old friends The Soul Shakers, but they’ll be able to graze on an array of great food from eat.st traders and friends.

 

 

Each day there will be 20 food stalls and vans, carefully selected by yours truly, to sling it good and sling it tasty on this iconic street. They will rotate throughout the week so that, in fact, if you were really greedy/curious, you could come every day and still not get through them all. Read the role-call of deliciousness and weep!

ANNA MAE’S – Southern street food and the Cheesus Loves You thing
BANH MI 11 – We can’t get enough of them
BHANGRA BURGER – Indian spiced burgers and hot pakoras
BLEECKER ST. – NYC no-messing burgers and sliders
BOSCO & BEE – Brixton-based chicken magic from a wood-fired Piaggio
THE BOWLER – gourmet meatballs from the biggest swinger in town
BUEN PROVECHO – straight from DF, this is the way of the calle and ceviche to die for

CARIBBEAN CHEF – award-winning jerk chicken and Puma’s official Caribbean food trader for the Games
CRUMBS & DOILIES – our favourite cupcakes in all of London
DAISY GREEN – fro-yo, Aussie style, with toppings to twist your melons
DOSA DELI – brilliant Indian dosas
FISH & – all the way from Leeds, amazing fish & chips from Northern Streats creator, Mr Critchley
FLEISCH MOB – Austrian chutzpah and a bit of leder-hosen
FRENCH & GRACE – Award-winning duo of brilliant cooks doing their uber-wraps
GREEN GOAT – ‘sustainable street food’ and some of the best we’ve had.

GURMETTI – they had us with the voice and the Mo’s – then we tried their food…
HORN OK PLEASE – dosas, pani puri and bhel puri heaven
JAMON JAMON – paella Valenciana from the ‘Godfather of street food’. Don’t mess.
KIMCHI CULT – Korean fusion burgers and tortas
LULABELLE’S – homemade cakes and tea from our girl in Yorkshire

MOLLY BAKES – cakes and shakes – hold tight
RAINBO – hand-made gyozas from a 1948 Ford pick-up – this is a thing of beauty
ROOST – Cantten creator, Cass brings us chicken every which way
RUBY VIOLET – home-churned ice cream from North London, served from a gorgeous old Bedford
SAVAGE SALADS – GRRrrrr – proper
SORBITIUM – Our fave ice cream couple, Suzaanna & Pedro know how to do sorbets, sherbets and ice cream
SPECK MOBILE – Owners Franz and Marco really understand the importance of butter to cooking. Eye-rolling
STREETZZA – pizza perfectionist, Hubertus brings us his own style of the good dough
TONGUE ‘N CHEEK – under-rated cuts of meat with an Italian edge
VAN DOUGH – thick-crust pizza from a Citroen H-Van
VINN GOUTE – Seychelles creole deliciousness from this lovely family business

WELL KNEADED – Wandsworth-reared Firebread with mad-flavours and toppings
YUMI CO – the real deal takoyaki – no pretending

Can you stand it? Can hardly bare how much choice there’s going to be. Here are the times so you can plan your life around getting your chops round as many of this lot as you can:

 

ROAD SHOW Times

Sat 28th July: 1030 – 2300
Sun 29th July: 1030 – 2200

Mon 30th July: 1800 – 2200
Tues 31st July: 1800 – 2200
Weds 1st Aug: 1800 – 2200
Thurs 2nd Aug: 1800 – 2200
Fri 3rd Aug: 1800 – 2300

Sat 4th Aug: 1030 – 2300
Sun 5th Aug: 1030 – 2200

And there is MAD PROGRAMMING to keep everyone amused on London’s second busiest street – from late nights at the museums, to areal performances, marching bands, dancehall, a ballroom and games galore.

We’re excited! Follow the Tweets (@EatStreet) for the latest on who is on when.

See you there!

exhibitionroadshow.co.uk

28 July – 5 August

No mud at this festival

12 Jul

This Saturday, seven of our traders and one special guest will be lined up and slinging hard for Eurostar’s ‘Traction’ in Granary Square, King’s Cross. For 3000 lucky ticket holders, not only do they get Gilles Peterson curating the hell out of that place, but they get our lot for their dinner…

N1C will be hopping.

Who’s up?

Kimchi Cult – Korean/Mexican tortas

Buen Provecho – real Mexican comida de la calle

Speck Mobile – Austrian heartiness

Horn OK Please – Indian bhel puri and dosas

The Bowler – gourmet meatballs

French & Grace – Brixton wrap-attack

Well Kneaded – SW London Firebread

+ the wonderful Crepes Laviec (find them at Netil Market, usually) and for the coffee heads, Weanie Beans and Full Stop coffee.

And the rest of the programme looks like this:

In the collaborative spirit of the London 2012 Festival, Traction will pull together European acts on one stage in Granary Square, Kings Cross. London’s newest public space. Curator Gilles Peterson has drawn inspiration from across the continent, choosing performers such as firm French favourite Sébastien Tellier, spoken word artist Ghostpoet from the UK, Dutch jazz-funk specialist Benny Sings and Eurostar Records’ very own London trio Plugs, among others, to create a series of unique cross-cultural collaborations.

COME HUNGRY – for the party and the food!

Traction – Saturday 14th July, 4pm-11pm

http://europe.eurostar.com/eurostar-traction/

 

The #fifteeneatstreetparty went OFF!

4 Jul

After lots of planning and meetings and organisation and phone calls, the day of the #fifteeneatstreetparty arrived….and it was raining! We stood there on the wet cobbles, going “What if no one comes?” / “Is it going to be ok?”

The Bowler in his Marigolds….

Then Jamie and Gennaro arrived and with them a sudden crowd of people who seemed to migrate with Jamie everywhere he went.

The Fifteen graduates got the pig into the fires of The Cock in Cider – driven up from Essex by the heavenly Paul, ready to be given a good roasting for selling from their stall.

Our lot showed up like clockwork and slotted in, one after the other along the right-hand side of the street. Prep began and grills and barbecues, steamers and pots got fired up. Westland Place began to assume the gait of a spot where something was about to go DOWN!

The eat.st/Fifteen strip…

It’s all a load of scallops – Healthy Yummies

Red Herring and Toma Mexicano, prepping

And then the sun came, and with it the people, and then the lovely Gemma Cairney who played old school Destiny’s Child and Terror Fabulous from the upper-storey window of Fifteen – and soon enough it was one mass of moving bodies, troffing and talking about troffing, and dancing and doing the multi-queue two-step.

The eat.st crew slung HARD! Each of them confronted with a deep line of cravers, keen to get wasted on food.

And Fifteen Cornwall, Fifteen and Barbecoa got reet stuck in to the mosh-pit – embracing the curbside activity like they’d been doing it for years….

We want to say a big THANK YOU to Fifteen for inviting them to join us – it was a pleasure and we’re looking forward to introducing more of our lot to the jolly cobbles of Westland Place.

#fifteeneatstreetparty

23 Jun

A couple of months ago, the brilliant Regeneration Officer at Hackney put me in touch with the manager at Fifteen. “They want to put a street party on and they need help with the food traders”, I was told. An introductory meeting later at Fifteen and Jacques and I were all fired up and setting a date. The theme would be Fifteen’s 10th Birthdays Celebrations and the focus would be on Fifteen Family and local-to-the-East End eat.st traders.

We would close the street – Westland Place – outside Fifteen and fill it with 10 of our best East End slingers, music, kids entertainment, a bar and stalls from Fifteen, Fifteen Cornwall and Barbecoa, as well as the massive truck that is The Cock & Cider. Now the big day is only one week away and we’re all set – FUN and great food are the focus and everyone is invited!

Our traders are: Red Herring Smokehouse, The Rib Man, Banh Mi 11, The Bowler, Mussel Men, Healthy Yummies, Big Apple Hot Dogs, Toma Mexicano, Yum Bun and Westonbirt Ice Cream. I get dizzy thinking about the levels of deliciousness in that group. They’re there all day though, so chances are you’ll be able to get around a few…

Think of it – smoked chicken, moules-frites, pan-seared scallops, Mexican flautas, gourmet meatballs, pillow-soft steamed buns, banh mi, real hot dogs, hot smoked ribs and incredible ice cream + cupcakes from Crumbs & Doilies!

This is the first time that eat.st has collaborated with a restaurant –  and a group of them at that. It was actually through meeting a load of the chefs from Barbecoa one night at Street Feast that I had a change of heart re. my previous reservations about ‘getting into bed with the restaurants’. They were all so excited about the delights that abounded from some of our traders, there on the night. I have always been a bit wary of why some of the big, established restaurants wanted to get involved with the streets – thinking of them as one mass of bandwagon jumpers who would be onto the next thing as soon as something else caught their eye.

Then I checked my attitude and noticed how fired-up so many chefs were about the prospect, through getting involved with the streets, of actually seeing who was eating their food and having the satisfaction of seeing their enjoyment. Like Bea (of Bloomsbury) said to me recently “You have to really love what you do to be a chef because there are some serious downsides”. And I thought about why I have thrown myself so hard into this industry – it’s because of two things really: The pulling together of great, like-minded people to serve food on our streets – critical mass making more headway than scattered individuals; and the quest to transform our outdoor spaces and bring strangers together through the attraction of great, accessible food. My stance now is that whoever has that lust for the above is who we should be embracing – from the hardcore traders who live and breath the culture of the streets, to the career-changers who want to do something they can touch, taste and feel, to any amazing chef out there who wants to be part of a whole new side of what they love.

When we have all of this food, all of these people, and anyone else who likes to collaborate on shared space – from all parts of the food world, making great things happen – then we know that the British food culture is well on its way to a new evolution, and it fires us up!

The #fifteeneatstreetparty will run from 11am-5pm next Saturday 30th June – Westland Place, N1 7LP (Just near to Old Street)

Come hungry and ready for fun.

There will be pasta-making classes upstairs.

Jamie will be there too….

Bring all the food fans you know!

Riverside flavour from the eat.st traders this weekend…

2 Jun

If you’re in London this weekend and you’re joining the masses to go Thames-wards for That flotilla (the likes of which is totally twisting my melons – imagine!), then you’re going to need to know where to get FED.

Knowing this, members of eat.st are will be on hand to offer relief – beacons of hope, reason and sustenance in a sea of Jubilympics hysteria.

First stop will be the run of eight eat.st traders in Battersea Park for their ticketed (and sold out to 90,000) extravaganza. Wayne Hemingway is curating and bringing bandstand swerve and vintage magic to the place. Norman Jay, The Noisettes and Kitty, Daisy & Lewis will all be there to make the day go with a swing…

And then there will be our guys, doing the sling thing on the river’s edge: Jamon Jamon, Hardcore Prawn, Bhangra Burger, Kimchi Cult, Big Apple Hot Dogs, Banh Mi 11, Molly Bakes and the return of the mighty Churros Bros – lined up and ready for the mayhem. Don’t be a stranger – go and say hi, they may not have time to linger over conversation but they’ll be pleased to see their regulars in a new part of town.

 

If you didn’t manage to get tickets, you can segue over to The World Street Food Festival to find some more familiar eat.st faces. Tucked in amongst the 42 traders behind The Southbank Centre is Tongue ‘n Cheek – this weekend debuting his perfectly juicy ‘Heartbreaker’ burger. One thing’s for sure – there is no one else in London doing one of these this weekend. Developed with Ben from Lucky Chip, this patty is part beef, part fat and part ox heart – and it is amazing. Not to be missed.

Flanking Tongue n Cheek is new eat.st member, Horn OK Please and their dosas and bhel puri, and Anna Mae’s with their Mac Shack. Elsewhere in the market is The Speck Mobile and their second outing with the dumplings, schnitzel and strudel of joy, Mussel Men with their new mussel shack (Bloody Mary moules-frites, anyone?), and Beppino’s and his hand-made pasta.

Battersea Park = one day only (Sunday 3rd June), WSFF = 5 days. Reaching any of these traders in any of their locations will certainly result in a great Jubilee weekend.

Let us know who you encounter!

Street Feast: eat.st Introduces – this Friday 25th May!

24 May

So, tomorrow’s the day for the big street food collabo. Together with Street Feast, we will be bringing seven great new traders along to the car park in Sclater Street that has been knocking people bandy with its smorgasbord of great food offerings these last few weeks.

Street Feast: eat.st Introduces will see Street Feast hosting these young upstarts in the eat.st fam and giving them a great platform to show off what they do in front of a seemingly insatiable audience. These seven newbies will join the six Street Feasters in-residence (including eat.st members Kimchi Cult, Hardcore Prawn, The Bowler, The Rib Man and Big Apple Hot Dogs – as well as Brick Lane regular Mama Jerk).

So, hold onto your hats and read on for the food that will be slung from their vans and stalls. Come hungry, come thirsty and get ready to be hit with flavour…

1. Vinn Goute – Seychelles creole food

Really excited about these guys. They usually trade over at Portobello (under the Westway) at weekends but they’re looking forward to making the trip East to serve up all their family recipes. Nobody else doing anything like this in London so grab your chance to try some real Seychelles magic.

Food Box – comes with ‘safran rice’ and papaya and organic carrot chutney £6.50

1.Halal Goat Curry

2.Exotic Fish – a) Trivali b) Red Snapper 3) Indian Mackerel

3.Octopus Curry

4.Kreol ‘Tropikal’ Corn Fed Chicken Legs

5.Organic Vegetable Curry (V)

Snack Box – a mix of 5 snacks in a box £5 (1 of each of the below + one extra of choice)

1.Tuna Fish Samosa x 1 (£1.50 each)

2 Organic Vegetable Samosa x 1 (£1.50 each)

3.Parrot Fish cake x 1 (£1.00 each)

4.Lentils Chilli Cakes x 2 (£1.00 each or 3 for £2)

Sauces

Piman chilli Sauce – Very Hot Organic Chilli Sauce -£5

Piman Dou Sauce – Very Hot Slightly Sweet Organic Chilli Sauce – £5

Drinks – Water and Coconut Water (can) £1 to compliment our meals – all contain a form of hot chilli)

http://www.vinn-goute.co.uk/

 

2. The Speck Mobile

To those who go to Maltby Street on Saturdays, you’ll have seen Franz hawking his schnitzel and strudel under one of the arches. This cat has mad kitchen credentials and is married to super star dessert queen Bea (of Bloomsbury). You just know it’s going to be good. And when you try that butter-fried schnitzel with the lingonberry sauce? Man, there’s nothing like it. This will be his first outing in his brand new Speck Mobile so we are honoured to have him debut with us.

Wiener Schnitzel Vom Schwein – Rare breed pork schnitzel Viennese style

With potato cucumber salad – £5.50

Speckknodel Mit Sauerkraut – Tyrolean speck dumplings with sauerkraut – £5.50

Kaspressknodel – Grilled herbed Alpine cheese dumplings with sour cream and chive sauce – £4.50

Apfelstrudel – flaky thin apple strudel – £3

 

3. Sorbitium Ices

 

New ice cream van in the eat.st collective is Sorbitium Ices – ex-Petersham Nurseries ice cream wunderkids Suzanna and Pedro. They’ve just started with us at King’s Cross and now are ready to scoop their little hearts out tomorrow night. Could the flavours sound any more enticing on a warm May evening?

  • ‘Tutti Frutti’ ice cream – Candied orange, lemon & fig in an amaretto vanilla custard
  • Dark chocolate & fresh mint sorbet
  • Rhubarb & toasted cinnamon oat ice cream
  • Rose Water & cardamom ice cream
  • Rice pudding ice cream
  • Caramel and sea salt ice cream
  • Fresh strawberry, creme fraiche and meringue Ice cream
  • Poached nespole and vanilla sorbet

£2 : one scoop/ £3:  2 scoops. Take home tubs 500ml: £6 / 2 for £10

Sorbitium eat.st profile HERE.

 

4. Green Goat

 

Just started up in Battersea Market on Saturdays and soon to join us at King’s Cross, Green Goat are all about the ‘street food with a conscience’. Crunch, fragrance, freshness and spice guaranteed…

Spice-master Lamb burgers with Harissa and minted yogurt £5

Slow-cooked pork with a booming Beetroot inspired slaw £6

Chermoula marinated Sardines with pomegranate cous cous £6

Elderflower panna cotta’s with macerated berries and chocolate brownies £2.50

Washed down with home-made lemonade £1.50

http://greengoatfood.com/

 

5. Spit & Roast

 

If there’s one thing you need to know about these cats, it’s that they don’t play. This is the dynamic duo behind Exmouth Market’s Medcalf and they came to win you over with their incredible chicken dishes. Believe me, when you get your chops around that fried chicken you’ll be forgetting your own name for a second as your eyes start inspecting the back of your head.

Whole chicken £12

1/2 chicken £7

1/4 chicken £5

All with rosemary and garlic potatoes

Buttermilk fried chicken £6

Cornbread muffin, herb gravy

Find Spit & Roast on Twitter

 

6. French & Grace

Not strictly new since they joined the eat.st collective last summer, but that was as Salad Club. Now they’re all about F&G and the mobile arm of their Brixton Village eaterie. With a new recipe book out this month they’re keen to show off the distillation of what they do in these two simple wraps – made with South London love.

Lebanese flatbread wraps rolled up with butter bean and rosemary hummus, seeded carrot and beet slaw, harissa yogurt and a choice of:

Hot Chorizo £5.50

Chargrilled Halloumi £5.50

An “uber” = both together £6.50

DRINKS

Ossie’s Brixton-brewed Ginger Beer £2.00

French & Grace eat.st profile HERE

 

7. Mother Flipper

Last but never least, Manuel has shown up this year to bring great burgers back onto the streets. He is one of our most recent members and has made Tuesdays Burger Day at King’s Cross, as well as giving Brockley what they need every Saturday. The smell alone will drive you wild – get ready to queue for this one.

Mother Flipper Cheeseburger £5.50
Chilli Flipper £6
Double Candy Bacon Flipper £6.50
Fungi Flipper £6

http://www.motherflipperburgers.com/

 

Street Feast: eat.st Introduces will be tomorrow, 25th May 2012 – 5pm-Midnight + Street Feast bar

Directions HERE.

eat.st headed to Street Feast this Friday

22 May

People – we have a collaboration brewing. At the end of this week – Friday 25th May – eat.st will be shimmying up to the car park of Sclater Street, E1, home of the recent and perfectly formed Street Feast.

Members of the eat.st collective are no stranger to the seductive and gravelly ways of this new Friday night hotspot. Kimchi Cult, The Rib Man, The Bowler, BAHD, Hardcore Prawn and Homeslice have all been slinging there since the beginning, along with other great traders, serving up the good stuff, festoon-lit and flying.

This Friday, to add to the mix, will be a new group – especially selected by me, PB, for their freshness and swerve. More details on these seven to follow this week. In the mean time, for those of who don’t know (and for those of you who do), take a read of a piece of writing on last Friday’s Street Feast, by Jack Blocker – Food Waste Man – my cousin and one of my favourite writers on London fooding right now.

…..

While navigating the route to Sclater Street from Liverpool Street Station, I arrogantly peeked into Hawksmoor and St. Johns Bread and Wine, hopefully assuring the people inside that I would soon be eating street food twice as delicious and a fraction of the price of their meals. I was a bit tempted walking by Nando’s though. I have a couple of whole free chicken cards at the moment which I bought on eBay for a tenner. I caught my reflection in the door as I clutched my illicit vouchers. I stuck to the original plan.

After meeting my friends we realised that we had arrived far too early and took to Brick Lane for a few rounds. Once the epitome of urban trendiness, Brick Lane has recently evolved into a hang-out where young city-suits can indulge their edgier side. They get smashed on Jaeger Bombs and £5 pints, then make wild decisions to go out in Hoxton instead of Soho, or impulsively buy the new Keane record from Rough Trade East. Maybe even on Vinyl.  After we each bought a round of 3 beers for £15, we’d had enough. Good drinking sessions are often capped with bad food, so it’s fitting that this bad session ended with excellent grub.

The energy and aroma pouring out of Sclater Street pulled us along with a force stronger than ourselves – then security stopped us and made us finish our cans of K – then that force pulled us along again. I started with Luardos. Giant, Mission-style burritos filled with Carnitas, Beans and Guacamole. I instantly proclaimed it better than Chipotle, my measure for Mexican food made by non-Mexicans, and another statement that some say negates any opinion I have on food. My friend failed to finish his, so I readily took it off his hands ensuring my stomach was lined to protect it from the impending ribocalypse.

The Rib Man looked like someone you could trust to properly cook a dead animal. In fact, had he told me he just beat an animal to death with his bare hands before salvaging the ribs I was eating I would have believed him. This may also be because I put so much of his ‘Christ on a Bike’ sauce on my ribs that I began to partially hallucinate, seeing everything in purple for about 20 minutes. He explained that ‘Christ on a Bike’ has twice as many Naga Jolokia’s in it as the lesser ‘Holy Fuck’ sauce. Despite my drooling, tearful face, Rib Man had somehow managed to tame the world’s hottest pepper, giving the sauce a sweetness along with the heat. The ribs themselves were extremely tender but satisfying to gnaw. They avoided the ‘fall-off-the-bone’ cult that people inexplicably swear-by, letting me munch through to the marrow.

A couple of cup-cakes and a generous section of Margarita from Homeslice rounded off the night, and slowly brought feeling back into my lips. As my friends threw plastic cutlery at me while I lay recovering on the pavement, I thought of the Brick Lane suits. They had probably gone on to Hawksmoor and been told the wait was an hour, given up and headed to Nando’s, where they were forced to pay full-price as they failed to buy fraudulent loyalty cards beforehand. I had spent just fifteen pounds worth of genuine currency on all my food, the culinary victor slumped on the Sclater street curb, smoking a tab the bouncer gave me when he came to check if I was okay.

Street Feast: eat.st introduces will bring seven great new traders to the five already in situe to make a 12-pronged mega-hit; an assault on the reasonable as far as appetite is concerned and taking no prisoners.

25th May 2012 – 5pm-Midnight + Street Feast bar

KX now = Tuesdays too (and look who we have in the line-up)

15 Apr

King’s Boulevard is about to notch up another day of eat.st activity on its undulous slope. This is good!

Tuesday is the hot new day for curbside food crawling….

People have been asking us for ages to do more days. It seems that London’s appetite for eat.st isn’t ready to be sated yet and we’re so excited that the food and people behind it has been taken to so readily. Meanwhile, we have a crazy number of new traders wanting to join eat.st and come and trade with us on the Boulevard. But it’s a delicate dance starting a market from scratch on an entirely new street with mainly building sites all around and we wanted to give it a few months (and get through the winter) before ramping up the rota.

So now we’re ready to roll into Tuesdays!…And we have some brilliant new traders to bring into the fold. As of this Tuesday 17th April we will have slinging, slicing, dunking and grilling:

Mother Flipper – best burgers we’ve tried in ages. Owner, Manuel, is crazy for the patty and puts everything into it – and it shows. Watch the man behind it cook it and serve it straight to you. That’s some slathery magic right there.

(Thanks to Simon K for the pic)

Mussel Men – properly up eat.st’s alley. These cats know how to bring the theatre and the flavour. The swashbuckling Scots will be doing some musselly/muscly things up there. You need to see this.

And joining them will be pasta pioneer Beppinos after a brief two week hiatus (moving from Wednesdays to the new, hot Tuesdays)

(Thanks to Yummy Choo for the pic)

And back to the block (and much missed during their brief spell away to TCB), Banh Mi 11 and the baguettes of lunchtime joy.

Also, to all the crunch-enthusiasts and healthier leaning, we will be bringing in the award-winning French & Grace (formerly Salad Club), crossing the river to bring their particular brand of Britishness to the Wednesday slots.

So lots to get busy chomping….and stay tuned for news on what May is bringing: 5 day weeks on the Blvd. That’s Monday-Fridays, y’all!

For up to date rotas of who’s on when, head to the King’s Cross page on the eat.st website: www.eat.st/kings-cross