Food: Urban Food Festival

Last night I was out partying for my little sisters 21st Birthday celebrations so today was very tender for me. So as a very hungover couple me and Georgia ventured out to Shoreditch to check out Urban Food Festival, a really funky little food market in set in a car park on Shoreditch high street. I really struggled to enjoy myself being so hungover which is a shame as it had a lovely atmosphere here, with live music and lots of really friendly staff, who gave us some bottle caps that gave us discount at the bar, which for obvious reasons I didn't take advantage of!

I didn't go so crazy this time. We grabbed a classic bruschetta from Bob Bruschetta that was lovely and fresh. Then after much deliberation I grabbed a monster of a burger from the Backstreet Diner that was a had a super fresh patty with pulled pork. Very messy but worth the sticky fingers. We then shared some really tasty jerk chicken from the Caribbean Smokehouse.

Although I struggled through today I would definitely head back there another day as there are so many other stalls I wanted to check out! Get down there

JIM

Instagram/Twitter: @whatjamesate

Food: Summer Tales/ Night Tales

Night Tales present Summer Tales fuelled one of my recent days off. I'd actually walked past this place a couple of times before and if you've walked through Shoreditch recently you probably have too. To be frank, it really didn't seem like much from outside. However as you go in you open up into a huge, awesome little jungle full of people, food, booze and music. I'm a total sucker for food markets (although I wouldn't call it that) and always end up trying most things there. It was a fiver to get in and had some awesome food and drink from around London.

After some instant food envy we started with a lovely little pizza from Pizza Pilgrims. I'd heard great things about this pizza and this was my first time. As big pizza lovers, it did not disappoint, especially as it took a matter of minutes to make. The staff were also super friendly and really chatty which was just great. I quickly moved onto a nice looking fish stall, Bonnie Gull. I had a spiced Cajun fish sandwich that really hit the spot and didn't bust my wallet.

So at this point I realised that sitting and drinking in the sun was going to lead to a lot more food. Next up was Nanny Bills. Their food was advertised with a big sign saying "croquettes" along side a menu of different sides. I was honestly confused by the menu and it wasn't until I ordered that I realised that I had gotten actual pulled pork croquettes. Something totally new to me and really blew my mind. Really gutted as Georgia took a video of me busting one of these juicy things open, which I stupidly deleted by accident. Take my word for it, they are AMAZING.

Lastly after a bit more food envy I went and checked out the Forza Win stand. The guys were super friendly and I loved the idea of an adults "happy meal" that came with a hard shake. This was some super simple, but serious chicken. Going to be hitting a store of theirs real soon.

If you can get down to Summer Tales, do! Really loved atmosphere especially with the amazing weather we are having at the moment. Don't forget to take cash as most stands don't take card!

JIM

Instagram/Twitter: @whatjamesate

Food: Smorgasburg, NYC

Saturdays                        Sundays

Williamsburg,                 Brooklyn Bridge Park,
90 Kent Aveenue,           Pier 5,
Brooklyn,                        Brooklyn,
NYC                                 NYC


So as anybody who has been to Smorgasburg food market will tell you, this place is an absolute MUST visit when in New York. With stalls from some of the best food in town there is something for everybody here, from ramen burgers to macaroons. Located on Brooklyn Bridge park right along the river with a mind blowing view of the NY skyline, this place gives off immediate good vibes. They also run a market in Williamsburg on Saturdays, we went to the Brooklyn market which was on a Sunday. The first thing we thought was, wow, is that really the queue? Each stall seemed to have a huge queue but we food found out why after a wander round. Being me, I literally could have eaten from every stall, they truly cater to everyone.

Choosing wisely I started with a lobster roll which I'd been after our whole trip! Redhook Lobster hooked me up big time with a Maine style lobster roll which. The toasted brioche roll and home-made mayo complimented the lobster so well, this filled a void in my foody life. We then split up and joined separate queue's to save time. Georgia grabbed herself some boneless wings from Dan & Johns wings which she considered maybe the best wings she'd ever had, safe to say I didn't see much of them! Meanwhile I was in the monumental queue for Home Frite after seeing so many people with them, the wait was well worth it! Home Frite sell hand cut tall fries served in a cone along with some amazing sauces. We went for the classic fries with garlic lemon aioli but they do have an awesome range of other fries and sauces. When we thought we couldn't queue or eat anymore we spotted a couple with some awesome looking ice cream sandwiches and we simply couldn't resist.  After about a 15 minute wait we grabbed ourselves a salted caramel sandwich and a rice crispies sandwich from The Good Batch ice cream stand. These really topped off our experience here and went down a treat with the beautiful sunshine we had that day.


There really isn't much more I could say in words to urge you to go here. There is so much to choose from and everything is fresh and made in front of you. Amazing food and a great atmosphere. Get down to Smorgasburg if you are in town!

JIM

Instagram/Twitter: @whatjamesate

Food: Dalston Street Feast

Hartwell Street

Dalston

London

E8 3DU

So a friend from work suggested the Dalston Street Feast and I'm so glad we went, what a gem! Georgia, myself and the crew from work headed down there a few days ago and I nearly died with excitement after looking the place up on the train there. The place is only about every Fri/Sat 01/02 May - 25/26 Sep and had a huge queue when we arrived! It's £3 entry after 7pm and we queued for about 5-10 and boy was it worth the wait. The venue is an abandoned warehouse type place with an awesome refurb. As well as a bunch of awesome food places there are plenty of bars and places to relax, it was night time and the open fires made it super cosy. Unfortunately by the time we arrived and got in it was really dark and quite poorly lit so a lot of the photo's I took ended up being no good, I plan to go back in the day light! 

It was so hard to chose what to eat here, I really felt I could have eaten from every stall. Georgia and I started on the buffalo wings from The Orange Buffalo. Super fresh hot wings covered in a really good and quite buttery style buffalo sauce. Very messy, very tasty. A few of the gang grabbed a bunch of soft shell taco's, including fried fish and chicken. Although I didn't try these, they looked amazing and I am assured they were delicious. 

I spotted somebody with some epic  looking fried chicken that literally stopped me in my tracks, after doing some investigating we found the place, Mother Clucker.  The queue for this place was all over the place, and we ended up waiting a while for our food, however we worked out why. Every piece of chicken they sell is marinated, coated and fried to order. Easily some of the best fried chicken out there, it had such a deep smokey flavour and was steaming hot, served with some sort of chilli mayo. 

As I was being such a fat boy, I couldn't resist getting more, so I headed over to Bleecker St. Burgers. I got a double cheeseburger with bacon, feeling heavy at this point. Although I was a bit gutted the burgers were not served on brioche buns as I'm a huge fan, the burger certainly did not disappoint. The patty was juicy and bloody, just how I like it, and the bacon just topped it off. Epic burger, gutted It was too dark to get a decent snap. Now craving some sweet goodness we headed to You Doughnut! The queue was HUGE for this place, again, worth it. All of the dough was being made in front of you and every batch made to order, with each order customisable. We had vanilla sugar, salted caramel sauce, sprinkles and vanilla ice cream. HOT DAMN these doughnuts killed it. I scooped every bit of it out of the box.

I cannot urge you more to visit one of these street feasts. We went to the Dalston market however there are spots in Lewisham and Shoreditch. I'll post the website below, check out some of the food there and I promise you won't be disappointed. You may catch me at one, I can't wait to get back.

http://www.streetfeastlondon.com/where

JIM

Instagram/Twitter: @whatjamesate