Last week, I popped into the Travel Supermarket International Street Food Challenge in Shoreditch and it was absolutely wonderful. Hopefully, it will become an annual event because I definitely want to attend next year as well!
There were 6 different vendors and you got to try samples from them all. As you left you voted for your favourite. I can say right now, I dithered a lot whilst making my choice – it was very hard to pick!
From Kothu, I tried the vegetarian Kothu roti. It was my first experience with Sri Lankan food and I hope it will not be my last. It was so flavourful, mildly spicy and had crazy depth of flavour. I’ll put my hand up and say that Kothu took my vote. The chicken and chorizo paella was also fabulous. It was exactly the kind of dish that I could see myself making at home pretty confidently.
Vinn Gote had octopus curry and spicy lentil balls on the go. I didn’t try the curry as I don’t eat seafood, but Sam let me know that it was very nice…… I did eat the spicy lentil balls which tasted like hushpuppies. Basically I loved them. Next came the tortellini from La Tua Pasta. I opted for the pumpkin and ricotta filled one. It was fantastic. The pumpkin lent the tortellini a slight sweetness that worked really well. La Tua delivers pasta, and I’ve already been stalking them online to see if I should treat myself to a pasta shipment this month.
My penultimate dish was the original wings from The Orange Buffalo, and I can safely say that they were some of the best wings that I’ve had in England. And since I’m from America, I am a wing expert. They had the perfect balance of spice and sweetness. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t eat the blue cheese dip as I don’t really dig it, so I pushed it aside with my celery, but it must have been great because Sam gobbled it up when my back was turned. (The Orange Buffalo got Sam’s vote.) Last but not least, I had the croque monsieur from Copper and Wheat. I loved the chips (fries) cooked in duck fat, they lent them any extra savoury punch without being too greasy. I didn’t love my croque monsieur, because (and this is a rare occasion) it had almost too much cheese.
Vegetarian Kothu Roti.
Chicken and Chorizo Paella from the Spanish Lab.
Chicken and chorizo paella.
Octopus curry.
Spicy lentil balls.
Octopus Curry.
La Tua Pasta
Tortellini: my favourite were the pumpkin and ricotta.
Wings from The Orange Buffalo.
Chips cooked in duck’s fat with a goat’s cheese and béchamel croque monsieur.
