5 of the world’s best LATE-NIGHT BITES
Feeling peckish after sightseeing and nightclubbing is no problem in the world’s hot-spots, writes Thomas Bywater
FRIEDRICHSHAIN: BERLIN TURKISH DONER KEBAB
There isn’t a city cross junction anywhere that can't find space for a kebab shop. They are the world’s most reliable, fast, late-night food option — but that all started here.
By many accounts it’s where the best doner kebab can still be found.
The original rotisserie meat in a bread roll was created in West Berlin by a Turkish “Gastarbieter” (guest worker), providing cheap convenience eats in post-war Germany. However, the golden age of doner came after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
As the city doubled in size overnight, cheap rents and cheap food fuelled the late-night arts and music scene. Nowhere is this marriage of German and Turkish values better summed up than in the Oktagon Kebab, Friedrichshain. Catering to the late-night crowd, Oktagon is eight sides of whirling blades distributing Turkish cuisine with German efficiency.
BRICK LANE: THE LONDON BAGEL
Brick Lane is better known for its curry houses than toasted sesame buns. However, the Beigel Bake 24-hour bakery has been here for close to 45 years.
It’s on the edge of Bethnal Green, between the banking district of London’s Square Mile and the hipster-iffic Shoreditch high street.
You’ll find all walks of life in the Beigel Bake, all hours.
The advent of the London Night Tube has been a revolution for these wheel-shaped sandwiches.
The classic beigel — bagel or beugel are also acceptable spellings from the original Yiddish — with salt beef, mustard and pickle is a favourite.
Within stumbling distance of the Northern and Central tube lines — which now both operate 24 hours — the Beigel Bake has become a favourite last-stop for clubbers before they make their way home.
MANHATTAN MIDTOWN: NEW YORK, DOLLAR SLICE PIZZA
The dollar slice is a New York staple and a miracle of economics. At a price so reliable they should set the gold standard by it, the dollar pizza has defeated 22 years of inflation and a financial crisis to remain priced at precisely $1 a slice. Because it’s nasty. This is no gourmet slice. It has sunshineyellow cheese and a base so limp it drips downwards towards the pavement, where it regularly ends up.
In 2015 “Pizza Rat”, a rodent videoed making away with a slice, became an unlikely mascot for the city.
There’s something about the reliability, accessibility and literal “grit” that New Yorkers can relate to in this food from the mean streets. Because of its egalitarian pricing and ready availability, this is the pizza of the people. And the rats.
MADRID: HOT CHOCOLATE AND CHURROS
The churro: it’s the sort of fluffy, doughy treat you could eat all day long — as a deep-fried sweet with your coffee or a very unhealthy breakfast. However, in Madrid they eat their churros in the small hours, accompanied by a chocolate as dark as the night and hot as sin.
Perhaps Spain’s most famous churros can be found at the Chocolaterı´a San Gine. Javier Bardem, Tina Turner, and Naomi Campbell are just a few of the famous clientele whose pictures adorn the wall.
The 24-hour cafe specialises in churros and chocolate, though also serves excellent coffee for those who are determined to not give in to sleep.
OLD TOWN BANGKOK: PAD THAI
Farangs and Thai locals alike come to refuel at a stop not far from Bangkok’s Chinatown.
Pad Thai Thip Samai is the onestop-shop for those needing a late-night fix of noodles. The Khao San Road leads on as a thoroughfare from Bangkok’s party district, straight into the orders line of Thip Sami. Also of note is the nearby Jay Fai, open until 1.30am. This street food stall’s softshell crab omelettes are a favourite with travellers. In fact, someone travelled all the way from the French offices of Michelin to give it a star. You’d need a bite to eat after that journey.