If you’re looking for some great food, these places will be right up your street
JUST a few short years ago, street food was reserved for soggy British festivals or for people zipping around south east Asia on their gap years. Now some of the best cooking on the planet is being whipped up at the roadside.
Earlier this year, the first ever Michelin star for a street food stall was awarded to Singaporean Chan Hon Meng. There are now entire awards ceremonies dedicated to the stuff.
Street food is simple enough to define – it’s food prepared in front of you on the street, from carts or stalls or vans. Generally, you won’t be given cutlery or a plate, and, if there’s no table nearby, you should be able to eat fussfree with just your hands.
Street food offers a chance for entrepreneurial chefs to serve the food they’re passionate about, at a reasonable price, without having to take the financial risk of opening a restaurant.
Just look at Viet Shack, Hip Hop Chip Shop, Eat New York. All of these started out in the back of a van, or at a stall in a market, or cooking out of other people’s kitchens. Now all three have (or are close to having) their very own bricks-and-mortar establishments.
Here are our pick of the places to grab some street food around Greater Manchester... Hatch opened early this year, promising to nurture local talent inside its stacks of colourful shipping containers.
As well as street food, it also rents out these spaces to bars, coffee shops and retailers, so you can browse for a new book or house plant while eating.
Currently in residence are Woks Cluckin (the Korean fried chicken with chips is a must), Mama Z (Filipino curries with a discount for anyone who brings their own container) and T’Arricrii (Sicilian street food). Its popularity has been so great that GRUB now takes place three days a week with a constantly rotating roster of traders. They also dedicated one of their days – Plant Powered Sundays – to purely vegan food. A source of great local pride, this volunteer-run social enterprise has transformed the car park next to the railway station into a buzzy, communityfocused space where locals gather to sell and buy their wares.
The market operates on Saturdays between March and December, except once a month when it’s on Friday night.