I was unsure as to whether I should write this blog post
after I was one of 342 people (according to the Chronicle) to suffer from illness
after eating at Street Spice, a 3 day festival organised by Bob Arora, owner of
Sachins, in aid of Brain Tumour UK. However, I felt it would be an injustice
not to mention the stall holders whose food tantalised my taste buds. The event
appeared a great success at the time, the marquee at Centre for Life was
constantly bustling with people (it is estimated 12,000 attended) and the
majority of the time there was a queue to get in. I attended on both the Friday
and Saturday evening and it’s safe to say over the two days I ate too much and
drank too much of Wylam Brewery’s fantastic cider. It was an enjoyable
event, it’s just a shame it has been overshadowed by so many people suffering
from illness because of it.
Here are my favourites:
The
Rib Man
- http://www.theribman.co.uk/
I was disappointed to have missed Mark Gervaux, aka.
The Rib Man, at Urban Night Feast when he ventured from London to Newcastle to
sell his famous ribs to us Toon dwellers (#ribtoon). So when I heard he was
making an appearance at Street Spice I knew exactly where my first port of call
was going to be! His ribs have caused quite a stir amongst avid foodies both
North and South so I couldn’t wait to tuck into one of his renowned rib meat
rolls. They may have been £6 a pop but it was money well spent in my opinion. I
bit into the soft roll that was over-flowing with rib meat and suddenly
realised what all the fuss was about. Hot, succulent and sticky rib meat shredded off
the bone and made into a pulled rib roll. In the words of my good friend, Miss
Katie Rose Lowe, "an absolute taste sensation"! I probably didn’t look particularly
attractive eating it but it tasted so good that I really didn’t give a damn. My
brother described it as “the best thing he’d tasted in a long time”. Mark’s
ribs are of the baby back variety from pigs reared outdoors on farms in Norfolk
and Suffolk. He cooks his ribs on a barbecue and then wraps them in foil before
placing them in a large insulated box to continue cooking slowly.
As well as selling rib meat rolls at Street Spice,
he was also selling half racks and full racks of ribs. My brother decided he
couldn’t leave without trying a full rack of The Rib Man’s ribs so we waited
patiently until they were ready. When it was announced over the microphone that
the racks were finally good to go everyone flooded to his stand but due to the
fact we’d spent about half an hour over the course of the evening talking to
Mark my brother was given the privilege of being first to purchase a full rack.
He also bought some Holy Fuck sauce which Mark created because he was unable to find a
hot sauce he liked. It is made, bottled and labelled by the man himself. Trust
me, it is named appropriately! It may be full of heat but it is also full of
flavour. The full rack was worth the wait but personally I preferred the rib
meat roll. My brother, however, loved both and has now developed a little bit
of an obsession with The Rib Man.
Mark is a friendly East Londoner who possesses a genuine passion for proper street food . Through talking to him and watching him work it is apparent that he absolutely loves what he does ... cooking his ribs, feeding them to people and watching those people enjoy them on the streets!
My brother and I are already planning a visit to
London to see him.
Follow him on Twitter - @theribman
El
Kantina - http://www.elkantina.co.uk/
El Kantina was another street food sensation I missed
at Urban Night Feast. They were only at Street Spice on the Saturday so I went back
especially to sample some of their pulled pork. It was totally worth going back
for. They had four options available on their menu. We decided we’d try two. I’d
be gagging to try their nachos so they were a must. We were then intrigued by
their ‘Cone of Love’ – Cajun spiced homefries with nutmeg butter, pulled pork
and BBQ sauce. It was a cone of serious yumminess. But the nachos were the
favourite. Just looking at the photo of them makes me drool. I am never going
to be able to eat nachos again without thinking about how unbelievable El Kantina’s
were. Dare I say the best around? They were far nicer than the usual marriage
of nachos with sour cream, salsa, guacamole, grated cheese and jalapeños. That seems
boring in comparison to their nachos which are covered in chipotle sour cream,
home-made pickles, BBQ sauce, cheese and of course their juicy Southern style pulled
pork. My brother had decided not to come back with us on the Saturday but I
couldn’t let him miss out so I went back to El Kantina and bought some take-away
nachos for him. He enjoyed them just as much as I did.
Like The Rib Man, the people behind the wonderful El
Kantina are utterly lovely and ooze enthusiasm for what they do. They are
based in Yorkshire, but however, dedicate time to travelling Mexico and South
America in search of new ideas.
I hope to see El Kantina again very soon!
Follow them on Twitter – @ElKantina
David
Kennedy’s Street Social
Food Social is up there in my top five restaurants in
Newcastle. I could have eaten everything Mr D.K had on offer as it all sounded
scrumptious. He had 3 great options available for vegetarians too, something
other stalls were lacking. I opted for his ‘Zapper’s’ spice rubbed charred beef
and avocado wrap with chipotle dressing. Each mouthful consisted of tender rare
beef, a sharp kick from the Zapper’s spice rub and the chipotle dressing and a
welcoming ‘cool down’ from the avocado. It was fresh, tasty and easy to eat without
making an absolute mess.
Follow him on Twitter - @Dkfs16
Electric
East -
I only discovered Electric East this year. Better
late than never! If you’re in search of proper Asian food then look no further.
A good friend who has travelled around South East Asia said the food at Electric
East was better than that he’d eaten whilst travelling, to me that speaks
volumes. I was torn between their Malaysian Nonya Chicken and Beef Rendang (which
is one of their signature dishes that never ventures from their menu). I was
swayed toward the chicken, as I’ve had it before and loved it, which I paired with
their peanut sauce. It was as good as I remembered and I liked the dinky box it
came served in. Keep your eyes peeled for these guys at future food festivals!
Follow them on Twitter - @ElectricEast
Riley’s
Fish Shack -
I’d been following Riley’s Fish Shack, a husband and
wife team, on Twitter but first came across them in Tynemouth on a particularly
cold day back in November when my Uncle and Aunt were up visiting. I tucked
into one of their lovely monkfish fritter wraps as I wandered around the park
next to the Queen Victoria monument. They were a definite on my Street Spice 'to eat' list. I wanted to try something different so I opted for their crab and
onion bhajis and my brother decided to try their langoustines, which we watched
Adam cook. Both came served in a cone shaped piece of tin-foil, which gave their
food a bit of a seaside feel, and were served with caperberry salsa and raita. The bhajis were delicious
and the langoustines were fresh and sweet.
Riley’s Fish Shack has now teamed up with Wylam Brewery
to bring you ‘The Boiler Shop Steamer’ at The Stephenson Works on Sussex Street.
It’s an ‘after-work social’, taking place on the first Friday and Saturday of
every month, which will feature street food, drink of the alcoholic variety, pop-up
shops as well as entertainment in the form of cinema, comedy and live music to
name a few.
Find out more at - www.theboilershopsteamer.com
Follow them on Twitter - @rileysfishshack/@steamerevent
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