Trend Watch - Street Food

Spice supplier Santa Maria carried out 150 face-to-face interviews at four London street food locations and analysed 120 online menus across the casual restaurant and pub sector.

Research found that 50% of customers are buying street food at least once a week and more than 20% are buying street food three times a week.

The five most popular cuisines are Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Indian and British while the top dishes include sandwiches and wraps, noodles/rice pots, burgers, vegetarian and hot dogs.

Lunchtime is the main area of the day where street food is consumed, with 81% of people surveyed saying they eat street food for lunch and 64% of people saying that they would be happy to spend more than £5 – the average UK lunchtime spend.

A number of pub operators have been cashing in on this trend by offering special menus and hosting residencies from local street food companies.

Young’s pub the Wheatsheaf in Borough Market, South London, offer a British inspired mix-and-match street food menu that allows customers to choose a main dish and then pair it with a number of different sides and sauces.  

Dishes include brown sugar brisket cooked in vinegar barbecue sauce and brown sugar dripping (£12) and St. Clements pulled pork in spiced orange and lemon juice with deep fried leeks and toffee apple slices (£11).

Street food company Lucky Chip Burgers have taken up residency at the Sebright Arms in Bethnal Green, East London on Saturday’s between 12pm and 5pm.

The menu features a number of burgers including the Woody Harlesden – a Portobello mushroom with mozzarella and red pepper (£7.50) and the Kevin Bacon – a beef patty with American cheese and applewood smoked bacon (£7.00). There’s also a burger of the week and a selection of sides to choose from.

The Market House in Brixton, South London, will be playing host to three residencies over the summer.

Miss P’s Barbecue will kick things off in June and will offer customers a range of smoked meats and fish such as brisket, pulled pork and catfish as well as a number of vegetarian options too.

July will see Tom Walden aka The Colonel bring his Cajun and Creole fusion to the Market House while MasterChef winner Tim Anderson will be introducing his Southern Japanese soul food venture Nanban London to customers throughout August.