THE WORLD’S biggest street food competition returns to Wales later this month, with Street Food Circus bringing the festival to a new location at Llandeilo’s recently restored historic Market Hall.
The twelve competitors in the Welsh Street Food Awards will be cooking for a judging panel and a public ‘people’s choice’ vote across the weekend of 15-16 June in the grounds of Llandeilo Market Hall.
The Welsh winners will take their dishes on to compete at the British Street Food Awards finals in London with a chance to go on to represent Wales at the European Street Food Awards grand final in Germany.
Richard Johnson, founder of the British Street Food Awards, will be judging the awards alongside food writer, broadcaster and restaurateur Simon Wright and Welsh food and travel writer Kacie Morgan.
Richard said: “Street food cooks from Wales have always done well up against competition from the UK and the best in the world. So we’re thrilled to be partnering again with Street Food Circus in this new, historic location.
“Winning the Welsh, British or European Street Food Awards can be a life changing opportunity for a chef or street food business and we’ve seen previous Welsh winners go from running pop-ups to opening their own restaurants. It’s a diverse and exciting line-up of Welsh competitors and I can’t wait to taste their dishes,” he said.
Street Food Circus founder and ringmaster, Matt the Hat added: “We’re on a mission to discover and nurture new street food talent from all over Wales. What’s great about the line-up for the Welsh Street Food Awards is that we have a mix of established businesses, new street food traders and independent chefs coming together – yes, to compete – but mostly to cook some delicious food for everyone who joins us at the event!
“We’ve held previous events in Cardiff so this year is a great opportunity to head West and bring our international circus of flavours to a new crowd in Llandeilo and Carmarthenshire,” he said.
As well as the food on offer, Street Food Circus has teamed up with Welsh brewer Tiny Rebel to offer its beers on the festival bar. The SFC mixologists will also be running Lola’s Cocktail Bar with a range of mixed drinks based on Welsh and sustainably sourced spirits.
The event will run on Saturday 15 June from 11am-10pm with three bookable sessions and on Sunday 16 June from 11am-8pm with two sessions.
Tickets to the Wales Street Food Awards x Street Food Circus event are free, but due to the capacity of the site, need to be booked. The event is dog-friendly, but they’ll also need a ticket. Tickets are available from Welsh Street Food Awards X Street Food Circus.
The chefs and traders competing in the Welsh Street Food Awards are:
Abi’s Gambia Kitchen
Ghana has long been a hidden gem of wonderful, delicious food and Abi is a passionate home cook living in Carmarthen. Abi is showcasing West African home cooking using bold regional flavours and traditional cooking techniques.
Competition dish: BBQ chicken with yassa sauce
Bayside Grill
Amitpreet is a career chef who takes pride in the food he produces and the homemade sauces and spice mixes he creates at the Bayside Grill in Cardiff.
Competition dish: 8-hour slow cooked beef short rib and mac ’n’ cheese balls.
Burger Bay
It’s all about the lamb with Burger Bay. That and their converted 1979 VW van!
Competition dish: home-reared lamb burger, wild garlic sauce, slow roasted pulled lamb shoulder on a toasted challah bun.
Cegin Manuka
Cegin Manuka is from the seaside town of Aberaeron – people come from far and wide to sample their pan-Asian inspired menu.
Competition dish: sticky chilli chicken, Thai green salad, crispy noodles & Manuka sweet chilli sauce
Diod
Llandeilo locals serving up great Welsh food (and great coffee and cakes) from their coffee and wine shop in the heart of the town.
HILLS Brecon
HILLS of Brecon, a family run business have been building a reputation as one of the best burger joints in the country, using the best in local produce to make their explicit burgers!
Competition dish: Le Bacon Cheeseburger, Bearnaise sauce, red wine ketchup & bacon lardons
Origin Pizza
Just a couple of guys and gals sharing a passion for wood fired pizza using local produce and travelling the UK in their Land Rover (with built-in pizza oven!).
Competition dish: small batch, hand balled dough, hand-stretched using traditional methods to create a Naples-style pizza with a thin base and fluffy crust.
Packed
Packed are street food newbies – developing an idea they stumbled across while travelling through the Americas: the Italian gravy-dunked beef sandwich.
Competition dish: beef topside braised in a rich gravy, packed into a bread roll and, as in Chicago, half or fully dunked in the gravy.
Pasta a Mano
A pop-up pastaria from Cardigan that has quickly gained a cult following for offering authentic Italian Street Food in Wales.
Competition dish: handmade fresh pasta
Pwdin
Bringing a delicious range of scrumptious sweets and nostalgic puddings – and a previous finalist at the British Street Food Awards.
Competition dish: warm Belgian chocolate brownie with Nutella and fresh strawberries
Sin Nombre Tacos
Sin Nombre have been at the forefront of Mexican fire cookery in Wales The team loves cooking over fire and specialise in BBQ fish.
Competition dish: BBQ Scallop with chipotle butter pickled fennel & mouli slaw
Taco Taco Taco
A crew of chefs and foodies crafting unique tacos that their nana Lita Esperanza would proudly serve on the streets of Mexico City! They’re looking to shake up the taco scene in Wales with original tacos that fuse authentic Mexican flavours with top quality local ingredients.
Competition Dish: Smoked black Welsh lamb, cucumber salsa verde, heritage tomato pico de gallo, mint and two corn tortilla
