Miscellaneous Forum

Without doubt Penang/Malaysia. Best friggin streetfood on earth. Penang has 3 big ethnic groups (malay,chinese and indian) and that gives their street kitchens an enormous variety. Penang is one plae where the main attraction of the place is the food and in Penang it's the street food and the food courts which are basicly just a lot of streetfood gatherd in one place. A few photos of what i am talking about on this link: "Probaply the best place in Asia for food." - George Town Favorite Tip by cachaseiro

I can never go past having Lieberkasse on a bun with mustard in many places all over Germany. I also like the sugary custard filled donut type thingys they sell on the little cart on the road coming down from Neuschwanstein. Oh dear, I'd better get off this page now or my diet will be blown to bits.

Brasil has some amazing food in general, but such things as caldo de cana (a cider made from running frozen sugar cane through a grinder), pão de quijo (bread of cheese - an odd mixture that when it cooks creates a bread with the cheese centered in the bread so that it is somewhat like a creme filling, only with cheese), and some absolutely astounding fruit juices, many of which are available with milk (com leiche) which adds to the flavor. If you don't believe that adding milk to a fruit juice can make a difference in the flavor, try going out and buying a carton on mango juice, and mix it in a glass 50-50 with some milk. This isn't anything like they do it in the street vendor stands in Brasil, but it produces a result that is at least somewhat close. Combinations that sound horrible to American tastes (avocado milkshake for example) are very good there, because they have really good, sweet fruit that is nothing like the horrible half-ripe stuff we wind up with here in the USA. Also, Guarana! This is a highly potent soft drink made from a fruit that grows in the Amazon. It is the inspiration for American energy drinks, except those drinks try to hide the flavor of the fruit most of the time. Colcões, Pasteis, and various other bread and meat mixtures are also great street food there. LA should have some good Brasilian restaurants. Try going there and see what they have. They won't be quite like street food there, but they will at least give you a taste of what is available.

Okay, well not strictly "street", but on some of the remote beaches on the northern shore of Trinidad you can find "shark and bake". A piece of shark dipped in a batter and then freshly deep fried. WONDERFUL. And this was served up out of a wooden hut that seemed to be held together by a few nails and some bailing wire. Sorry no photos, we were on our way to the beach, so no camera. Martin

Another great place for street food is Marrakesh. The main square Djamaa el Fnaa has close to a hundred big foodstalls serving the tastiest morrocoan cuisne that you can eat at wooden tables on the square. A few photos from Djamaa el Fnaa on this link: Street Vendors: "Eat at Djamaa el Fna" - Street Vendors Tip by cachaseiro

Holy Heavens Blake, do you ever stop? I really do hope G has you on some serious overtime there! Street food? Where to start? I effectively live on street food in Asia, it is so much better not to mention cheaper than flash restaurants. As is usual, I agree with Claus about Penang. I remember readng a thing before I went that you could better Indian food in Malaysia than you could in India. Living in a predominantly Asian area of London with some very good Asian eateries, I was sceptical but it is true. I have been to Malaysia and India and had, as promised, better Indian food in Malaysia, always from cheap little street stalls. Sorry I don't have tips, it was prior to me joining VT. As a general principle though, the street food in Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Lao, India etc. etc. is superb and very inexpensive. The Philippines, where I am currently, offers some good examples although street food is not so common here as in mainalnd SE Asia. Of these, I would offer the following out of so many, as an example. This was a favourite of mine in Bangkok but in the way of these things, who knows if it is still there now? Unnamed food stall.: "It's hardly a restaurant." - Bangkok Restaurant Tip by planxty You wuldn't normally associate the UK with street food, we just don't have the weather for it! However, there are a few options. Londoners. like many others closer to the coast in UK, love fresh seafood and here is a very good example. "Cockles and Mussels, alive alive oh." - Stepney Things to Do Tip by planxty Tubby is also represented in the slightly faded seaside town of Clacton, about 50 miles away from the capital. apparently the current proprieters are about the third o9r fourth generation of a dynasty stretching back to an era when oysters were considered por men's food! "Just like being in London." - Clacton-on-Sea Things to Do Tip by planxty Belgium and \holand have some great street stalls featuring crepes / waffles / pancakes. Sorry I do not have tips on them. I suppose a lot of this question rides on what you define as street food. Again in UK, fish and chips is a big favourite, often eaten out or paper in the street. There are some superb examples of these (I know ricky52 knows lots, he even orgaises meets ta them) but I would offer this as a start point. Seafarer Restaurant, Broadstairs.: "English seaside classic." - Broadstairs Restaurant Tip by planxty Undoubtedly if you do searches on any seaside place in UK, you will get a lot more examplesi, start wth searches ike Whitby, Folkestone, Dover, Fleetwood and a many, many others. Obviously the same prnciple applies to more redcet imports ike kebabs which seem to be eaten (if not cooked) by everyone on the street where I live! The concept of the Christmas market has arrived in UK and indeed the "Oop North crew" organise a great VT meet there every year. Unfortunately, very little of the food on offer, which is delicious and proper street food, is actually British. I would suggest that about 90% of the stalls are mainland Eurpoean and whilst they are very tasty, I would hardly put them as British "street food". However, you may want to include them. Here is a link but here are many other better ones on the pages. "A seasonal tip." - Christmas market Tip by planxty I will go now and have a think bout some more but I hope this gives you something to go on with.

This is my kind of question ha ha! We love food! I did not traveled much outside Europe, so far I found the best street food In Palermo, Sicily. Every corners has something to eat, the traditional Palermitano snack is "pani ca meusa" spleen sandwiches... the stalls have a big covered pot with the spleen inside, they cut a bun open and stuff it with the meat, you can have it plain or "maritata" that mean with an addition of cheese. Lot of locals stand in line at those stands to get their serve. picture here: Street's vendors: "Pani ca Meusa" - Palermo Restaurant Tip by oriettaIT I am afraid I could not eat it... I tried, but it was just too much for me! I did tried instead the fried deliciousness also typical of Palermo, "Arancini": fried huge rice balls stuffed with meat sauce and cheese, "crocchè": fried potato balls, "panelle": fried chick peas pancake "cardoni": fried cardoon. in other words it seems like in Palermo everything get breaded or battered and deep fried! not very good for your cholesterol but soooo tasty! Those stands or little shops have always a crowd waiting to get food picture here: Franco U' Vastiddaru (Il panellaro): "Best street food in town" - Palermo Restaurant Tip by oriettaIT My favorite in Palermo was panelle and cardoni for their sour aftertaste. I also loved the freshly baked pretzel (head size!!) I tried in Munich, better if together with a glass of beer :-) oh wait, my town, Padova, has a long tradition of street food being a university town. Not too much is left importunately but the fish stand in Piazza della frutta has survived and serve cheap and delicious seafood bit. More about it here members.virtualtourist.com/m... Thank you Blake, this is a great post!

Braadwurst and Zenf from a wagon in Paderborn ,Germany And A true belgian (luikse) waffle freshly cooked and still warm from a stall at the Bricolage DIY store in Liege ,Belgium

as street food IMHO whole South East Asia BUT.... just taste it, discover it's really good and.... better do not ask. Once in a market in the middle of Borneo, close to Mt.Kinabalu, I ate something just cooked on street, it tasted so nice that I still do not care to know what it was....

No Aussies have replied so far, so here goes. First up we've imported most of the food traditions from elsewhere - except one. The infamous pie floater from Adelaide. The idea is to get a hot meat pie and 'sink' it in a bowl of thick pea soup (some like pea and ham soup) and then top with a liberal squirt of tomato sauce (ketchup if you must). Some believe it is correct to put the sauce on the top of the pie and then upend into the soup. It that way gobs of sauce float to the surface almost like life jackets from sunken ships. It is eaten with a spoon. It is delicious although it may sound quite revolting and is usually eaten after a night out with too many beers under the belt.

Not awful at all David, I have done a few meat pie floaters (is that the correct term?) in my time and usually, as you rightly say, after a few schooners too many!

-->> Blake, please don't come to Brittany and mention that you have eaten good "crepes" in Paris. You'll be strung up!!!! Any market worth its salt in Brittany has a van that does food, just ask for "une galette complete svp". Contains a sausage, ham, cheese and generally an egg and just drips with butter. That's why our "bikini season doesn't last very long here (along with the weather). My favourite is on Soi Rambuttri in Bangkok. Just as you come out of the Rambuttri village hotel, go up to the Soi and against the opposite wall is a feller that does enormous Pad Thai. When you've been served just rotate 180° and there's an open air beerplace. A lovely evening in perspective.

Keti, you are far more likely to get ill eating in a chain restaurant in either Serbia or Finland. At least with the street stalls in Asia you can see what they are doing as they cook. What happens behind the closed doors of your local MsacDonalds, KFC, burger King etc. etc.? I cannot speak for Egypt as I have not been there but as a general principle I know where I would rather eat.

In no particular order: Roti chanai for breakfast in Penang...plus anything from the malaysian night markets (including those yummy, gaudy tapioca desserts!) Chicken-in-the-pot from Kuala Lumpur "food-street", and chicken satay anywhere. Stuffed chicken legs from some roadside stalls in Thailand. Hot pô (steamed stuffed bun) and sweetened yogurt in the streets of Beijin (ages ago...don't know if they still exist!) Fresh buffalo curd sold in terracota pots along sri lankan roads. Wonderfully "carved" pineapples in all of south east Asia, or a fresh coconut... Paella, raclette, tartiflette, couscous, from the local markets around my home town, simmering in huge pots, with mouth watering smells. Köttbullar med mos in Sweden. Smoked or pickled fish "anything" along the Baltic Sea (memories of "Bismarks"!) A fresh , plain bretzel. The good old fish and chips with vinegar Buryat "puuzy" .... And many more! And if drinks are included, a mulled wine to warm up in wintertime

84 degrees celcius kills all bacteria in meat and street kitchens are almost always heating it much more than that. The most dangorous thing according to the teachers i had when i took my hygene certificate in denmark, is luke warm buffets in big hotels because even if they kill the bacteria when they cook the food something might get in to the food while it is standing there on the buffet in warmish temperatures that makes bacteria explode. I have personally never been sick from a streetfood meal anywhere. Actually i just ate spicy rice from the street here in Malaysia tonight and i feel very good.

I love street food. I have good memories of going yard saling on Saturday mornings in the US without taking a breakfast at home for an obvious reason: there always were hot dogs, bake sales, you name it. When at Ottawa I cannot pass Terry Scanlon; he has the best hot dogs in town; see: Terry Scanlon's: "The best Hot Dogs in town" - Ottawa Restaurant Tip by pieter_jan_v Talking about my birthplace Amsterdam, I always invite visitors to a herring stall and try our Dutch "Sushi". See how Rex loved it: cache.virtualtourist.com/6/6... I probably write about street stalls/food in most places I visit. PJ

Does roadkill count?

In Egypt I've been always careful as it is frequent to have "stomach problem". The once I had stomach (and high fever) in S.E.Asia it's been last time I've been in one "Le Meridien", ok, it's good hotel (people a little bit rude, actually), good everything but "that time".... in their meals...

I do remember very good fish&chips on street.. very long time ago... in U.K.

Malta: imqaret, deep-fried pastry stuffed with dates, cloves etc etc and absolutely magnificent. And 'hobs biz-zejt': tuna, onion, olives, capers, olive oil, garlic, tomato paste 'sandwich' on dense Maltese bread. Italy: gelato in a zillion flavours. Of course. UK: fish & chips. There is nothing to beat fresh fish & chips (preferably fried in beef dripping, as they should be) on the sea front at the 'bracing' UK seaside. :-)

Okay, I'd mention the following: Deep Fried anything at the San Diego County Fair in Del Mar. Sate stalls in Jakarta, Indonesia. Taco stands in Tijuana, Mexico.

Lee (Dymphna1) just for you - road-kill-cafe.com/roadkill.... - lots of great laughs in there - enjoy

>UK: fish & chips. There is nothing to beat fresh fish & chips (preferably >fried in beef dripping, as they should be) on the sea front at the 'bracing' >UK seaside. :-) Does that attract a squadron of hungry sea gulls as it does here in Oz. Just amazing how quickly so many appear after just one has been fed a little bit of chip. Not sure if its telephony as no 'come and get it' squawk is heard from the first there.

O yes, seagulls are often part of the equation. Not usually a squadron though, maybe just one or two.

Interestingly enough the only place where I have gotten sick eating any type of street food (and I do eat street food everywhere we have visited), was in the United States. Martin

Almost forgot to mention one of my favorites. Falafel. (ground chick peas, made into a ball and then deep fried) In the old streets of the Moslem Quarter of the old city of Jerusalem you can find a few "hole in the wall" falafel stands where they constantly cook up fresh batches of this Israeli stapel. I like it served in a pita bread, with lots of salad, pickles and french fries stuffed in, then a VERY liberal serving of extra hot chili sauce poured in. Martin

ShuiWanLu in Shenzhen - breakfast from the street vendors. Different styles dumplings and different flavours, deep fried donought like bread, flat breads with spice baked in. Yummo. Even late at night when the bar workers go home there are beautiful foods available on the street -seafood, noodles BBQ poultry etc. I am hungry!!!

I agree with some other members here: the best street food can be found at farmer's markets or during special festivals (i.e. Christmas markets in Germany :-) Here it goes... from personal travel experience: UK (Scotland): Fish and Chips. And yes... we were chased by at least 6 dozen seagulls... Germany: a fresh warm Brezel or a juicy plump Bratwurst with mustard. Prague: Trdelnik. Oh my god... trdelnik... Hong Kong: any kind of dumpling you can imagine... delish!!! US of A: anything on a stick :-)

Oh, almost forgot: United Arab Emirates street food: Shawarma.

David, the internet here at work blocked the link. But there have been rumors from time to time about roadkill ending up on tables. LOL We just do not have the outdoor vendors, except at the fair. Then we have interesting ones like rocky mountain oysters.