If you’re looking for cool and quirky places to eat, with unusual food packaging and tasty treats, there is nowhere better to grab a seat than at one of the new street food warehouses or markets that are becoming trendy around the world.
Hipster-cool, with dishes from some of the coolest, emerging restaurateurs, visitors here can often get a taste without the high restaurant prices.
So, where are the best modern street food locations around the world? Here are five of our quirky favourites:
1. Depot, Cardiff, Wales
Let’s start this culinary feast near home with the magical delights of Depot in Cardiff Bay. Located in an imaginatively transformed ex-warehouse, Depot has a tree made of pallets and draped in fairy-lights as its centrepiece, with both a caravan and an airstream used among the quirky seating arrangements.
Only open on weekends, Depot has a constantly evolving menu, with different food providers appearing each week.
From burgers to waffles, freshly made pizzas to ice cream, they have it all. Plus, there’s a colourful outdoor seating area where you can wind away the long summer nights.
What sort of packaging have we seen here? Well, visitors can expect to see cardboard tubs of ice cream, the classic brown paper box and even pizza-style boxes used to protect tasty waffles.
2. Maeuerpark and Neue Heimat, Berlin, Germany
Every Sunday, locals and tourists take the 30 minute walk out from the city centre to the huge open green space that is Maeuerpark. Flea market, come outdoor live music venue, come market, come graffiti gallery, come street food hub – there is so much to see and do here.
We love the brown cardboard cones of chips; they’re much sturdier than a classic newspaper cone. Plus, make sure to grab an expandable, fanned plate of currywurst – a German delicacy.
For a rainy day alternative, take a tube east to Neue Heimat. This converted warehouse-style venue, at an old railway repair yard, is transformed into a street food festival every weekend for music, art displays, and yes, food.
Expect pallet seating, graffiti-covered walls and plenty of fairy lights, alongside bread baskets, racks of ribs and heart shaped paper plates laden with cheesy balls.
#berlin #neueheimat #lecker #streetfood
A photo posted by Leonie Cle (@leonie_cle) on
3. Karavan, Budapest, Hungary
Small, but perfectly formed, Karavan is a city centre street food location conveniently tucked away down a side street, just minutes away from the city’s famous New York café. Sheltered from the elements, with plenty of seating and quirky vendors in vans, you’ll love a visit here.
From cheese and chive-topped jacket potatoes in foil bowls to savoury waffles in large square cardboard tray plates, the food packaging is pretty snazzy too.
4. Borough Market, London, England
With its impressive glass roof and London Bridge location, Borough Market is a striking regular haunt for locals and tourists alike. A market, street food venue and home to some great restaurants, Borough Market offers somewhere to enjoy a spot of lunch and a drink, plus somewhere you can do your weekly shop of fresh fruit and veg.
Visitors here should expect to see table tops filled to the brim with colourful punnets of fruit, paper pots jam-packed with Asian noodle dishes, and delicate, cellophane-wrapped desserts.
#treatyourself #boroughmarket #prettycitylondon #thisislondon #lovelondon
A photo posted by Lene ? (@magda_13) on
5. Wildfoods Festival, Hokitika, New Zealand
Ever wondered what a scorpion or witchetty grub tastes like? Well, you can try one at Wildfoods Festival in New Zealand, while dancing away to the melodic tunes of some of the nation’s best music artists. This festival has it all, you can even watch live food demonstrations from top chefs and let your littles ones run free in the kids Korner.
So, how do you package wild foods like this? Well, scorpions are served up in plastic cups, snails on cocktail sticks and then there are hanging sauce dispensers that resemble cow’s udders. It’s certainly different here.
Street food Packaging Inspiration
Are you a chef or owner of a food van that would love to attend a street food event? Well, our fast food packaging will make you stand out from the rest. Discover our brand new Go Eat range of greaseproof paper here and discover other street food packaging options here.
Read more: Festival Food and its Packaging: How Would We Change it?
All photos taken from the mentioned destinations’ social pages or are personal images.