Urban Food Fest

Overpriced food dressed up as ’ international street food’.
It looks dirty and the food is below average.
basically it’s food for people who are tipsy!!!

I generally like food truck parks because I can get something different from what my friends order — which is especially convenient for someone with food restrictions. This place was alright. They had lots of meat trucks, several kinds of Asian food, a bunch of waffles (including one gluten-​free kind mind with tapioca flour), a crêpe place, and even a Baltic food place. There was a large bar too, plenty of tables, and awnings that workers took down when it got sunny. I’m not sure why I didn’t love it. Perhaps because there were 2 separated food areas that made it seem disjointed and smaller than it was? Or perhaps because a lot of the food was stuff I couldn’t eat? Or perhaps because there’s a food truck eating area like this that’s permanent — just half a block down the street? I imagine it was just me though: my friends were happy enough.

Only stopped for drinks so hard to review fully but the food smelled incredible and there was clearly lots of choice. The Brum equivalent (Digbeth Dining Club) is my favourite place to go, and this felt like the more experienced, slightly sexier version with much more choice. Which pains me to say. Will be returning next time I’m in the area!

If you’re after overpriced food from all over the world to sit and eat in the cold this is your place.
True, the food tastes amazing and the live music is very good, but you are sat in a car park at the end of the day (or more accurately the middle of the night).
I can imagine the market being heaven when you are drunk on a night out and if you do like going out in Shoreditch I would advise you to skip dinner so you can grab a bite here, but I don’t think it’s worth travelling to the area just for it.
The musician who was playing on Saturday had an amazing voice though and I would gladly pay to go to one of his gigs and listen to him so there’s that too.
The choice is yours… Market food in the cold or looking up restaurants instead?

A friend and I came here at the weekend after seeing it in Time Out and we came from West London especially for some lunch in a quirky area. It was really easy to find from the station, we saw huts in a covered area so went in and saw varying food huts and loads of benches and seating areas so we presumed this was it. It later turned out when we left and carried on up the road, the actual food fest is directly next to this enclosed area with tonnes more stalls as well as face painting etc. Whoops!
There’s always too much choice when it comes to street food, so I panicked and went for a Mexican because that’s usually my fave. I got chicken quesadilla which came with a side of guacamole. It was a bit disappointing for £6, it was 2 small tortillas which were too dry. My friend got a vegetarian wrap and chips from another stall which was more tasty. We got some overpriced (when are they not) drinks and sat to enjoy the atmosphere.
It was a nice chill out area for lunch, but I wish I’d had something else to eat and I kinda wish we’d gone in and seen the actual food fest, but you live and learn right!

I went to the first weekend of Urban Food Fest in their London location back in January. As an outside street vendor festival the weather wasn’t exactly on their side, and as we arrived well into the evening we were struggling for warmth. That said, the chill made the food and drink irresistible — a very clever marketing tactic perhaps. The bar was very well-​priced, offering wines, ales, ciders, mulled wine and cider, soft drinks, cocktails and shots — when I suggested buying shot and a can of soft drink (better value than wine) the guy behind the bar was very enthusiastic. Turned out this was the person who ran the festival itself. Refreshing to see someone so hands-​on in their own venture.
In terms of food there was a wide variety of stalls — upmarket Indian, mac ‘n’ cheese, polenta — but I opted for Stickybeaks after having read about their wraps on buzzfeed. The cold and the quite dark lighting was well worth it for this slice of heaven alone.
A lovely added bonus was the live music. When I visited it was just one singer-​songwriter who was repeating sets through the evening — it would be great to see more musical variety in the future. Could add a good ‘vibe’ to the experience and attract a wider audience of people, those not just interested in food.
Urban Food Fest returns to London after their leg in Manchester in late March. I will definitely be returning, just hope the weather is a little better for us this time.