Food Trucks - Musti's Kitchen - Leeds

A few Sundays ago, Dan was in London for business and the food trucks were once again in the city center on Briggate. I decided to try Musti's Kitchen which was serving Turkish food, because I had never it before. I ordered the Sac Kebab, which was filled with chicken, onion, peppers and a salad that had fresh mint in it. All of that was rolled in a flatbread. It smelled wonderful and I quickly headed home to eat it. The flavors were just as amazing as the aroma and I ate very bite. Obviously it did not like me as well and I spent the evening and next day with an upset stomach. Oh well, at least I tried something different and helped the local economy at the same time.

Manchester UK Street Food

Of all the cities we have visited on our journey, I think Manchester has been my favorite. The people here are friendlier, the architecture is incredible and the food scene is vibrant. Manchester proper, has a population of about 400,000 people. The metro area, though, is comprised of about 2.7 million people, making it one of the largest metro areas in the United Kingdom. This past weekend the Christmas markets opened and I believe about half of those 2.7 million were in town. We had a blast! Between the Christmas markets, the street markets and all the restaurant choices, there was no shortage of dining options.

As we walked through the Manchester Street Food stalls, we were amazed at the choices of food. We had to stop and share an ostrich burger, because we had never tried one before and they were an award winning stall. The burger was grilled to perfection and topped with Jack Daniels onions, sweet chili & garlic mayo and wild rocket. The flavors were perfect together and the burger was a fine, messy meal!

In an area called The Avenue there were multiple food trucks serving wood-fired pizza, BBQ chicken, tacos and adult beverages. There was a wonderful large tee pee, called the Curious Tee Pee, that had a large central fire, a large bar and what looked like some really good frilled foods. There were local artists with booths set up selling art, textiles and food. There was even a wonderful tower slide for kids and adults as well as an open air ice rink with other pop up bars surrounding it.

 

 

 

If I had a choice of where to live in England, I would chose Manchester. The city had a Midwest feel with a large city approach to life.

The Hot Potato - Leeds

The Hot Potato is not really a food truck, it's a food trailer. Inside is a large cast iron oven loaded with foil wrapped potatoes just waiting to be topped with all sorts of food. It's situated along one of the pedestrian walkways in Leeds city center shopping area. Every time I walk by, there are usually long lines, especially at lunch time. I finally decided to stop by the other day and see what all the fuss was about. There were people sitting on benches close by eating what I could only imagine were the potatoes. They were buried under so much food that it was hard to tell.

I stood in line and watched and listened as people ordered. The guy right in front of me ordered a jacket with butter, beans and cheese. Beans!!! The British love their baked beans. The lady in the truck ladled this huge spoonful (at least a cup) of beans onto the buttered potato then dumped at least a cup of cheddar on that. The lid was closed and handed to the customer. My turn... Here were some of the choices; butter, beans, cheese, tuna, chili, coleslaw plus others. And you could order more than one topping. I ordered a jacket with butter and cheese for 3 pounds. She topped my potato with at least a cup and a half of some really awesome British white cheddar. I handed her my money and headed home to devour my meal. I could eat only half, so the rest  would be eaten the next day. That was a very cheap and yummy meal!

Leed's Briggate Food Trucks

Briggate is a pedestrianized shopping street in the middle of the town center of Leeds. From here there are many arcades and other pedestrian only streets that seem to go on forever. Briggate is home to stores like Marks & Spencer, Harvey Nichols, House of Fraser and H & M. There are restaurants and coffee shops mixed in as well as street vendors. On the fourth Sunday of each month there are food trucks.

 

Unfortunately for Dan and me, we had been to another part of town for the day and missed out on the festivities. We now know were to be on the fourth Sunday. Notice the American flags on the school bus, they were serving American BBQ, the "it" food at the moment in Leeds.

 

Baked goods, Latin food, BBQ, seafood, sausages and crepes were just some of the foods for sale. They must have been doing well, a lot of the items were sold out when we arrived. I don't know if these food trucks operate on a daily basis in other parts of town, but it's nice to see them getting this kind of attention. During the week, the shopping district is pretty busy, but the weekends are crazy around here, so they got a lot of exposure.