Last Friday saw the launch of Birmingham's newest Streetfood market to Birmingham. Welcome Brum Yum…read moreYum #Lunchmarket! Brainchild of Duncan, mastermind behind Brum Yum Yum's various incarnations throughout the city, the Lunchmarket does exactly what it says on the tin. Based in Central Birmingham's "The Square" (by the Oasis Centre), the market brings together some new names and old favorites on the foodie scene to create a chilled out spot for people in the City to grab some top quality grub that doesn't cost the earth. Traders on Friday provided a choice of wood fired pizza, vegan and vegetarian wares, Caribbean treats and a choice of Mexican delicacies to sate the lunch hunger. As well as food, beer and wines were provided in the #Beermarket unit (although it was a bit early for me to partake). The market will now be on every Friday until 1st August and runs from 12pm - 4pm (meaning you can always grab a post work beer if you finish early). Prices for food range from a couple of quid for satay up to £8 for a whole pizza. I chose a hotdog from Vegan Grindhouse which set me back a modest £4.50 with the pound off flyer that was given to me when I got there. There was a great atmosphere when I was there, even if I didn't stick around for too long (I had to run off to another meeting). I am planning to check it out again this week and see what foodie treats are in store in the next installment!

So Friday night brum yum yum has set up home in a new venue just behind the old DV8 club just off…read moreKent street near the gay village. Much to our surprise they were still setting up and had a few teething issues in the day which is understandable with a new venture like this. We met up with Duncan who was keen to show us around the new bar and dance floor area as they are working in partnership with the club next door. Outside were two stalls one selling fries with a twist of either Mexican flavours or Italian reasonably priced and great flavours too. I has the pastrami brisket which was salty and tender.. With added fire and tang from the fresh chillies and pickles. Loved the concept and wish them every success in the coming future. I'm looking forward to their main launch night in June.

I LOVE a burger. And not just any old burger... With the Streetfood revolution happening in…read moreBirmingham, I have become a burger snob. It's not good enough to just chuck any old beef onto a griddle and serve it in a sesame bun anymore. A great burger has locally sourced, fresh ingredients and has been thought about from start to finish. THAT's why Flying Cows gets a big ole' thumbs up from me. As one of the volunteers at the JQNF who arrange 24 Carrots, I love seeing new traders at our market. When I spotted Flying Cows on the list of people coming down - I was both intrigued and excited. Although they have appeared at super popular streetfood events across Birmingham, I hadn't come across them before. I decided to take a gamble last night and give them a try for my dinner. From the moment I walked over to Dan, I knew it was the right choice. After I had placed my order (beef burger with stilton - £4), Dan explained that it would take around 5 minutes to cook. This wasn't a problem as we filled the time talking about how he got started in the burger business and what was different about his food. Honestly, if you ever get a chance to chat to him - do! He's a lovely chap. My burger looked amazing! Unfortunately I ate it before I thought about getting a picture, however, it was meaty, cheesy and just fantastic. The bun was soft, the meat tasted and looked fresh and the cheese was the perfect accompaniment. It was one of the best burgers I have had in Birmingham (and I've tried most of the greats). Dan is relatively new on the scene, but he will be a big name before long. Check him out now (and have a natter) before he gets to the point where there are queues forming around the block!

Unlike the previous reviewer Im not a fan of burgers at all and a burger from a street vendor is…read moresomething Id normally avoid like the plague...BUT... there are burgers and then there are The Flying Cows Burgers..... there is just no comparison these are stunning... we had them at the Hare and Hounds Kings Heath Street Food Sunday Festival..... and it was very hard to stop at just one.....by boyfriend had two !!.... amazing.....

I loved my trip to Rib nights earlier this year, so when I heard that the man behind it was…read morelaunching another new event, I couldn't buy tickets fast enough. Unlike Rib nights, (which is is a sit down meal affair where two competing rib smoking teams try to win the vote of the eaters), Burger Battle seemed to be a more laid back affair. I bought tickets in the "secret sale" for £20 each. All I knew initially was the venue and that I would receive two burgers and a drink for my ticket price. Over the coming weeks, more was revealed about the event... It would entail two burger teams competing (same format as Rib Nights), but with the added extra of DJ's, a retro gaming arena, superstar judges (well, well known foodie characters within Birmingham) and a more chilled vibe than Rib Nights. Needless to say I was excited... So, yesterday was the day! We rocked down to the venue early (having been warned of queues for food) and got checked in. On entry, we received a wrist band with three boxes to be marked. A box for a burger from the "Beefy Boys", a box for the burger from "The Flying Cows" and a box for a complimentary drink. Once the event was ready to go, we were at the front of the queue to recieve our burger from the "Beefy Boys". This was called the "Butty Bach" (the sauce being made from the Wye Valley brew of the same name) and offered a brioche bun, bacon, two different cheeses and top quality beef. The guys from the team were brilliant! All up for answering questions about the ingredients and willing to swap any of the components in the burger in the case of allergens. We grabbed our burger, grabbed our complimentary drink (I went for an alcoholic ginger ale) and sat in the main table space to judge our food. This burger was very good, but there was too much sauce (which ended up overpowering the other flavours). Once we had drank our first drink and eaten our first burger, it was straight into queue number two. I have had a "Flying Cows" burger beforehand, so knew I would be getting a treat. It was definitely my winner of the evening. Delicious beef, crunchy red onions and a fantastic bun from the local bakery, "Peel & Stone". Once more beers had been sourced (with Pistonhead being offered at two cans for five pounds, this offered a better alternative to the bar offerings in Spotlight) and our votes cast, we headed into the retro gaming arena (for me to be thrashed at Mortal Kombat and for the other half to be thrashed at Sonic 2). We ended up leaving shortly after that... Not because the evening wasn't jam packed with stuff to do, but mainly as it was on a Sunday and based the other side of the City from us. I can't wait until the the next battle. Needless to say, I'll probably end up being one of the first people to buy tickets (again). Roll on Burger Battle!

I'm a fan of burgers. I'm a fan of street food, so when the founder of RibNights, Ahmed Kage…read moreannounced UKBurgerBattle, I was definitely going to be there. 2 teams, The Flying Cows and The Beefy Boys competed. They both had good sized queues, but they were seriously efficient in the way they produced the burgers. There were queues, both times, we queued for about 15 minutes. It sounds a long time, but when you're stood there, chatting to likeminded foodies, it flew by. Both burgers, individually got 10/10 as they were both outstanding. Opinions differed and I'm led to believe that the VIP judges said one team, whilst the public voted for the other. It's very subjective. It's a 4/5 because I thought that there wasn't really a finish to the evening. We left just after Leo (a chef from local Michelin Starred restaurant, Simpsons), managed to compete his challenge of eating 6 burgers (3 from both teams), in 30 minutes! In my party of 10, the vote was 50/50. I'm looking forward to the next one.

Have you tried Habanero's yet? As it's one of the only food vans to hit the streets of Birmingham…read morenearly every single day, you really don't have an excuse. On a cold, sunny day at the end of the year I just couldn't make my mind up where to eat (this is quite a usual occurrence). I had a quick wander around and then settled on Habanero's Mexican Street Food van (as I hadn't eaten there in quite a while)... And I'm so glad I did. I popped down on a Monday; when they offer free nacho's and a can of pop included with any burrito purchased. I also had my ever handy "Independent Birmingham" card in my pocket, so it was a bonus 10% off my order too - making my whole meal under £5! Being quite a hardy sort when it comes to spice, I opted for a beef burrito with loads of chilli peppers and the hottest sauce available. This was cooked up for me in front of my eyes and I had ordered, paid and received my order within 5 minutes. I may have been a little bit foolhardy when it came to the full shebang... I ended up looking like a little bit of a Panda (with eyeliner spreading all around my face and tears in my eyes) by the end of my meal; lesson learned though. These guys can do spicy. The burrito was delicious. Bursting with filling, the meat was cooked to perfection and the mix of the salads and sauces left my tongue tingling for hours afterwards. The nachos are plain, but as they are salty they present the perfect accompaniment to really bring out the flavours of the food. The reviews on here are pretty mixed, but I rate it. Street food can be found in many forms in the City - but I would definitely give Habanero's a go if you haven't as yet.

I was hoping for this to be up there... I'm somewhat disappointed :-(…read more I just didn't get the Mexican flavours I was expecting which is a shame. Maybe it's just me, I don't know? Having said that, I liked everything else about Habaneros and what they are doing, bringing in something different to Centenary square. :-)

Don't even think of going to McDonald's while Kim's shiny yellow van is parked just a few yards…read moreaway. This chap does the best burgers and baguettes you've ever come across (£2.50 for a chicken fillet burger - cooked fresh, loads of salad and mayo, and it's huge!) and he's a really nice chap too. Kim has been trading in this spot for at least ten years and has amassed a good loyal following in that time - he's been there for longer but I first stumbled across his emporium of goodness when I first moved to the area in 2003 and loved it ever since.

ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS! Since being introduced to poutine I'm completely obsessed. However, they one…read morehave one store which is in Liverpool and the occasional pop up at Digbeth dining club. This is absolutely lethal when you're craving poutine!

Simply the best…read more That's right, here I am standing in the country's finest and tastiest street foods. It was an honour being able to attend to see what potential new businesses or franchises that could one day turn into a monster in the market. The day was filled with good buzz from all the people, to watching drunken customers having a go on the rodeo. Despite me and my friend Davey not trying everything, we're convinced we chose smart and went for our top 6 merchants (in no particular order) 1st stop - Buddha Belly 4.5/5 *** Davey's Nomination *** A local Thai merchant originated from Stourbridge, a town familiar to another elite I'm familiar with in the Yelp Birmingham community. When she gave high appraisal to this merchant, there was no way I could back down, so I went in with high expectations. It was £8.50 for trying a bit of everything which included a vegan curry, chicken curry, noodles and Thai crispy chicken. For me, the curry was the best Thai curry I've had in Birmingham and I think it is, it's just a shame it's not permanently stacked somewhere. However, the other half of the dish, I felt the noodles were slightly too greasy and wasn't particular outstanding, with the same view on the chicken, as from the colouring, I'd liked to see the golden texture. Whereas it was dark and slightly soft meaning old oil was used in the process which damages the flavour. Overall, I was very happy with the dish, the presentation was very good and genuinely I felt the dish was given to me like I was standing in Thailand. 2nd stop - Pheasants Hill Farm Kitchen 4/5 This merchant was a pot luck choice by which Davey decided to try as they were selling simple sliders, which provided a good change of pace, meaning it wouldn't totally fill us up. For £3.50 we ordered a Venison burger, which I believe is always a risk if it wasn't cooked just right... As expected the burger did exceptionally well, marks were rewarded with the fact that the juices along with the meat just slowly dissolves in your mouth, slowly topped off with the butterness of the brioche bun. It was a wild deer chase, but eventually we caught it, and it felt good...! After a quick drinks break at 3rd stop - Cracking Nuts... 4th stop - Cheeky Burger - 4.5/10 I wasn't really much of a burger guy myself, but after my recent visit with Elaine at Original Patty Men, I was reminded why Cheeky Burger also has a very good chance of winning at the awards as well. The raw smell of beef with the addition of streaky bacon, something so simple yet so delightful. Davey had ordered a 'Cheeky BSF Brummie' without cheese as a specific, despite it was disappointing not being able to serve the correct order the first time, they were very helpful and even served us bacon straight up on the pan! (YUM!) but it doesn't end there. We were also given some cheeky awesome fries too, which are not to be underestimated as there were exceptionally crispy. The burger had a similar texture to Pheasant's Hill, but the juices with the flavour from the beef and bacon made it exceptionally better. To me, this was a balance between Original Patty Men and the well known Five Guys. Messy but very tasty! I'm expecting Cheeky Burger to be in top 5. 5th stop - Man Meats Fire 4/5 A well known BBQ Champion from Adam Richman's series. These guys definitely know how to BBQ and no wonder they had sold out quite a lot of their items on the first day of the festival. Here a stood as the man was just pulled a bone off a chunk of meat as if it was just a Popsicle stick out of a melted lolly. The meat looked so juicy and tender that I just couldn't resist! At a merchant, which sold such a good variety of meats, the beef rib was definitely one I couldn't pass the opportunity on. With such a huge bone and the meat separating so smoothly, you can gather how tender and moister it was. The meat itself had a great texture, however I felt more flavour needed to be added. With meats as good as this, marinade would've been a perfect combo, however with logistics behind all this, I know it may've been very difficult. After a stop off at the retro gaming....! Final stop - Dim Sum Su 5/5 *** Gary's Nomination *** A 2nd visit to Dim Sum Su, after visiting with Elaine at the Hawker Yard during soft launch. I have high hopes for this merchant with the queues long all day and the fact that I was remembered from my last visit. At this point, we were feeling very full, however I just had to convince Davey that this was the real deal and I won him over big time! The Cantonese Chicken Bao was the same as it was a weeks ago, tender, juicy with a slight sweetness, the 'bao' itself was perfectly cooked and moist. It's one of the few dishes I'd like more of! But did I mention that they do some amazing dumplings too filled with leek, chicken and chinese mushroom! Dim Sum Su is one of the merchants to keep an eye out for, these guys are not to be underestimated.

The 2016 British Street Food Awards took place over the weekend at The Rainbow Arena this year and…read morewhat a culinary treat it was. The arena was packed with 17 traders from all over the UK who had been chosen from over 3000 entries in 5 regional heats. There was also a DJ playing some great tunes as well as the Festival photo booth, face painters and Dead Pixels had all of their retro games set up in the Rainbow. I took my 14 year old nephew and we had a great time. I was pleased to see that a lot of the traders were offering smaller portions for £3-4 to allow you to try lots of different dishes from different traders. We walked around the arena a couple of times to check out our options and settled on a couple of sliders from Cheeky Burger from London as our first course. While my nephew settled for a standard cheeseburger, I opted for their BSF Brummie burger special which was accompanied by comte cheese, confit onion, rosemary compote, grilled smoked applewood bacon, homemade garlic aioli and homemade ketchup. We both wolfed them down, mine was really tasty and I will definitely go back for more if I spot Cheeky Burger on my travels around London. Our second course was from The Breakfast Club who are based in Brighton - the large BACON sign on top of their trailer lured my nephew in, as I'm sure it did with lots of other people over the course of the weekend! He sampled the fried chicken with waffles, gravy and maple syrup while I opted for the mac n cheese fritter. Again, both were really tasty and didn't last long! Finally, we had to go local and chose thai curries from Buddha Belly. I opted for their vegan curry while my nephew went for their chicken curry. I am a big fan of Buddha Belly, if they are at an event I find it very difficult to chose anything other than their amazing food. As usual, both dishes were beautiful, really flavoursome and nicely spicy. I was really pleased to see that Buddha Belly eventually won the People's Choice Award at the event, very well deserved. My only criticism of the event was that there was a very limited sweet offering - despite scoffing all of that food, my nephew and I still fancied something sugary afterwards but there wasn't much on offer. Despite that, it was a very pleasant and relaxed afternoon, we went home with very full bellies and big smiles on our faces!

DDC's just awesome. The original and best weekly street food event in Brum. Mercifully now 2 days a…read moreweek (Friday and Saturday) to allow more opportunity to enjoy some of the vendors amazing grub. It's set out the back of Spotlight & Mama Roux's under a large canopy. There's normally 5 or 6 vendors, and it's generally a good mix of different cuisines - always one burger joint (the best being Flying Cows and Meat Shack, now OPM have their own digs), normally something Asian (either Thai, bao or Vietnamese), sometimes Mexican, BBQ (Andy's Low n Slow is there regularly) desserts (crepes, pancakes and so on), wood-fired pizzas and loads of other stuff. Drinks are inside Spotlight, full bar with craft beers, cocktails and everything else you'd want. Always a great vibe with good music in very 'Digbeth' surrounds. Well worth your time of a weekend!

It's a place I got dragged to, yet I ended up enjoying myself more than expected. I highly…read morerecommend.

Just bought coleslaw to go with my meal. They sent me off coleslaw that is clearly out of date. It…read morealso isn't fresh at all. Very appalled it had a bad smell from the minute I opened it. Disappointed.

Even with the current trend for pop ups and Streetfood in Birmingham, Caribbean food has been…read morehugely under represented in Birmingham's City Centre. There is normally a good selection at the Food Fair and Jamaican Independence festival (obviously), but not a lot else. Baileys has really stepped up to the mark. With a static location, gigantic steel BBQ and a gorgeous rich smell which fills The Square; they're on to a winner. Big props to Dave P. who alerted me to this gem of a stall a few weeks ago. I had been meaning to try it for a while, but after seeing Dave at our CMYE on Tuesday - it was agreed that Lunch WOULD happen. And it did. And it was sooooo good. With a reasonable selection of Caribbean favorites (Ackee and Saltfish, Rice and Pea etc) it was always clear what I was going to order. Jerk chicken. The godfather of all the chicken dishes. On a rainy Wednesday in Birmingham, it couldn't have been a better choice. It was clear on this particular day that Baileys were having some cooking issues, but we rocked up and were politely told that we COULD have Jerk, but not for 10 minutes. Not a problem for us (as they'd clearly just fired up the BBQ). It gave us a chance to go and mooch at the newest deliveries into Ignite Records in the Oasis (and for me to go and drool at the Hello Kitty merch on sale nearby). Within 10 minutes, we were back and ordering. I had Rice and pea, Jerk Chicken and a little bit of veg. For £6, it was a -very- reasonably sized portion. As an added bonus, Baileys also provides a small covered seating area (with a nifty Pacman decorated bench), so you can still enjoy some sunshine food in the pouring rain. I was mightily impressed with the level of spice, the sauce and the rich flavor of the Rice and Pea. I was so blown away, it was devoured in under 5 minutes. It was -THAT- good. Baileys could now become my "go-to" place for lunch on the run. Saying that, it strikes me that as the food is fresh you sometimes might have a bit of a wait. So... Go, give it a try. But make sure you have plenty of time!

If I could give 0 stars then I would! rude on the phone my…read morefriend who isn't from this country tried to order over the phone and was making it very hard speaking to him like he was a child and when I went on the phone to repeat what my friend said the guy on the phone said 'that's better you speak English' I was appalled, extremely disrespectful and very disappointed in the lack of respect and bad customer service. will NOT be going here again!

Yummy! Aziz Pizza is a great place to buy a freshly made pizza and your side dishes! I use this…read morepizza place frequently because I am familiar with them and also because I like the taste of their pizza's. The time waiting for your order, in the shop or order from home is decent enough for me. I like the tandoori chicken pizza which is very tasty and the garlic bread it's very delightful! Aziz Pizza is one of the best in the local area!