Paying Nomage to Street Spice

Normally I blog about recipes but today I'm going to blog about a great foodie experience I had tonight!

From 28th Feb to 2nd March there is some great food feasting going on in Newcastle in front of the Centre for Life which is (in memoriam) in aid of Brain Tumour UK. This is probably one of the best foodie festivals I've been to; well organised, great selection and the line ups were manageable.

Spice Street is its name and pleasuring the palate is its game!


You can get a full list of vendors on the website but I'll talk about the yum that tickled our fancy when we were there tonight!

First of all, we had made the clever choice to purchase queue jumper tickets which got us into the marquee in front of the large queue of people who were already there when we arrived - taking in the different scents and salivating.  The tickets were only £5 and the money is going to charity so it was an easy decision to make. I've also come to learn as I attend more of these foodie feast-ivities that going the first night - esp if it's a school night is the best thing you can do. Although the place was hopping it wasn't too overly busy and waiting in line for food didn't take too long.

Once we got in we did the rounds and scoped out what was on offer. We came to notice the Rib Man's queue was getting longer.....hmmmm right. We have to be tactical about this! SJ and I start to man our place in the Rib Man queue and we sent Justin and Rory off to the Caribbean stall as that line was shorter. So while we were patiently waiting in line for our pulled pork sandwiches we munched down on the deliciously well spiced jerk chicken and rice and rum soaked dumplings. We then washed it down with some fine Wylam golden ale.

mid chew

rum dumpling!

prepping the pulled pork

While we engorged ourselves on our pulled pork sandwiches we swayed back and forth to the DJs tunes and savoured the glory of the Rib Man's tasty treats - including the impressive selection of hot sauces. The hottest we could all attempt was the 'Holy Fuck' which was what SJ described as having a "slow burn" effect. But tasty nonetheless.

cheeky peek at the pork!

it was as big as my head!

not the most flattering picture....

the range of sauces on offer

Where to next!? There was so much to choose from!

We swiftly moved our way back around towards the entrance and along the way drooled as we walked by the piled high trays of cupcakes.

While we waited for SJ to pick up her freshly cooked rum dumpling (for later) Justin made a quick b-line to the Riley's Fish Shack for a delish grilled monkfish wrap - even the wrap itself was freshly made on the spot! To accompany the wrap we made a pit stop at the Electric East stall for potato cakes with a yummy spiced coriander yogurt sauce. To die for! Must check these guys out properly some time soon!

At this point we were becoming incredibly stuffed and thought we needed to chow down on some sweet stuff before the full feeling set in! We all felt it coming and knew we had a short clock to beat!

Onto the crepes station!!!

Oh no....side tracked by other treats first! SJ picked up the last and absolute cutest wee macaroon whilst Justin and I opted for the giant snowball!! What then followed was what you might call a game of - get the snowball in your gob before it explodes!!!!!!! Had we known this beforehand - we might not have been so messy and SJ would not have become a casualty of the snowball fight. Ach well - delicious and a win nonetheless! Shoutout goes to the guy who gave me a huge thumbs up and laughed as he walked by whilst I was trying to contain the marshmallow goodness in my mouth.

attacking the snowball

SJ attacking the snowball!

snowball explosion!!!! on SJs sleeve as she tried to save it

Onto the crepes station!!!

What followed can only be described as and art form. They had a huge menu selection for the crepes but we decided to go simple and sweet. SJ and Rory opted for the classic lemon and sugar and Justin and I for the cinnamon sugar. Check the photos below - but also check out the video I managed to capture. Thankfully the guys at Monsieur Crepe didn't seem to mind me taking the video - I just had to share the beauty of this delicate art form with you - they make it look so easy!!!

If you have a chance to go I say do it! Friday or Saturday....you still have a chance! Check it out or fully regret not having shared in this glorious experience yourself. And take some pretty cool foodie friends with you, it definitely enhances the experience!


Go......you have no excuse!


P.S.  I have also recently celebrated my birthday at Salsa Cafe - for a wee recap of that nominess check out by buddy Haggies blog!




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