No one goes to a festival for the food. Despite the unstoppable rise of streetfood, even the most charitable would call festival food a mixed bag. At best.
There’s everything at Parklife. There are burgers, there are gyros, there are pizzas, thai, noodles, bagels, kebabs. Loaded fries. Pancakes. Waffles, ice cream. Everything.
But what is good out there? We went to a handful of the stalls on offer, and this is what we found…
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Eat NYC
Eat NYC bills itself as being a gourmet burger situation, having had its Northern Quarter restaurant and its bagel spin-off Triple B. You’d think you’d be in a safe pair of hands. Sadly not. The £8.50 cheeseburger was trading estate burger van quality; a cheap, meanly thin patty, a tragic bun and it was all ready to go, wrapped up before I’d even ordered. The seasoned skin-on fries were well enough, but they cost £4.50. We all need to reassess the phrase ‘cheap as chips’, by the way.
2/5
Tom’s Thai
Me and Tom need a chat. The pad thai he’s churning out looks the part. It comes with some of the nice brown prawn crackers on the top, and a little extra pot with chopped peanuts and some dry chilli powder to sprinkle on top. The noodles, which came with chicken, tasted of absolutely nothing at all. Honestly, completely tasteless. And at £13, this is just rude.
1/5
Greek Street Food
There’s nothing not to like about chips in a sandwich. We’re here for it, always and forever. There are above average, crisp chips in this chicken gyro, and more sticks of golden halloumi nestled in there too, with some sharp red onion, lettuce, tomatoes and yoghurt. It’s let down by a dry flatbread, which feels like it might have been yesterday’s. Plus, it’s expensive. £12.50, and there’s no sides, no pickled chillis. Far too expensive.
2/5
Colombo Street
This is the spot. Make a beeline for it, even if there’s a queue. This Sri Lankan street food spot serves kottu stir fry, so chopped up flaky paratha breads with spicy coco chicken and hot and sweet devilled fish (they might give you half and half if you ask). It was superb, with green mint yoghurt on top and black sesame seeds. There are jackfruit and paneer masala versions too. At £11.50, it’s on a par with everything else, but on a different planet for quality. Go for lunch, then go back for dinner.
5/5
READ MORE: Parklife 2023 entry times, lineup, venue, stages and everything else you need to know
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