Street food's popularity shows no signs of slowing as people across the capital enjoy the laid-back atmosphere, value, accessibility and sheer deliciousness of some of the best cuisines from around the world.
Now, a new venue just opened on Leith Street is offering Edinburgh's foodies access to some of the best vendors from around the country, seven days a week, with both indoor and outdoor seating.
Set to be the place to go this summer for people looking for the freshest dishes and most exciting drinks, Edinburgh Street Food (ESF) has taken over a corner of the Omni Centre and as always Edinburgh Live popped along to find out what you can expect.
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We arrived cold and hungry on a pretty dreich Thursday afternoon and the bright lights and neon signage of the ESF were a very welcome sight.
Outside was a spacious al fresco seating area (heated too) while inside was yet more brightly coloured seats, vibrant lighting, colourful artwork and honestly, a bewildering (in a very good way) number of top street food vendors, each with their own industrious little kitchen spaces.
We grabbed a table and had a peruse around what was a crowded room, busy with young mums with their babies enjoying a spot of lunch together, tourists enjoying the city, young families, and even old dears out for a wee blether and bite to eat; all serving for a pretty lively atmosphere.
Everything seems pretty laid back and easy to navigate here, simply scan the QR code at your table, check the menu, order, pay and give them your table – all done via your phone.
And for those liking the personal touch, it is also easy enough to order straight from the vendors themselves, we enjoyed getting around chatting to the owners like Cameron Laidlaw of Junk and Carlo Carozzi of the Peruvian, who was only delighted to have a quick chat to us while we asked about his enticing menu.
"It's been great, but really busy," he explained. "I've had to up my prepping game and take on more staff just to handle the number of people coming here. It's been lovely to see how bustlng it is, even the shops in the centre have had a wee boost too."
And seeing as we were here it would have been rude not to try some of Carlo's delicious offerings, after all The Peruvian, was the first street food stall selling this country’s exciting cuisine in Scotland.
We opted for the Pork Belly and Sweet Potato Fries (£10.50) but honestly could have gone for the Peruvian favourite Lomo Saltado or the Tequenos as pretty much every dish here sounded delicious.
We grabbed a seat while Carlo brought over a heaped bowl of the delicious cubes of pork stacked on top of a mound of crisp orange fries covered in a refreshing salsa criolla, reminding us of why street food is so good, as it allows you to try some of the incredible cuisines from around the world (as well as modern riffs of them) that you'd struggle to come across anywhere else.
This was the perfect start, dipping the cubed pork belly into Carlo's own Aji Verde dip - a mix of jalapenos, coriander and mayonnaise) - before stuffing our faces with them, was definitely one of the many highlights of the afternoon.
With so many excellent vendors to choose from it was a little overwhelming to decide where to go next, should we try Homies' Detroit-style pillowy square-pan pizzas or maybe the hip Duck burger specialists What Le Duck? Or maybe even go Mexican and plant-based with Antojitos?
In the end, we decided we'd try an award-winning dish from elevated street food specialists Junk, who EL have covered before, with their European Street Food Awards best snack award-winning Spanish Armada dish (£7.50); a mouth-watering combo of crispy tattie skins, puree de patatas, sobrassada (sausage from the Balearic Islands), black garlic and chilli.
And boy, this was so so good. These crunchy potatoes were smothered in a delicious sauce that had plenty of kick, it's easy to see why they took home an award - spice fans will definitely love them.
Finally, we just had to try the mouthwatering sounding Short Rib Bao Bun from Leith's ever-popular Bundits (£6.50); succulent shredded meat on light fluffy buns that was just the ideal finisher on what was an afternoon filled with top, top dishes.
Though our spirit was willing, our flesh was weak and we decided we just couldn't eat anymore if we tried, so we had to give up.
The service was excellent, with no long waits for food and plenty of attentive staff striding around the floor. You can either eat with your fingers here or the wooden forks provided but don’t forget the napkins, as it’s bound to get messy (which is always the best part).
The toilets were clean and spacious and there was plenty of seating. Overall, it's early days but this was a pretty impressive showing and that's without even getting to enjoy the numerous local craft beers and brewers on tap at the bars as we were driving later that day.
Dog and child-friendly, free to enter, plenty of vegan and allergen-covered options, there is even set to be live music and entertainment. We definitely get the feeling that over spring and summer this place, with its Instagram and TikTok-friendly spaces, will really come into its own.
One thing is for sure, we will definitely be back, as we barely even made a dent on the impressive array of vendors and dishes on offer and we are already looking forward to it.
Find Edinburgh Street Food at Omni Centre, Leith Street, EH13AU.
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