Street Eats a must for foodies

Jane Phare checks out the menu for this weekend’s Street Eats festival in Auckland.

From hot dog vendors in New York to street-food hawkers down back streets in Asian cities, eating outdoors always has an element of fun. It's quick, cheap and usually incredibly delicious.

That's the idea behind Street Eats, on this weekend at Queens Wharf. If street food - or any food for that matter - is your thing, head along to Shed 10 on Saturday to treat your taste buds. Entry's only $5, kids are free and all dishes are around $10.

As part of restaurant month, more than 30 restaurants and food trucks will serve up more than 80 dishes from all around the world including Mexican, Indian, Thai, Korean, Middle Eastern, North African, Spanish, Vietnamese, French and Southern American. Some of Auckland's top chefs will set up shop for the day serving up special menus designed for Street Eats.

The Culpeper's menu will include pork-belly corn dogs served with barbeque sauce and crackling; The Crab Shack will serve up lobster sliders with chipotle slaw; Thai Street will go big on oysters - either fritters or served fresh with lime and chilli sauce; The Cut on Federal will do barbeque beef skirt steak and pork spare ribs. Or try deep fried chicken skin from PappaRich, seafood kebabs from Ela Cuisine or Hanoi-style pork belly skewers from Y Not restaurant.

Food trucks will be out in force including some Kiwi kai. M & L Foods will serve up paua shots and fritters, whitebait fritters and smoked eel while Puha & Pakeha will dish out smoked kahawai and kumara chowder, and pulled pork cooked long and slow in a hangi and served with coleslaw.

Not forgetting fussy kids, Vue Restaurant will serve fish and chips (the pea puree is optional!) and pasta, Fritz's Weiners will do European-style hot dogs, Stumpy's will sell pizzas and Temaki Truck will make sushi.

For the decadent try french fries topped with kimchi, pulled pork, cheese, salsa and sour cream from the Coreano food truck or the Orleans waffle burger with "old bay" fried chicken, Caesar salad and chipotle maple-glazed bacon.

For those with a sweet tooth, the to-die-for tarts baked by Scratch Bakers are a must and there'll be ice cream, crepes, profiteroles, macarons and cheesecake brownies.

All-day live entertainment will include saxophonist Bzzle, singer Siobhan Leilani, Superhero Second Line (a New Orleans-style brass marching band whose players dress in superhero costumes), the Creative Souls Project (encouraging people to become involved in music and the arts),the band The Miltones and the Third Gordon Trio.

Between 3pm and 3.30pm, the winners of an AirAsia competition of return tickets from Auckland to Kuala Lumpur will be announced.

Street Eats, Saturday, 10.30am-8pm, Shed 10, Queens Wharf, Auckland. All under cover.

Entry $5, children 12 and under are free.

Show your American Express card and you'll get two free passes.

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