“If only Roosters had such toppings for their chips the world would be a happier place”
On Sunday 18th October Street food innovators Digbeth Dining Club came to Kings Heath and joined forces with the Hare & Hounds to create a special event for both locals and students to enjoy. The event went on for the whole day, starting at 11am and continuing on til late afternoon. Because this was a particularly large event for Digbeth Dining Club there was a street closure allowing the Hare to host 10 street food vendors: Low N Slow, Buddha Belly, Caribou Poutine, Bournville Waffle Company, English Indian, Spectacular Goat, Baked in Brick, Manila Munchies, The Meat Shack & Grande Viande.
I arrived at the event at around midday and it was already extremely busy. In typical Digbeth Dining Club style, food alone was not the only form of entertainment and there was a variety of music playing which added to the atmosphere. Digbeth Dining Club is not a typical dining experience and this is what makes the day so exciting. It gives you the opportunity to mix and match food from different continents and cuisines, or you can just stick to one vendor, it’s completely up to you! I really enjoyed how different it is to eating in a restaurant, the way it is set out means you can see the chefs cooking and you can look at the different vendors and observe all the food before you have to make a choice. One of my least favourite feelings is when you order something at a restaurant and it arrives looking completely different to how you expected and you get raging food envy over the person you’re withs meal. You will never have to endure this heartbreaking experience at DDC because everything is upfront and cooked freshly in front of you.
On the day I was feeling particularly hungry so I actually ended up having two mains during the time I was there. The first main I chose was from Buddha Belly, an authentic Thai street food stand. The dish I chose was chicken and noodles. Buddha Belly succeeded in making a dish that could be seen as simply amazing by creating a complexity of flavours that gave every mouthful a kick. The second main was Canadian poutine and it was a particularly special dish because it was hand crafted by students from our University. Mikey and Lizzie met in Canada on a ski-season, loved poutine there and decided to introduce it to the UK. The dish I had was called ‘Miss Piggy’ and it is the original poutine which handmade chips, home made gravy and cheese curds with sausage, bacon and slow cooked pulled pork on top. I had never heard of poutine before I was told about these students’ entrepreneurial adventure and the conclusion I was left with is if only Roosters had such toppings for their chips the world would be a happier place. Their food was absolutely delicious and I can’t wait to go to the next event they are working at.
The next Digbeth Dining Club is being held on Friday the 30th at it’s usual venue at Spotlight in Digbeth. I hope to see some of you there!
