We headed to the Piece Hall in Halifax yesterday afternoon to tantalise our taste buds at Chow Down, a weekend-long event of food, drink and live music, hosted jointly by Leeds Indie Food and Chapter 81.
Chow Down welcomed over 120,000 people over three weekends last year. We were amongst the early arrivals at this year’s family-friendly event.
Before testing the food and drink, we spent an hour or so wandering around The Piece Hall (which was open as usual), enjoying the shops, cafes and heritage spaces. We loved chatting with the independent shop owners and even found a gift or two to take home.
Afterwards, we made our way to Chow Down, located in the central courtyard. It was easy to measure the scope of the event before the crowds arrived – lots of seating and a children’s play area reflected the thoughtfulness for those needing to take the weight off their feet, and families with children whose interests are perhaps more energetic that eating and drinking can satisfy!
As we wandered around, taking in all the sights and smells, we decided what foodie delights we wanted to try. We were mesmerised by the variety on offer from the traders, who had been carefully chosen by the organisers.
Here’s the impressive list:
Dilla Deli
Froconut
Get Wurst
Go Get Stuffed
Knaves Kitchen
Knuckle Sandwich
Lekker Eat Dutch
Little Bao Boy
Love is Churros
Luigi Street Food
Manzoku
Nasi Lemak
The Ball Box
The Gravy Train Poutine
The Middle Feast
The Pizza Bus
Wagyu Lookin’ At?
The dishes on offer from all of the traders were from all over the world, with many vendors using locally sourced Yorkshire ingredients. There was also an impressive array of vegetarian and vegan options, ensuring that there was something for everyone.
Picking what to try was tough from the many different vendors who were showcasing some of the very best independent street food on offer in the UK. Thankfully, we came hungry, so were able to sample a good number of dishes.
We started our afternoon off by having a pot of churros with rich chocolate sauce from Love is Churros. The churros were so good – hot, crispy and covered in sugar, and the sauce was rich, sweet and ideal as a dip for the donut sticks – a fab way to get our afternoon off on the right foot!
Next, we started our taste test proper. First, we tried an experimental macaroni cheese pizza pie created by The Pizza Bus. The pasta dish, which isn’t on offer for the general public (yet), was an incredibly cheesy macaroni cheese base topped with traditional pizza toppings, including pepperoni and caramelised onion. The dish had been cooked in the van’s pizza oven so that the pasta was steaming hot, the cheese perfectly melted, and the toppings had started to ooze into the dish. It was epic and hopefully will be making a permanent appearance at The Pizza Bus soon. We also tried a margarita pizza from the van (because it would have been rude not to). The dough was chewy, just how pizza crust should be, and the toppings were simple but delicious.
Up next we tried a sample from Malaysian street food specialists, Nasi Lemak. They recommended we try their ‘Satay Chicken’ (£8), which was a large box of crispy fried chicken with salt and pepper fries, lathered with the most incredibly more-ish satay sauce, a dollop of sweet chilli and a fresh cucumber and carrot salad. For me, the sauce was the winning element, but the fries were also fab – crispy and perfectly seasoned (a great alternative to rice). The chicken was also moist and super crispy. Even the fresh salad topping had been well made and helped to freshen up the palate between bites. The dish was also available with seitan bites for vegans and vegetarians.
Despite already starting to get full after the pasta and chicken, we refused to be beaten. Next, we tried the ‘Bite Me Fanboy!’ (£7) from Wagyu Lookin’ At? The burger featured a big, moist and well-seasoned Yorkshire wagyu beef burger, topped with cheese (which was well melted), smoked crispy bacon and Jack Daniels burger relish. The burger itself was really tasty, and even the bun was fab – the bread was fresh, slightly chewy and held together throughout the meal. The only thing we would have liked was a little more sauce, but that is just us being seriously picky!
Just one tent across was Dilla Deli, who were serving an array of Mexican quesadillas. Based on the vendor’s recommendations, we opted for their veggie Mexican (£8). The quesadilla, which was amazingly crispy on the outside, was filled with cheese, Mexican beans and chargrilled veggies. it was accompanied by guacamole, salsa and nachos, which completed the meal perfectly. We really enjoyed the quesadilla and thought the filling was well balanced and tasty.
In need of a food break, we went in search of a drink. Thankfully, in addition to all of the food, there were also bars serving craft beer, gin coolers and rose wine (in a tin!). There was also a prosecco truck for those wanting something a little more special. Tea, coffee and soft drinks were on offer to keep everyone refreshed over the hot weekend. We opted to try a can of rose, which felt very sophisticated and was ideal for the hot July evening, and a strawberries and cream gin cooler, which was dangerously good!
To finish off our tasting adventure we opted for a brownie topped with coconut froyo from Froconut (both of which were vegan). The brownie was so good: it was soft and gooey on the inside and crunchy on the outside. We opted for both vanilla and chocolate froyo as a topping and finished it off with crunchy honeycomb. The dish was so indulgent. Despite being very full after all of our tastings, we were able to demolish the whole thing, and one of our group even said that the chocolate froyo was the best chocolate ice cream they had ever tasted – which is praise if I have ever heard it.
We had an absolute blast at Chow Down. We loved trying out all of the food and taking in the sights and sounds of the event. We are already looking forward to August so that we can try out even more dishes from the best street food vendors that the UK has to offer.
Feature photographs provided by Chapter 81. Remaining photographs by Gemma Bridge.
