east London food market

This weekend saw the launch of Night Tales, the hotly-anticipated food, cocktail and music event set in a Dalston car park and underground bunker.

Hosted by Background Bars, Night Tales brings together London’s best street food vendors, cocktail bars and DJs under one big canopy and twinkling lights.

On arrival, we warmed up from the chill with a Hot Spiced Negroni (£8) from the fabulous Negroni Station while checking out the food stalls.

The potent Hot Spiced Negroni tasted similar to mulled wine but with the usual bitter aftertaste of a Negroni – a winning combination. The bar offers around eight different kinds of Negronis, so it would be tempting to work through the menu.

Meantime Brewing Company serves craft beers on tap, hot apple cider and Hot Toddies while QuiQuiRiQui brings a lethal Mezcal Bar and the Mezcal Confessional, to be absolved of your sins.

I was most looking forward to having Patty & Bun on my doorstep, as I still haven’t made it over to the central London restaurant. We split a delicious Ari Gold burger – aged beef patty with ketchup, lettuce, tomato, cheese, pickled onions, P&B mayo and brioche bun (£7.50).

Served medium-rare, the burger was nicely charred on the outside with a tender centre and meaty juice oozing into the bun. The burger’s USP (because every gourmet London burger has one) was the tangy, vinegary pickled onions and a fluffy, slightly sweet brioche bun.

It was so, so tasty and satisfying – proper burger heaven. For an extra hot kick, try the Jazzy Jeffery with maple cured bacon, smoked cheese, jalapenos and piquillo peppers (£8).

The aromas from nearby BAO brought back memories of travelling in Asia, so I couldn’t resist trying some of their Soya Milk Fried Chicken (£3.50). It is without a doubt the best fried chicken I’ve tasted in London and really addictive.

Four large pieces of succulent chicken breast and thigh were coated in light, crunchy and perfectly seasoned breadcrumbs, drizzled with a serious hot chili sauce. They are fantastic value at just £3.50 and ideal for sharing (although next time, I’d be greedy and order a whole bag to myself).

Since the fried chicken was so good, we went back for some authentic Taiwanese Gua Bao – Steamed Pork Buns. The steamed milk buns were filled with slow-braised pork belly, home pickles, peanut powder and coriander.

The buns were moist, fluffy and ever so slightly sweet while the tender, well-marinated meat was a mixture of shredded and thickly sliced pork. The peanut powder and fresh coriander added extra flavour and went perfectly with the meat (I’m also personally happy that they don’t fill them with cucumber, my biggest food hate).

Of course, I couldn’t leave without a bite from Le Petit Paris – remember their awesome Croque Monsieur? This time it was all about the French Toast (£3.50), which came with a choice of two fillings. I went for the French Toast with banana, bacon and speculoos spread, but without the bacon (I couldn’t handle any more meat by that point).

The French Toast was served piping hot from the grill and had a scrumptious burnt sugar coating. Inside was a gooey mixture of smooth, rich speculoos spread and sweet sliced banana, plus a little cream – so delicious. Look out for owner Nathalie Benezet’s new cookery book, Le Petit Paris: French Finger Food.

Night Tales is the Dalston night out that has everything – great food (also look out for Smokey Tails and Rainbo), strong drinks, awesome music (courtesy of House of Disco and Leisureware) and fire pits to keep warm. It’s currently running alongside Street Feast over at Hawker House in Hackney, but as they’re not far away from each other, go to both and make a big night of it!

Night Tales runs every Thursday, Friday and Saturday until 14th December at Abbott Street Car Park, Dalston, E8 3DL. Entry is £3 per person. For more information, visit: www.nighttales.co.uk

Chérie City received complimentary entry and two tokens towards food and drink.

All photos by Chérie City

East London has its fair share of great food markets, but The Long Table brings a new concept to Dalston – a night market with live performance, DJs and a bar with heated seating.

The Long Table is a collaboration between creative enterprise Bootstrap Company (Dalston Rooftop Gardens) and The Loft Project founded by Viajante chef Nuno Mendes and his partner Clarise Faria.

Every Friday, up until Christmas (and hopefully beyond, if they can be pesuaded), The Long Table will occupy a disused space behind Cafe Oto and Arcola Theatre and serves dishes from the best street food vendors and guest restaurants, up until midnight.

Last night, after Steven’s private view at Specs Gallery we paid a late-night trip to the market for some celebratory food. We hadn’t anticipated standing in a queue in the cold for almost 30 minutes, although this probably isn’t an uncommon sight in Dalston (it is the land of the secret bars/clubs and warehouse parties, after all).

The scene started to get tense as blaggers claimed to know the DJ/chefs/organisers to bypass the queue and two guys were unceremoniously kicked out for attempting to stride past security. This is just how much everyone wanted to get a place at The Long Table, but don’t even try to charm or strop your way past security, they won’t entertain any diva behaviour!

When the time came, those of us who patiently waited were rewarded with a foodie wonderland that was part carnival, part après-ski party. You can wander around the food stalls and choose from well-priced dishes to eat under the heated canopy, if you can find a spot.

When we visited, the street food vendors included The Loft Project, St John Bread & Wine, Moro, Big Apple Hotdogs, Lucky Chip, The Bowler, Le Petit Paris, L.A Sueño, House of Umami, Yum Bun, Lily Vanilli and many more…

We were most tempted by Big Apple Hotdogs, a local legend that food bloggers have even taken the day off work to visit (now that’s commitment, A Rather Unusual Chinaman)!

Run by Abiye from a cart based at Old Street, Big Apple Hotdogs are handmade in London, using natural casing and only the good cuts of free range pork and beef.

We chose The Big Frank (£5), a huge frankfurter made from pork, topped with fried onions and grilled to perfection. The thick, crispy skin bursts on the first bite, letting all the delicious meat juices flow. Unliked manufactured hot dogs, our Big Apple hot dogs were rich, well-seasoned and filled with large individual pieces of meat.

The plan was to follow with some cake or macarons but we were tempted by the Croque Monsieurs (£3) at Le Petit Paris. Made with lots of bechamel, gooey Gruyère, nutmeg, black pepper and butter-fried thin bread, these croques were the most authentic I’ve ever had in London and possibly in Paris! They come in four squares with cocktail sticks, making them easy to munch on standing up.

Le Petit Paris appears at food markets across London, although I’m hoping they might consider opening a permanent cafe, so that London Frenchies can get their Croque fix easily.

It may be cold and you might have to queue, but The Long Table is so worth a visit! Just down a few glasses of mulled wine or Lily Vanilli’s absinthe hot chocolate, make some new friends at the table and get dancing to keep out the chill. It’s the most fun you could ever have at a food market!

The Long Table is open every Friday until Christmas, from 6pm-12 on Abbot Street, Dalston.

Night Tales Food Market in Dalston

The Long Table Night Market, Dalston