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Do You Eat Street Food?

Do You Eat Street Food?

  • Jeepers, do people actually do that?

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  • If you like pina coladas, and getting caught in the rain...

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  • Total voters
    33

truthatallcost

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Food carts, trucks, stands, or the Tamale lady who goes door to door selling delicious homemade bundles of goodness, I've been eating street food since I was a kid. It was just always around, one of the benefits of growing up in a diverse neighborhood. I've eaten street food thousands of times, and never once gotten sick. It's curious to see street food as being trendy, as you can now find every variety of it in cities like San Francisco, from authentic French cuisine prepared by a native Parisians, to the trusty old $1.25 tacos made fresh at taco trucks.

Do you eat street food? If so which kinds? I'd particularly like to hear from people who've tried street food from around the world, in India or Thailand where it's part of the daily routine for locals.
 
All the time.
 
I am convinced that you are less likely to get sick eating street food than eating at a restaurant. I lived in Mexico two years and ate street food all the time. Only time I got food poisoning was at a McDonalds in Mexico City. I lived in Cambodia three years and ate street food all the time. Only time I got food poisoning there was at the airport KFC.

With street food you usually SEE them making your food. At restaurants you don’t know what the heck is happening to your food in the back. Maybe that isn’t the case with food trucks but my street food always came from places like this:

63D8DF94-3026-4F6A-8602-76627441AB8B.jpg
 
Nah I am not a fan of street food. I don't trust it. If it is going into my body I need to have a certain trust that it is not going to make me sick
Hey, years past at the fair I would indulge in things only to be sitting on the pot the following day regretting it.
 
I am convinced that you are less likely to get sick eating street food than eating at a restaurant. I lived in Mexico two years and ate street food all the time. Only time I got food poisoning was at a McDonalds in Mexico City. I lived in Cambodia three years and ate street food all the time. Only time I got food poisoning there was at the airport KFC.

With street food you usually SEE them making your food. At restaurants you don’t know what the heck is happening to your food in the back. Maybe that isn’t the case with food trucks but my street food always came from places like this:

View attachment 67246095

I was once talking to a restaurant inspector in town. He's been doing it for 20 years. He said he's only eat at two places. One was a fancy place in Scottsdale and the other was a hot dog vender.
 
I've only eaten street food in UK, Canada and Japan.

Hot dogs, kebabs and poutine mostly, but Japan, man... Find some random joints sometimes that make the BEST Yakitori.

Barbecuing is extremely serious business for South Africans and Yakitori is one of my favorite iterations of BBQ'd meat on gods green earth.
 
I am convinced that you are less likely to get sick eating street food than eating at a restaurant. I lived in Mexico two years and ate street food all the time. Only time I got food poisoning was at a McDonalds in Mexico City. I lived in Cambodia three years and ate street food all the time. Only time I got food poisoning there was at the airport KFC.

With street food you usually SEE them making your food. At restaurants you don’t know what the heck is happening to your food in the back. Maybe that isn’t the case with food trucks but my street food always came from places like this:

View attachment 67246095

Thanks Bob. The picture you included of asian street food is the kind I'd like to try. From hearing others describe it, they use fresh ingredients, made to order in front of you like you said, and an average meal costs between $1-2. Sounds superior to our dining options.
 
Hell, from time to time, I even prepare it for myself and for guests. LOL

FWIW, in some countries, so-called street food is some of the best and most familiar food one can come by.


 
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I am convinced that you are less likely to get sick eating street food than eating at a restaurant. I lived in Mexico two years and ate street food all the time. Only time I got food poisoning was at a McDonalds in Mexico City. I lived in Cambodia three years and ate street food all the time. Only time I got food poisoning there was at the airport KFC.

With street food you usually SEE them making your food. At restaurants you don’t know what the heck is happening to your food in the back. Maybe that isn’t the case with food trucks but my street food always came from places like this:

View attachment 67246095

Yup, thats the rule- as long as you see fresh ingredients and they cook it in front of you, its fine.

Best street food I've eaten was in Vietnam. I used to think Thai street food was the best, but Ive changed my mind.


I watch a lot of food blogs on youtube, but I cant stand that guy- he has no personality whatsoever. My favorites are Sonny from the Best Ever Food Review Show and that Strictly Dumplings guy.
 
Almost never but I would if it was good and cheap like I hear it is in a lot of places. I love carnival food that I have long called Fest Food due to my time in Germany and that is basically street food but I go to them anymore. I went to Taste of Tacoma last year for the first time which has all kinds of Street Food and will again. My main eats that day was a smoked turkey leg fries and an Elephant Ear. I drive past all of the Olympia food Trucks because I have this idea that they are over priced and so-so most of the time, which some of them I am sure are not but since I almost always have awesome food at home I cant be bother to go through the pain of finding the good ones. When I go to Seattle I am either going to a game or a very nice restaurant, plus I dont see much street food in seattle which is weird, maybe the rain is a problem or maybe the government is the problem.

I am pretty sure that if I lived in Hong Kong that I would eat it at least 3 days out of 7.
 
I watch a lot of food blogs on youtube, but I cant stand that guy- he has no personality whatsoever. My favorites are Sonny from the Best Ever Food Review Show and that Strictly Dumplings guy.

Oh, wow. I didn't know there are such things as YouTube vlogs. I really was just looking for something that showed some of the street foods that I'd come across while I worked in the PRC as, among the countries I've spent a lot of time in, China is far and away the one I found most appealing as goes "everyday" eating. (It's not nor even close to my favorite country for lavish eating.)

I didn't actually listen to the narration on that video.
 
Almost never but I would if it was good and cheap like I hear it is in a lot of places. I love carnival food that I have long called Fest Food due to my time in Germany and that is basically street food but I go to them anymore. I went to Taste of Tacoma last year for the first time which has all kinds of Street Food and will again. My main eats that day was a smoked turkey leg fries and an Elephant Ear. I drive past all of the Olympia food Trucks because I have this idea that they are over priced and so-so most of the time, which some of them I am sure are not but since I almost always have awesome food at home I cant be bother to go through the pain of finding the good ones. When I go to Seattle I am either going to a game or a very nice restaurant, plus I dont see much street food in seattle which is weird, maybe the rain is a problem or maybe the government is the problem.

I am pretty sure that if I lived in Hong Kong that I would eat it at least 3 days out of 7.

Red:
DC, of course, has a bunch of festivals during the year and at them there's plenty of "fest food." We also have a few events like the Taste of Tacoma.
  • Taste of DC -- Much of the fare is street food and some is not.
  • Restaurant Week -- Happens a few times a year. It's not street food at all, but then it doesn't exactly happen on the street or in an open air setting.
  • Metro Cooking DC -- A hybrid of sorts between Restaurant Week and Taste of DC (think "car show" format applied to restaurants, food and cooking in general, but with fancy food). It happens indoors and the food is more refined than is street food.
I wouldn't plan to go to Taste of DC, but I have gone to it and would again. I tend to avail myself of Restaurant Week.
 
Red:
DC, of course, has a bunch of festivals during the year and at them there's plenty of "fest food." We also have a few events like the Taste of Tacoma.
  • Taste of DC -- Much of the fare is street food and some is not.
  • Restaurant Week -- Happens a few times a year. It's not street food at all, but then it doesn't exactly happen on the street or in an open air setting.
  • Metro Cooking DC -- A hybrid of sorts between Restaurant Week and Taste of DC (think "car show" format applied to restaurants, food and cooking in general, but with fancy food). It happens indoors and the food is more refined than is street food.
I wouldn't plan to go to Taste of DC, but I have gone to it and would again. I tend to avail myself of Restaurant Week.

Seattle Restaurant Week is big with us, but outside of this thread.
 
I've only eaten street food in UK, Canada and Japan.

Hot dogs, kebabs and poutine mostly, but Japan, man... Find some random joints sometimes that make the BEST Yakitori.

Barbecuing is extremely serious business for South Africans and Yakitori is one of my favorite iterations of BBQ'd meat on gods green earth.

Yakitori could be gigantic in the US, not every type of street food needs to have a starch laden carb bomb attached to it.
 
Oh, wow. I didn't know there are such things as YouTube vlogs. I really was just looking for something that showed some of the street foods that I'd come across while I worked in the PRC as, among the countries I've spent a lot of time in, China is far and away the one I found most appealing as goes "everyday" eating. (It's not nor even close to my favorite country for lavish eating.)

China is okay, but I find their streetfood to be limited to usually dim sum or noodles (I dont eat the bugs or innards). Vietnam has a huge streetfood culture- there are makeshift stalls on practically every street corner (even though its technically illegal) and their food is awesome. Pho is better than ramen imo, and Banh mi is the greatest sandwich in the world.
 
China is okay, but I find their streetfood to be limited to usually dim sum or noodles (I dont eat the bugs or innards). Vietnam has a huge streetfood culture- there are makeshift stalls on practically every street corner (even though its technically illegal) and their food is awesome. Pho is better than ramen imo, and Banh mi is the greatest sandwich in the world.

Limited isn't a word I'd use to describe the variety of street food in the PRC....

I don't much compare classes of foods as better or worse in quite the same way you have. (Then again, I haven't "met" much that's edible that I didn't also like, but there are some foods I definitely don't like.)


Red:
Yep. All Southern Asian countries I've visited have that. Not as much in the touristy and expat areas, but in the "native" parts of town -- especially around medium and large sized working-to-middle class (endogenously speaking) multiunit housing complexes -- OMG, yes.

FWIW Pho doesn't strike me as all that different from ramen. Sure they are technically different -- noodle type, egg or no egg, the cut on the meat/protein ingredient -- but to my American palate and eye, they're just different versions of the same dish. If you and I were strolling around in any Oriental Asian nation and there were a pho place and a ramen place next door, I wouldn't fuss over your wanting pho instead of ramen; we'd just have pho that day.
 
Food carts, trucks, stands, or the Tamale lady who goes door to door selling delicious homemade bundles of goodness, I've been eating street food since I was a kid. It was just always around, one of the benefits of growing up in a diverse neighborhood. I've eaten street food thousands of times, and never once gotten sick. It's curious to see street food as being trendy, as you can now find every variety of it in cities like San Francisco, from authentic French cuisine prepared by a native Parisians, to the trusty old $1.25 tacos made fresh at taco trucks.

Do you eat street food? If so which kinds? I'd particularly like to hear from people who've tried street food from around the world, in India or Thailand where it's part of the daily routine for locals.

Usually burgers, dogs or sausages outside sporting events, bars or concerts, but my town does fairly regular food truck rodeos that bring in some really great stuff. Everything from chicken wings to Asian cuisine. Upstate NY is a great area right now for food trucks.
 
Oh, wow. I didn't know there are such things as YouTube vlogs. I really was just looking for something that showed some of the street foods that I'd come across while I worked in the PRC as, among the countries I've spent a lot of time in, China is far and away the one I found most appealing as goes "everyday" eating. (It's not nor even close to my favorite country for lavish eating.)

I didn't actually listen to the narration on that video.

Food vlogs, or just vlogs in general? Because I think it's fair to say that this is most of what's done on YouTube, depending on what does and does not qualify as a vlog.

I've been using YouTube to fill the gap left by my decision to forgo cable since around 2012. Most of what I do for entertainment on my off-days revolves around spending hours watching random videos.
 
Food vlogs, or just vlogs in general? Because I think it's fair to say that this is most of what's done on YouTube, depending on what does and does not qualify as a vlog.

I've been using YouTube to fill the gap left by my decision to forgo cable since around 2012. Most of what I do for entertainment on my off-days revolves around spending hours watching random videos.

Red:
Since you asked, both; however, food vlogs is what I had in mind when I wrote my earlier comment.

Were you to watch all the forum posts I've made and that contain a YouTube video, you'd have watched about 80% of the YouTube content I've consumed. And the only reason I've even consumed that content is because I was of a mind that some idea I aimed to express was better depicted by a video than in written format, so I bothered to look for a video that abetted that end. Another 18% is to look up the occasional song that someone mentions/recommends and that I think enough of their recommendation/remark(s) to want to know what it sounds like.
 
Food carts, trucks, stands, or the Tamale lady who goes door to door selling delicious homemade bundles of goodness, I've been eating street food since I was a kid. It was just always around, one of the benefits of growing up in a diverse neighborhood. I've eaten street food thousands of times, and never once gotten sick. It's curious to see street food as being trendy, as you can now find every variety of it in cities like San Francisco, from authentic French cuisine prepared by a native Parisians, to the trusty old $1.25 tacos made fresh at taco trucks.

Do you eat street food? If so which kinds? I'd particularly like to hear from people who've tried street food from around the world, in India or Thailand where it's part of the daily routine for locals.

When I saw your thread title, this is the "street food" (and those who eat it) that came to mind.

Roadkill3_zps0df75eee.jpg

But after I read your post, I knew what you are talking about.

As a world traveler in my past life...starting when I was 12 years old...I've eaten a lot of street food in a lot of countries. One that particularly sticks in my mind is when I lived in Germany I'd go to the local department store on a Saturday (keeping in mind the proximity to the afternoon "siesta" time). My wife and I would always stop at one of the vendors outside the store for bratwurst mit brötchen und eine bier.

But now, living in a pretty rural area, the stuff in that picture is the only street food I see. It's just as well, though...with my heart problems, that bratwurst would probably kill me today. I prefer to cook my own food, anyway.
 
We love it. More authentic than any restaurant foods, exceptions noted of course. My favorite, street tacos from a local food truck, language lessons included. They have a small table in front of the truck, and we sit and talk. Good times.
 
Food carts, trucks, stands, or the Tamale lady who goes door to door selling delicious homemade bundles of goodness, I've been eating street food since I was a kid. It was just always around, one of the benefits of growing up in a diverse neighborhood. I've eaten street food thousands of times, and never once gotten sick. It's curious to see street food as being trendy, as you can now find every variety of it in cities like San Francisco, from authentic French cuisine prepared by a native Parisians, to the trusty old $1.25 tacos made fresh at taco trucks.

Do you eat street food? If so which kinds? I'd particularly like to hear from people who've tried street food from around the world, in India or Thailand where it's part of the daily routine for locals.

Of course! I'm currently funding the guy on a bike that comes down my street everyday selling elotes, churros, and paletas. :lol:

 
China is okay, but I find their streetfood to be limited to usually dim sum or noodles (I dont eat the bugs or innards). Vietnam has a huge streetfood culture- there are makeshift stalls on practically every street corner (even though its technically illegal) and their food is awesome. Pho is better than ramen imo, and Banh mi is the greatest sandwich in the world.

Around Beijing, especially in the night markets, you get a lot of meats, especially kabobs. In Baoding, (just west of Beijing, they will have donkey burgers available for street food
 
In Calgary outside of festivals I have not seen any street food. I am excluding the food trucks, and mobile hot dog stands. I expect that for approx 6 months of the year it is too cold for it and we do not have the population density and pedestrians that would make street food viable. In the area's it might be viable the restaurants would fight tooth and nail to prevent any from setting up any where close to them.

Vancouver I believe has a large night market with lots of small booths that provide street food (I do not know if they meet health codes or are inspected)
 
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