Southern Sunshine
☀️ The South Heats of the 2026 British Street Food Awards wrapped up after a blisteringly hot Bank Holiday weekend at Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth — four days of barbecue smoke, Pimm’s and SPF 50 in the Central Plaza.
Our judges — Tom from Tom’s Big Eats, Judith from It’s All About Food, Marc from Land Securities and Andrew Du Bourg, chef-owner of The Elderflower — chose their champions:
🥇 First Place – Suya Boiz
🥈 Second Place – The Burger Society
🥉 Third Place – Nopalito
Suya Boiz arrived in Portsmouth with exactly the energy their name promises: Big Big Naija Flava. Their Nigerian barbecue was loud, smoky, spicy and impossible to ignore. Beef suya skewers came dusted in deeply savoury spice blends, jollof rice glowed red with flavour, and the fried plantain provided sweet relief between bites of heat. Already beloved across London, they brought the judges the unmistakable joy of Nigerian street food.
But the People’s Choice? That belonged entirely to the YOU. More than 25,000 people came down across the weekend, voting in one of the closest elections we’ve seen in our 16 year history:
🥇 First Place – Suyaboiz
🥈 Second Place – Paella Garcia
🥉 Third Place – Beyroots…with The Burger Society in fourth and Phat Boi in fifth.
The winners of TWO British Street Food Awards (thanks to Majisign for our classy new certificates) now head to the British Street Food Finals in Sheffield, September 4–6 – and, if they win there, onto the European Street Food Awards Finals in Germany on September 18–20 🇩🇪
With traders travelling from far and wide, the quality this year was extraordinary:
🍔 Oh Babu — Delhi street food bringing butter chicken loaded fries and glorious chaos.
🌮 Nopalito — slow-crafted Mexican tacos packed with smoke, spice and Veracruz soul.
🍟 Papas Locas — authentic Canadian poutine with squeaky curds and rich gravy.
🔥 The Burger Society — Michelin-trained burger obsessives serving precision-built comfort food.
🍖 Cut The Mustard — Devon barbecue with smoke, swagger and outrageously good beef short rib.
🍕 Stones Throw Kitchen — indulgent plant-based pizza with blistered crusts and zero compromise.
🍚 Stans — deeply comforting pulao inspired by family traditions across the Stan countries.
🥙 Beyroots — authentic Lebanese street food with no fusion gimmicks and no nonsense.
🥟 Phat Boi — dim sum, ramen and Dan Dan noodles built for maximum comfort.
🇭🇺 Events Kitchen — authentic Hungarian lángos served with grit, heritage and fried dough joy.
🔥 Suya Boiz — smoky Nigerian barbecue bursting with spice, jollof and Big Big Naija Flava.
🥘 Paella Garcia — giant pans of proper Spanish paella served with saffron swagger.
🍨 Sweet N Delish — rolled ice cream transformed Portsmouth into the coolest place in Britain for one Bank Holiday weekend.
🐟 E8 Fish — East London seafood with market freshness and old-school street food soul.
🛸 SuJo — award-winning UFO Burgers sealed shut to trap every last drop of flavour.
🍫 Churros Garcia — fresh churros and thick Spanish chocolate from true street food royalty.
🧇 Waffle Wands — theatrical waffles on sticks loaded with chocolate and maximum excitement.
☕ Jamie’s Coffee — local local Joe with top beans and brilliant baristas keeping everyone fuelled.
🎶 Huge thanks too to the DJs from Roll N Pour for soundtracking the sunshine all weekend long
And finally, a massive thank you to Gunwharf Quays for hosting us so brilliantly — and to the people of Portsmouth, who turned up in force, brought the energy, the appetite and somehow managed to queue politely in 30-degree heat. Frankly, if sunshine, street food and seaside vibes were an Olympic sport, Portsmouth would be bringing home gold. See you in Pembrokeshire, for the Welsh Street Food Awards!