Northern 🔥 Heat

STOCKPORT, YOU WERE 🔥

What a day for the Northern Heat of the British Street Food Awards.

Sunshine. ☀️
Historic Old Town. 🏘️
Stockport Foodie Friday. ❤️
Incredible street food. 🍴
A buzzing crowd. 🗳️
And some very emotional winners…

Huge thanks to Totally Stockport for the support, and to the legendary Stockport Foodie Friday for creating such a brilliant celebration of street food, community and independent traders. Stockport showed exactly why it’s such an acclaimed foodie destination in Greater Manchester, and our judges – including journalist and designer Holly Eliza Temple, host of BBC Radio Manchester’s Breakfast Show Joe McGrath and Sam Buckley, the Michelin-starred chef behind Stockport’s acclaimed Where The Light Gets In – had one hell of a job. After a day of eating, drinking and voting, we had our Champions…

🏆 NORTHERN CHAMPION — OH MEI DUMPLINGS
🥈 SECOND — THE THAI FOOD VAN
🥉 THIRD — THE BUCKET LIST FOOD

And then came the People’s Choice…

❤️ PEOPLE’S CHOICE — FRIENDS CORNER
🥈 SECOND — OH MEI DUMPLINGS
🥉 THIRD — CHARCOAL ROTISSERIE

There was a seriously special moment when Mei from Oh Mei Dumplings came up to collect her award — bringing her mother, her chef mentor, and the rest of her family onto the stage.❤️ Then Friends Corner brought the house down — six chefs working the grill, the sound system and the crowd, serving up the food that won Stockport’s hearts (and votes).

And what a bunch of contenders they were…

TRIPLE B — Molten Grill Melt Bagels packed with hot salt beef, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard. Messy, melty perfection.

OPPA KITCHEN — Japanese pan-fried gyoza, crisp and golden underneath, juicy inside. You could hear them sizzling before you could eat them.

DIM SUM SU — Hong Kong-inspired dumplings, baos and proper Pan-Asian comfort food, rooted in family recipes and serious craft.

FRIENDS CORNER — Binchotan charcoal, British produce and Japanese precision. Skewers with smoke, fire and serious flavour.

JUST GYROS — Fresh Greek gyros and grilled halloumi bringing sunshine, herbs, spice and Mediterranean freshness.

OH MEI DUMPLINGS — Handmade Hong Kong dumplings, rice noodle rolls and that signature chilli oil. Northern Champion for a reason.

CHILLI’S INDIAN — Punjabi roots with a Manchester heart. Handmade Indian street food and a Tikka Masala that tastes just like mum used to make.

STEAKAWAY — Sous-vide steak finished over a Konro grill. Proper steakhouse flavour served from a vintage Renault Estafette called Pingu.

VANILLI’S CAKES — Handmade cakes and sweet treats for those of us who always leave room for dessert.

VANILLI’S BUBBLE WAFFLE — Hong Kong-style bubble waffle, crisp outside, soft inside, loaded with Lotus Biscoff and biscuit crumbs. Dessert theatre at its finest.

DISCO TOTS — Crispy loaded tots, indulgent toppings and enough disco energy to make a potato feel glamorous.

PROPER GRUB CLUB — Big, bold burgers with everything from confit duck and tamarind ketchup to dry-aged beef, pulled beef and bone marrow gravy.

THE THAI FOOD VAN — Authentic Thai family recipes, including a Massaman Curry perfected over 30 years. Fragrant, rich and full of history.

HUNGRY LITTLE CRITTERS — Caribbean comfort food with curried goat marinated for up to 48 hours, packed with Scotch bonnet, pimento and spice.

SQUEAKY BEAVER POUTINE — Triple-cooked fries, squeaky cheese curds and rich gravy. Canada’s ultimate comfort food turned all the way up.

THE BUCKET LIST FOOD — Organic regenerative beef, wild wheat buns, real cheddar and homemade sauce. A very serious cheeseburger.

PASTA FERRAZZA — Fresh handmade pasta, slow-cooked tomato sauce and homemade focaccia. Proof that when the ingredients are right, simplicity sings.

CHARCOAL ROTISSERIE — Chicken cooked low and slow over charcoal until the skin is crisp, the meat is juicy and the smoke has done its magic.

This is what the British Street Food Awards is about.

The food.
The people.
The stories.
The families.
The friendships.
The graft.
And the crowds getting to decide who they love.

Stockport, thank you. ❤️

And now…

WE’RE OFF TO THE BIG ONE. 🔥

The Northern Heat winners head to Peddler Market in Sheffield, 4–6 September, to take on the other heat winners at the British Street Food Awards final.

And then — just maybe — Europe awaits.

Bring it on. 🔥