By Dave Bradley
Having walked past a couple of times sort of sussing the place out tonight was the time for my first visit to Clipper Quay Street Food Market, one of the city’s newest eateries.
When you walk in the door there is an awful lot happening.
Each vendor has their own counter to order from so I was glad I had checked the menu on line before I got there.
With my granddaughter leading the way I headed straight to the Notorious street food counter with a smash burger in my sights.
I feel I’m behind the times admitting that it’s my first time trying one so I went for a double with loaded fries.
My wife decided on the chicken burger and loaded fries too. My granddaughter the committed vegetarian, headed to the adjoining Wok Hay counter where she ordered jasmine egg rice, chips and curry.
Once you have ordered and paid you get a buzzer thingy that flashes and buzzes when your food is ready.
It was fairly busy downstairs so we headed up a level and sat at a bench seat. In true street food fashion the long tables are for sharing with other diners but there are plenty of regular tables if you prefer.
Once we got seated I took the chance to have a look around me.
There was a good mix of people young and old but the vibe suits the younger diner, it’s definitely a cool spot.
The décor is not overdone with plenty of framed old photos of Derry that catch the eye and pipes on the ceiling giving it a real converted warehouse feel.
The live music is a real bonus, not too loud and I found myself humming along.
We were just deciding on what to drink when one of the bar staff arrived and took our orders at the table.
Five minutes later the drinks arrived and not long after that the buzzers went off and we went and collected our food.
After a slight hiccup, my burger was a single instead of a double, which the guy rectified straight away it was back upstairs and get stuck in.
A piece of advice here, bring a couple of napkins. If the sauce is not dripping down your hands you’re not eating it properly.
When the food was finished we got another drink to help digest it all.
The three of us agreed that it was definitely tasty food and we were all stuffed. We could have hit the ice cream counter for desert but even my granddaughter wasn’t able for it.
On the way out we took our time and wandered over to each vendor to see what they were serving up.
There really is plenty to choose from a variety of street food to seriously big pizza slices.
You pay as you go so no hassle splitting bills. Our food was 40 quid and 22 quid for drinks.
I don’t like tipping before eating and didn’t see a tip jar on the way out so sorry no tip from me this time.
All it all it was a very positive dining experience and we will definitely be back to try out some of the other vendors offerings.
Clipper Quay Street Food Market is situated on the quays roughly half way between the Council office and Sainsbury’s.
Menus and opening times are available at: https://www.clipperquaystreetfood.com/
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