10 Dishes and Drinks Not to Miss at End of the Road Festival

This is just one of the things we love about End of the Road Festival – every single year, the food lineup is as carefully planned as the music, with special focus being afforded to provenance and special diets. Simon Taffe, the festival’s founder, has the biggest hand in curating the menu every year. He looks for “quality and value, particularly with portion sizes,” as well keeping an eye out for portly chefs, which he says is always a sign of good food.

There are a few beloved caterers who appear at End of the Road every year, and Simon says that the foodie faces he’s most looking forward to seeing are The Bell & Brisket, who “don’t skimp on the meat like a lot of traders do, especially when it comes to the Sunday at a festival,” and Lurados, whom he describes as the best burrito food truck he has ever found. “Once you have one,” he says, “you won’t need a meal until the following lunchtime.” But there are also new faces appearing this year too, including a truck specialising in deep-fried polenta, to which Simon personally attests, and a Vietnamese pho truck straight from London’s independent food scene.

Below are 10 of our top food picks for the coming weekend, which will lead you to some of our best-loved culinary veterans, and to a few new experiences we’ll be trying for the first time too.

The Cheese Truck

The Cheese Truck are all about celebrating British cheese, served with locally sourced ingredients. Their lineup includes formidably gooey fondue fries, an intriguing Stilton and dark chocolate brownies, and is headlined by their infamous grilled cheese sandwiched. Don’t miss them – never miss them.

thecheesetruck.co.uk

Wide Awake Café

It feels as though for as long as there have been music festivals, there’s been the Wide Awake Café – a vegetarian and vegan spot which we traipse into with our tails between our legs at least a couple of mornings every year. Wide Awake focus on sourcing high quality, organic, fair-trade and ethical ingredients, and other than their magnificent breakfast and solid coffee, we recommend the vegan Hot Dog and vegetarian Rum Duck Wrap.

wide-awake-cafe.com

The Curry Shed

Good curry during an evening of indulgent celebration is a Godsend, and the Curry Shed, with their authentic, super-fresh vegetarian Indian dishes, are one of the best spots to pick up something hearty and spicy to set you up for the night ahead.

thecurryshed.co.uk

Le Grande Bouffe

Cecile, the proprietor of this well-known establishment, knows a thing or two about proper French food. Having moved from market to market in the Haute Savoie by her father, she learned the secrets of perfect tartiflette (the most comforting cheesy potatoes you’ll ever eat) and saucisse at an early age. There is true Gallic passion in ‘the big eat’!

facebook.com/LGB01

Bhatti Wraps

The inferno-like tandoor-oven method is one of the best ways to cook incredible, succulent meat. The organic lamb and free-range chicken – all straight from James’ Dorset farm – which Bhatti Wraps prepare this way are garnished with bright salads and splattered with yoghurt sauces, before being wrapped up in freshly baked naan. It’s summin’ else.

nomadicfood.co.uk/bhatti

The Bell and Brisket

The Bell and Brisket have been at the festival for a few years now, and their menu is all based around hand-brined hot salt beef bagels and rye bread. They’re served with ‘dirty and filthy’ seasoned chips, for those with serious appetites, and we can strongly recommend washing it all down with their home-brewed ginger beer.

thebrisket.co.uk

Goan Seafood

You never forget your first pitstop at Goan Seafood – although it’s possible you’ll forget where it was, so familiar are the stall across the festival circuit. David and his crew know their fish, and nothing will set you up for the day quite like their kedgeree, or fuel your evening frolics like their range of consistently brilliant fish curries.

goanseafood.com

Manna

Manna were a hit at their End of the Road debut in 2015, so they’re coming back for a second round this year, bringing with them a mouth-watering menu of Thai dishes – from well-loved pad Thai to spicy Cambodian chilli pork.

Pho Sho

Pho Sho are the new faces on the food front we’re possibly most excited to see. With proper, old-school Vietnamese methods and superb quality ingredients, they’re currently making waves in London’s street food scene. Both us and the festival themselves are excited to try their raved-about pho for a fortifying lunch, not to mention the bun cha and bahn mi.

facebook.com/PhoShoLondon

The Somerset Cider Bus

Ah, the Cider Bus – whatever happens, you’ll find us here in the early hours each morning, sipping their legendary hot cider with shots of apple brandy by the bonfire and dancing to their excellent playlists well into the next day.

ciderbrandy.co.uk