All about the best street food in Europe
All about the best street food in Europe
We were eager to write a post which would be specifically about street food in Europe since we always try all possible streed food around the world.
On the other hand, the inspiration for this post about European street food might also be because we have two sausages in the fridge, bottle of ketchup and pickles, and since it’s almost time for lunch I’m hungry enough to eat anything.
Jokes apart, we had been working on other projects for a while, so we didn’t have much time to write new post, however this one is special, and as you know we love writing about food and mainly street food.
The part of it is also the fact that COVID almost completely stopped our trips (like everyone else), and these last two years we mainly dedicated our time to our families and friends.
By the way, if we start thinking, we would almost have to thank this damn virus. The same time we couldn’t travel, we spent it with our loved ones, which was the best spent time ever.
Germany | Andorra | Austria | Belgium | Czech Republic | Spain | France | England | Ireland | Italy | Vatican City | Netherlands | Portugal | Switzerland
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Get ready for a gastronomic journey with European street food….
In this post we will tell you about the street food that you can find in each European country that we have been to in the last few years. We will practically tell you all about delicacies that we have found in the various countries in Europe and which for us have been worth tasting.
By the way, throughout the post we will set our mind as locals, and if we remember a place that you can’t miss on our journey, we will give you the address or some information, get ready!
Given the magnitude of the area and the fact that it is very difficult to make a selection with so many possibilities, we will list just one dish for each European country we have visited.
We do this for two reasons: first one is that we don’t want to bore you, and also because we don’t want to write a post with 9999999 pages.
Also if you want more information about each country we are at your disposal, do not hesitate to contact us, we will try to answer you as soon as possible.
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As we mentioned, in this post we focus on street food we have personally tasted, usually the best and most recommended street food in each European country. We hope that very soon we will be able to add more dishes and more countries to this list.
We also have in mind to write a post about the street food in the European countries that were once part of the former Yugoslavia and all the neighboring countries, so get ready and follow us for more information.
Let’s not dwell on it, the time has finally come, now let’s go straight to the point:
Street food:– street food in Europe
Germany – street food in Europe
If you have visited Germany you probably know why we chose this dish and why, for us the best street food here is Kebab.
Surely you are thinking, they are totally crazy!
Or are you wondering why we chose KEBAB and not one of the many delicious sausages that Germany can offer?
You might think that our suggestion for this street food in Germany is crazy and probably not consistent with the country, however we will give you the reason why we decided like this.
Let’s start with a bit of history, in the 70´s began a huge migration of Turkish inhabitants to this country, mainly in the Berlin area, and with the them they also brought their culture and customs, including food.
The story is that in 1972 Turkish Kadir Nurman started preparing this dish in his restaurant. It occurred to him to put some finely cut meat in a pita bread. And in addition to that, he added yogurt sauce, lettuce and crispy onion, almost the same ingredients as today. The success was incredible, and the numbers proved it.
Currently Kebab has become the most popular street food among Germans, surpassing its famous Brätwurst, the more modern Currywurst or hamburgers.
In our experience, if you want to eat a good Kebab, it might be one of the best in your life, you have to visit Berlin as soon as possible. When you get there, search for street stall called Mustafa’s Gemüse Kebab.
Without a doubt, until now it is the best kebab we have eaten and we promise you that we have eaten many kebabs around the world.
A small tip:
If you want to try this kebab, make your time for it, because normally you will find queues of up to 30-40 min. However, it is totally worth waiting and trying this gastronomic icon of Berlin.
Andorra – street food in Europe
Honestly, although you will find delicious food in Andorra, we are not sure that they have something that can be called real street food.
We visited this country several times in winter to go skiing and we never saw street food stalls apart from some classic hot-dogs or hamburgers.
Well, it’s true that during Christmas holidays, you may see a stall selling chestnuts or churros, but nothing more.
Likewise, although this country doesn’t really offer street food, if one day you want to visit Andorra, you can eat delicious dishes even if they are not on its streets.
Dishes that stand out from the gastronomy of Andorra are its escudella, its cannelloni, wild animal dishes and mushrooms or, during festive periods, a delicious dessert called coca masegada.
Austria – street food in Europe
If we think of Austria, the first thing that comes to our mind is delicious sausage or so-called Würstel.
Having Germany as a neighboring country (and considered as first cousin) there are many similarities between both countries. For this reason you can find here and also in Germany many delicious sausages that will surely please your palate and your stomach.
The Vienna sausage (Wiener Würstel) is without a doubt the king of saugages. Not just classic street food for locals, but a true culinary institution.
Practically, the thing is a bit like this: You can talk about anything but don’t mention Austrian sausage in a negative way.
In Vienna you will find an infinity of street stalls, however one that stands out for its quality is the famous Bitzinger’s Würstelstand, which is located near the Vienna State Opera, one of the most important opera companies in the world.
We are going to tell you an interesting anecdote that we discovered during our visit in Vienna. After each performance at the Opera House, the street stall in question is filled with opera spectators who want to end an afternoon tasting their famous Würstel. And as we already told you, the sausages here are taken seriously.
If you plan to travel to Vienna, we recommend you check out this interesting post.
Belgium – street food in Europe
Belgium, in addition to being a beautiful country, has an impressive gastronomy with enviable quality products.
One of the best products that is also reflected in their dishes, including street food, are potatoes or in a better word French fries.
Now, ask yourself a question, how is it possible that most famous Belgian street food are French fries?
You might think that you can find French fries anywhere, right?
And yes, there is no doubt about this, you can find french fries almost anywhere. In any case, in Belgium they take the preparation very seriously so at the end their french fries are an authentic delicacy.
Bintje is the name of the super quality potato that is grown here and is normally used to make fries. Due to the many rains and its cold climate, it’s the best place to produce incredible potatoes.
The classic portion of french fries are served in a cone, naturally very crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside. In addition to that they are accompanied by mayonnaise, or their famous beef stew in black beer, the stoofvleessaus that would drive even the most skeptical of humans crazy.
Imagine that the french fries are so famous in this country that the Michelin star Chef Sergio Hermann opened his gourmet french fries street food in different cities of Flanders, here we leave you the link of the Frites Atelier, enjoy!
Czech Republic – street food in Europe
We could write an entire book on street food in Czech republic, since we are 50% locals and we also consider it our home. For this reason, we really know about street food and Czech gastronomy in general.
Anyway, we don’t want to cheat and for this time, we will choose only one street food dish in the Czech republic.
And the winner is the famous Prague ham.
In addition to its commercial and industrial sale worldwide (normally already packaged), it will not be difficult for you to find small stalls that sell this delicacy at a local market in Prague or in any large cities.
Normally, you will find a whole leg roasting on a blazing fire. It is usually freshly cut and sold by weight. Their most traditional way is to serve pork slices with a piece of bread and some ´křen´ (horseradish) sauce.
We assure you that writing about this delicacy we can’t wait to go home and taste this delicious street food with a pint of cold beer.
Spain – street food in Europe
Living more than 12 years in this country, we were very hesitant to choose a dish that would represent the entire nation.
At the end we opted for a dish that will make everyone happy, children, adults and even the most particular people in Spain.
The street food which you absolutely should not miss in Spain is a dessert, los churros.
If you don’t know them, we are talking about slightly elongated, grated and curved fried dough sticks, which are breaded with sugar and cinnamon and often accompanied by hot chocolate.
What else do you want? Churros, hot chocolate and good company.
They are perfect to eat standing up, walking or sitting down, they are exactly what you expect from street food.
We still have a memory (sweet) of Barcelona that we are now going share with you.
During the Christmas season in the Gran Vía de les Corts Catalanes, every year they set up a Christmas market, where in addition to many varieties of gifts, there were also some food trucks with churros.
Just thinking about this, it immediatelly come to our mind the image of happy families, who waited their turn to taste these freshly fried sticks.
Thinking about the times when we were going through various restrictions around the world, these moments were surely authentic and priceless gifts.
What else do you need? Just walking in total freedom with your family, eating something delicious like churros and enjoying yourself like a small child without worries should be enough.
France – street food in Europe
We could safely write that for a French people, a perfect dish will never be perfect without first adding cream and butter ;-).
Apart from jokes (although it is true that the French use a lot of cream and butter in their recipes:) the street food that we chose for this country is just delicious and everyone loves it.
Clearly, we are talking about the crêpe, a spongy dough in the shape of a circle, which is made at the moment on a hot griddle and that drives everyone around the world crazy.
We will give you some advice, it’s totally forbidden to visit this country and not taste this delicacy, you’re going to miss out on something great.
We have eaten this specialty many times, in its classic sweet version and in its rich salty version, and always, our stomach was super satisfied. We think that the French too, even if they don’t have cream in their traditional recipe, they can be satisfied with this traditional recipe and can go with their chest up offering this goodness to the whole world (and if they can put whipped cream on it, they’re happy).
Our Tip: Wise is a great card when you are travelling to a country with a different currency than yours. We use this online bank during our trips and we never had problems, even in remote places around the world.
England – street food in Europe
It is true that after Brexit, England is no longer part of Europe, at least politically speaking, but even so, we are going to add English street food to our list.
When we both were very young (almost teenagers), we both lived for brief periods in London and we were able to appreciate its gastronomy.
We visited London after a long time and during our visit, we found millions of street food stalls and different types of food, probably also due to the growing multiculturalism in this country.
However, there is only one dish that can represent the English culture in general and its gastronomy and that is surely Fish and Chips.
We are talking about a juicy fish fillet covered in a crispy, golden coating accompanied by a mountain of French fries.
And as if all this was not enough, they will serve it to you with a puree of peas on the side with classic salt and vinegar dressing, or mayonnaise. Now tell us, what else do you need in your life than freshly made fish and chips?
Studying a little the history of this dish and its origin, it is difficult to say exactly where this glorious and famous mixture comes from. Urban legends point out that it was the Jewish immigrants from the Iberian continent (Spain and Portugal) who brought their culinary customs and with that the fried fish. Others say that Italian immigrants were the first people to fry the cod on English soil, while the most nationalistic people say that it was the locals who began to prepare this mixture due to the development of new mass fishing techniques.
In all these stories, something concrete has remained, and it is the dish in its nature, the mixture of two simple ingredients, fish and chips, which is a national heritage and a pleasure for all fried food lovers around the world.
During our last visit to London, we tried this dish several times, and one that stands out above all and that we can recommend is The Fish House, in the incredible and colorful neighborhood of Notting Hill.
Ireland – street food in Europe
Before adding England to our list of best street food in Europe we were thinking of writing that in Ireland as in England you can find delicious fish and chips in many little stalls. And although, as you know, this dish originates from England, the Irish consider this preparation a local dish.
Consider that the first fish and chip restaurant in Dublin opened more than a century ago. It was precisely in 1913 that the historic Leo Burdock opened its doors in the centralist neighborhood of Christchurch.
Even so, we would like to surprise you, and in this post we will give you another street food option that you can taste in Ireland which we tried during our last visit.
Due to its cold waters, the coasts of Ireland are full of quality shellfish such as prawns or clams. Still, if you are going to visit Ireland, you should absolutely try their most famous and delicious bivalves, the Irish Oysters.
What do oysters have to do with street food?
Now, we will explain it to you.
In Ireland, especially in the capital city, given the enormous amount of oysters that its coasts have, it will not be difficult for you to find food trucks or little stalls that offer this delicacy at quite affordable prices.
Although in general, oysters are considered a high-end product, in Ireland they are considered as one more product that the sea has given the blessing of offering to its shores and which can be accessible to every pocket.
There are many varieties of oysters currently cultivated on the Irish coast, and the local oyster is commonly called the flat oyster. It is usually small oyster and has a clean and well-marked taste of the sea, an authentic delicacy that you absolutely must try.
Now, you no longer have excuses, even if you are travelling on a budget, you absolutely have to try an oyster in Ireland, and if you don’t like raw food, with a little internet search you will find a food stall that offers it even fried.
P.S.: Not all year round you will find local oysters available, normally the oyster season runs from September to April and these are the best months to visit Ireland and eat oysters.
Italy – street food in Europe
Again we talk about street food which is part of our culinary roots (at least 50% of funfoodtravelling). And as in the Czech Republic section, it was not easy to choose among a lot of possibilitiesfor street food you can find in Italy.
At the end we opted for the best known and probably the most obvious, LA PIZZA. Pizza could not be left unmentioned in our list of street food in Europe, since it is probably one of the most delicious, rich and well-known dish in the world.
Italian pizza recipe was born in the Campania region, and if you are a true gourmet you absolutely have to visit Naples and its surroundings. In this case, we are not just saying it for the pizza, prepare to return from this future trip with a few extra pounds, and they won’t be in your suitcase.
Although pizza comes from Naples and the Neapolitans have their own specific way of making it with their own DOP designation of origin, you can find delicious pizzas throughout Italy, which, over time, have been adapted to local tastes by modifying the original recipe.
With the thin or spongy dough, with high edges filled with air or crispy edges, round or square, these delicacies, although in different shapes and sizes, will always have their recognizable and irresistible flavor.
In Italy and for Italians, making and eating a pizza is a serious thing, and it is given the respect it deserves.
In our personal opinion, an average Italian eats pizza at least twice a week, and that’s if he’s on a diet.
Surely you are thinking that you can find good pizza anywhere in the world, Every time you eat incredible pizza outside of Italy, most probably the restaurant owners are Italian and that is exactly why you think that what you eat is real pizza.
Well, although we don’t doubt that the pizza guy near your house does a great job, and is professional, we don’t want to take away the illusion of your perfect pizza idea, but if you want to eat a real pizza you have to visit Italy.
Based on our travel experience around the world, and our modest opinion, we are sure that the best pizza we ate was at our home in Italy. We are not saying that the ones we ate around the world are not good, just different.
We think that it is due to many factors, primarily the basic products used, since it would be impossible to have the same water to make the dough, for example, or the fresh tomato from the Italian fields and that even if you are willing to spend money on the best products.
So we are going to give you two tips:
- First, organize your next trip to Italy as soon as possible.
- Second, when you’re already there, and you want to eat a good pizza, ask a local, surely your trusted pizzaiolo will not disappoint you.
- Read this post dedicated to the best street food in Naples, yes, of course it also talks about pizza 😉
Vatican City – street food in Europe
Technically, Vatican City is a state of Europe, practically being on Italian soil, or rather stuck, precisely inside Rome, this time we are cheating and we are going to reveal another delicacy of this nation! And we are not talking about the catholic host!
And since we are talking about this place, we have to mention the amazing sandwich in this area, the ´panino with the porchetta´.
My goodness, we are getting hungry just thinking about this delicacy. Can you imagine a tender and crunchy sandwich at the same time? Yes, this sandwich has it all, and you have to try it once in your life.
How could we explain to you what it is? We start with the most important, the meat, pork flavored with herbs and spices that is cooked slowly, thus making a fragrant and crispy skin around the piece at the same time.
Once ready to serve, it is cut into slices and wrapped in a tender sandwich with a crispy crust on the outside. Reading our description again, it looks like food from paradise itself!
And yet you can enjoy it in the surroundings of the Vatican City, which for many would be like paradise on earth ahah.
Now yes, if you are in Rome and you are going to visit the Vatican, after your devout visit to the Sistine Chapel and its surroundings, you will surely feel hungry. But don’t worry, here we come to solve the problem. We are going to give you the address of one of the best places around the Pope’s house where you can taste an incredible sandwich.
It is Angrypig biretta e porchetta, which in addition to offering sensational sandwiches has a good selection of beers, unbeatable!
See our post in about the best food you can find on your next visit to Rome.
Netherlands – street food in Europe
If we think of one of the things that made us fall in love with this country, it is precisely delicious street food.
They had to make a statue (if it doesn’t already exist) of the Gouda baker who made this delicious delicacy called Stroopwafels with leftover cookies and a little caramel.
Although it was prepared the first time as food for the poor (like almost all the rich things in this world), now it is something very common that you can find in any cafe or supermarket in the country, and above all, it is eaten by everyone, poor and rich.
This dessert is so famous here that there are stores specialized only in this product. You will find so many tastes and flavors that it will seem to you to be in the pages of Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory but with caramel cookies instead of chocolate.
Locals often buy the Stroopwafels at the communal markets, as they are usually freshly made and therefore more tender. If you visit Amsterdam, the beautiful capital of the Netherlands, don’t forget to visit one of the most famous markets in the city, the Albert Cuyp Market. There you can find different stalls that offer this delicious street food.
If you visit Amsterdam you may be interested in this post about a free food walking tour.
Portugal – street food in Europe
Although this country is famous for its fish dishes, sardines and cod above all, we do not want to disappoint you by telling you the the street food dish we chose for this country has no fish or shellfish.
We have visited Portugal several times and we have good memories of this country including its gastronomy and the magnificent sandwich that we are going to reveal to you now. Ladies and Gentlemen, we are talking about la Bifana.
The Bifana is composed of a bread tender inside and crispy on the outside, which embraces many slices of pork, which are previously marinated in a mixture of wine, vinegar and spices. The meat is naturally roasted in a boiler until it has a buttery texture, definitely emotions for your palate. In a few words, eating bifana is a joy for your body, without taking into account your cholesterol.
If we remember correctly, in several places this sandwich is served with mustard, and if you order it in a classic bar, it is accompanied by french fries, caramelized onions and a lot of garlic.
Switzerland – street food in Europe
Last but not least on our list is Switzerland.
And, what can we tell you about Switzerland and its street food?
We start from the part that there are three different languages spoken in this country depending on which area or canton you are in, and that is why its gastronomy also changes depending on where you are.
Surely you can find all kinds of street food in Switzerland, from burgers, pizza, chicken, kebabs, and even tacos if you feel like it.
Even so, until now we have not seen anything totally local that they sell in the street stalls. But we are not going to leave you with anything. Switzerland stands out in two products in its production and elaboration (cheeses and chocolates) and we are going to choose one for our list of best street food in Europe.
The first one, cheese, is usually served and eaten in restaurants and homes, the second one, chocolate, can be tasted at any time, situation, and of course, even on the street.
We love chocolate and we can eat it every day. You cannot imagine the pleasure to taste hot chocolate on the Swiss streets during winter.
So yes, we are going to choose chocolate as the street food of Switzerland, in fact right now thinking about the great choice we made for this country we just swallowed a piece of chocolate, that’s why we don’t see other options in this moment.
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