South Bank Winter Festival & Tate Modern Xmas Market

It is the time of the year where all these Xmas Markets start popping up all around the city. Apart from the well-known Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, there is also this Winter Festival set up at South Bank which offers lots of food, music and entertainment. It’s been featured quite a lot so I thought I should pick a day to check it out.

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First things first, I went straight to the food section. There’s basically this area where it’s just food stalls with some standing tables in the middle. It somewhat reminds me of xmas markets in Belgium for some reason. Anyway, it’s just a small area but it certainly has quite a bit to offer.

Hank’s Mac Shack

Does the name Hank’s sound familiar? Yes it’s the very same Hank’s as in Hank’s Po’Boys. For the xmas market, they’ve set up something different- instead of po’boy sandwiches, they are doing Mac & Cheese.

There are multiple topping choices for the mac & cheese. You can either have creole pulled beef, bacon jam, mushroom marmalade, cajun crawfish or just plain. For me it’s basically either the mushroom marmalade or cajun crawfish. And since I absolutely love my seafood, I went for the crawfish one (it’s not like I get to eat that regularly anymore!).

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They scooped a generous amount of mac & cheese from their pot of ‘cheesy goodness’, topped with the crawfish, drizzle with a bit of hot sauce and sprinkle with their signature cajun seasoning. The mac & cheese was rich but not sickening. It was a comforting treat to warm up under this chilly weather. I enjoyed the tangy flavours from the cajun seasoning which elevated the flavours of the pasta and it complemented with the crawfish perfectly either.

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Shrimpy

This one I really wanted to try due to so many halal food bloggers posting it on social media. But I my stomach couldn’t really afford it at the time so I couldn’t tell you my own thoughts of it. Nevertheless, with so many other food influencers recommending it, it must be up to standard. They all say the stall is generous with the amount of shrimp being put into the burger and a very tasty sauce to complement it – sounds like quite a winner to me!

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Gupta

I was really happy to have spotted this one again after the Urban Food Fest months ago. I didn’t buy from them but I remember how much I enjoyed their curry. What’s best is that it’s halal! So if you fancy some really aromatic and delicious Indian food, here’s your pick.

 

It wasn’t exactly a massive place to walk around especially compared to Winter Wonderland. So I took a lovely walk along the Thames towards the Tate Modern direction.

Right outside Tate Modern, there is also a mini Xmas market going on. This one is more of a German Bavarian style, so do expect a familiar set up from Winter Wonderland with all the pretty wooden chalets.

Inside these familiar wooden huts are similar hand craft goods. Then of course there is this one big unmissable hut that sells all sorts of grilled sausages and such. And of course do expect the usual churros and poffertjes (mini Dutch pancakes) as well in the market. One stall that strikes out from everything is one of my absolute favourites – Nosteagia!

If you do follow my Instagram or have been following this blog for a while, you should know that I’ve always loved Nosteagia (read my very first post about them here)

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This stall here at the Tate Modern Xmas Market is slightly different from the stall in Shoreditch. They have made up a Christmas specials menu as well as selling a bit of cakes and macaroons on the side.

I had their Cookie Monster bubble waffle, which is topped with Nutella, oreo, cookie, cream and chocolate sauce.

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Their bubble waffles are lush as always. They have a Xmas special limited edition on the menu as well which is the Matcha Sakura – consisting a matcha waffle topped with strawberry, cream, oreo, and matcha white chocolate sauce. Green, red and white – it’s actually a very festive combo!

It’s amazing to see more variety of options popping in these xmas markets apart from the classic mulled wine and bratwursts which aren’t halal. Whether you celebrate xmas or not, everyone can now fully soak in the festive and merry spirit! Happy holidays everyone 🙂

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