There are many reasons why Street Food is particularly enjoyable!! I never miss a chance to eat at the food stalls lining the streets - anywhere I go or sometimes even in my hometown India - that practically serves up thousands of varieties of it! Okay, more often than not, related issues like upset stomach does occur, but I have survived - and has thousands of people before me.
On my first solo international travel, I did have several thoughts of eating at places I didn't know about (A Sheldon Cooper Syndrome perhaps!), but once I took the first bite of street-Phad Thai in a dingy street at Backpackers Street in Bangkok (Khao San Road), I was sold on this concept.
And since then I made considerable global advancement - but this habit stayed. I have grazed the side walks of various countries - from South East Asia to Africa and countries in between - and yet I crave for more. I might add here that eating cassava and (acidic) fish procured from Lake Manyara in Mosquito River Town, Tanzania, was probably the worst - but it was really the fish that had gone bad - not the process of making it that caused considerable discomfort. Here is why I think street food rocks -- It always tastes better than restaurant food
- It is definitely cheaper
- It is fun to watch the cooking process - the smoke the flavours rising out of the not-so-clean wok or pan
- The chaos around adds to the charm - especially when you don't speak their language or cannot identify the food item
- You don't need to worry about how you eat, where you eat and if you are dressed for it!
- You can choose your flavours - the flavours actually reflect the culture
- Most of what you eat is "authentic", very local and never gets served at restaurants - it often becomes that "distinct mark" that makes you feel as though you are really in a different place (restaurant food can be so similar!)
