If you go down to the woods today you’ll find delicious dishes being cooked up in a secluded spot surrounded by bluebells and trees coming into leaf. The Forest Feastival Street Food Circus in Merthyr Mawr can’t be beaten for its beautiful location and you can’t go wrong with good food and a wonderful site to enjoy it in.
The festival, which opened this weekend and is on for the next five weeks, has become a popular annual event for people of all ages. There are plenty of different delicacies on sale to cover most tastes from barbecued steak to gluten free and vegan offerings.
There’s a cocktail van, bar and coffee shop with two new food zones to help visitors navigate the menu - a “wildfire” area dedicated to chefs cooking over open flames and Feasts from the East showcasing Asian flavours.
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Chefs from Wales and beyond work up their magic from trucks, tents and stalls making it feel like summer is really on the way. Gourmet hamburgers, pizza and hot beef sandwiches are on offer and for the more adventurous there are dishes inspired by the tastes of Sri Lanka, the Himalayas and beyond.
If meat is your thing the fire section has pulled pork, flame-cooked steaks and 24-hour marinated chicken among other mouth-watering menus. At the other end of the scale you can feast on vegan bao buns, vegetarian dumplings or charred cauliflower steaks. For the latest restaurant reviews, sign up to our food and drink newsletter here
Those with a sweet tooth are well catered for with a selection of dessert and cake vans serving up new twists on traditional puddings as well as new things for those who want to push their boundaries. Once you have decided what to eat - and that’s not easy with so much to select from - there are plenty of good seats and tables to sit down and enjoy it on nestled in woodland areas. There are swing seats and recliners as well as wooden tables and chairs.
The tempting smells of cooking mingle with wood smoke giving the site a lovely feel of a camp site. And when you have had your fill and want to relax there are circus workshops and entertainers to watch or join in, including a man tight roping between trees - but check the schedules each day for details.
So, on one of the first real sunny spring days of the year and with an empty stomach in preparation this is what I ate on my first ever visit to the Feastival. Choosing which stalls to to sample was tough and I will be going back for more, so this is just a taste of what’s on offer at some of the many outlets.
Mandala Street Food
This stall serves Himalayan-inspired recipes made with locally sourced ingredients. Dumplings can be just that, dumpy, but these delicate mouthfuls are silky and light with a delicious morsel of filling which has a bite to contrast with the carbs.
The stall holders make them by hand with flour and water and other secret ingredients they wouldn’t reveal. I opted for the Nirvana bowl - three handmade, homemade dumplings (pork, beef and vegan) served with slow cooked chickpeas in tomato with caramelised onion and steamed rice (£14).
The pork and leek dumpling was my favourite - two bites of sheer bliss. The signature beef dumpling has a filling marinaded for a day and the vegan dumpling had a vegetable filling with green spinach blended dough. The chickpeas and rice were a nice contrast but the dumplings were the best bit.
Two Lads Kitchen Afghan Street Food
This gluten free Rice Box (£11) has tender strips of 24-hour marinated barbecue chicken thighs served on slow-cooked Afghan rice mixed with carrots and raisins and topped with black pepper yoghurt, salad and a green “secret” sauce. The generous serving of meat was fragrant rather than spicy, but hot too, which I like, but might not be for all if you don’t like the heat.
A meal to fill you up and the tempting smoky BBQ smells of the stall will certainly help you build up an appetite. There is also a vegan/veggie version with smoky spinach and chick peas for £9 and you can swap the rice for chips or a wrap. A great choice to get you in the BBQ mood for summer.
Packed Sarnies – Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches, dripping in gravy
This is more than your average beef sarnie. Delicate slices of beef on a roll with homemade pickles. You can have a bit of gravy (as I did) or literally have the whole thing dunked in gravy.
I had a small version which was £6 but still one of the mightiest beef sandwiches I have eaten. Great on the go if you want to walk around the site with it, rather than sit down, but don’t get it submerged in gravy if so. A great stall for gravy and pickle lovers and those who want food on the go.
Bao Selecta – freshly-steamed bao buns
Known as “south Wales’ home of steamed buns” Bao Selecta has a bit of a following and there was a long queue for this one so I had to join in. I had the original vegan beef bun (£6) and didn’t regret it. The sticky, spicy/vinegary crunch of the more than generous filling was a mouth-watering contrast to the pillowy, soft bun. I’ll be going back for more of this one. And if you think vegan is not your thing, think again with this filling.
Pwdin
After trying so much (with the help of the photographer of course) I could barely fit in pudding, but it was too tempting and people need to know what’s on offer after all. So, in the interests of hard work and doing the job properly I wandered to the Pwdin truck and tried their Belgian Chocolate and orange tart with orange sorbet, which is also vegan and gluten free (£6.95).
I’m always a bit suspicious of vegan puddings, but this one really hit the spot. The dark chocolate filling was smooth and rich without being bitter or greasy and rested on nice, thin pastry which was firm but not crispy.
The ratio of filling to pastry was just right. But it was the orange sorbet that made the treat for me, it was refreshing and not over sweet - summer on a plate.
Here’s a complete list of the variety on offer:
Traders include a mix of familiar Street Food Circus favourites alongside new arrivals like Bristol’s award-winning Gourmet Warriors, Brecon’s Hill’s Burgers and a vintage 1951 Ford Coe truck converted for Westlands BBQ. Rotating across the five weekends of the feastival will be:
Bao Selecta – freshly-steamed bao buns
Bare Bones Pizza – wood-fired pizza and fries
Ceylon & Beyond – Sri Lankan street food
El Cabron Tacos – 10-hour braised Birria tacos
Fire & Flank – sous vide flank steak with cheesy garlic mash
Gourmet Warriors – award-winning tacos
Hill’s Burgers – multi-award winners, using some of the best producers in Wales
Holy Chesus – purveyors of the finest grilled cheese
Keralan Karavan – unique jazzed up Southern Indian kitchen
Mandala Street Food – Himalayan-inspired recipes and locally sourced ingredients
Mr Noodle – introducing a new Korean Fried chicken Ramen
Packed Sarnies – Chicago-style Italian beef sandwiches, dripping in gravy
Sin Nombre – fresh tacos, fresh flavours and fresh ingredients
The Jerk Yard – authentic Jerk chicken and curried goat
Two Lads Kitchen – authentic Afghan street food
Westlands BBQ – serving from the Smoking Rat, the world’s only custom built BBQ Hot Rod
And for dessert:
Church of Churros – buckets of churros and Spanish chocolate sauce
Minto’s Desserts – patisserie from the Bake off The Professionals winner
Pwdin – classic puddings like warm Belgian chocolate brownie
Rebel Crumble – a boozy twist on the traditional crumble
To drink
The Street Food Circus team also works with independent drinks producers. They have partnered with Newport’s Tiny Rebel for beers (including non-alcoholic) on the main bar and local and sustainable spirits from Welsh rum Barti-Du, gin and vodka from B Corp the East London Liquor Co and Fairtrade liquors from Fair and El Sueno sustainable tequila. Bristol’s Bubble Bros also bring their frizzante bar offering semi-sparkling wine on tap.
Soft drinks include the launch of a new Street Food Circus brand hibiscus lemonade with 10p from every sale donated to support the Flying Seagull Project, a charity which sends clowns, musicians and entertainers to create safe environments for play and laughter in the UK and around the world.
After dark
I went in the day but on Friday and Saturday evenings, Forest Feastival After Dark brings the woodlands to life with live music and DJs under the canopy lights or around the communal campfires. All in all this is a magical event and you can work off the calories with a walk afterwards on the beautiful Merthyr Mawr sand dunes.
Forest Feastival runs until May 19. £5 Entry is by ticket and to book click here
