It's time to Feast

It's December, which means it's officially OK to talk about Christmas.

Let's be honest, after the age of about 21, Christmas is all about food. By then, we've worked out that if we want something, we can buy it for ourselves, thus relegating presents to being things we a) can't afford to buy for ourselves or b) boring staples we trust our other halves/parents/siblings to buy, such as our favourite perfume (yawn).

Nope, by the time we're fully fledged adults, Christmas is all about FOOD. And time off. And alcohol. And to a significant extent, cheese.

With this in mind and embracing all things festively calorific, I headed off with my good friend Ruth to the Christmas edition of Feast yesterday. Feast describes itself as a 'Street Food Festival', and was held inside the former north London sorting office in Islington. They'd really gone to town with the decor, with fairy lights galore and suspended 'globes' giving it a very festive fairyland feel. It was really atmospheric - not least because the whole place smelled amazing, like one big delicious barbecue indoors (but without the smoke).

We'd paid £7.50 entrance, and so I was a bit surprised that that didn't include anything - not even a goody bag full of marketing crap you don't want. As we walked in, Ruth remarked it was a bit like paying to get into Borough Market, which is kind of how it felt, except all the stalls sold mini dishes, for consumption then and there, rather than random bits of cheese and dried jalapenos to take home. There were also some long benches in one corner for sitting, chatting and eating, and a little stage with live music.

We were a bit cynical to begin with, but once we'd warmed up and sampled a few things, we properly got into it. Our highlights included succulent pulled pork baps from Randall & Aubin, and a ridiculously tasty mac and cheese from Anna Maes.

But the winner by far was the Mayan hot chocolate which came with a floating cinnamon meringue from the Meringue Girls. Amazeballs, as someone still young enough to write a Christmas list might say...

I'd definitely go again - with more cash and a bigger appetite. It'd be a great place to while away a Friday evening with a huge gang of friends.