Zeus Gods of Street Food and Smash Bros at Common Market,
16-20 Dunbar Street,
Belfast,
BT1 2LH.
Instagram: @zeusgodsofstreetfood / @smashbrosbelfast
commonmarketbelfast.com
IF YOU were so inclined, you used to be able to live your summers to the one-on, one-off rhythm of major soccer tournaments – but no more.
First Fifa made the brilliant-on-all-levels decision to grubby up the World Cup even more by hosting it in Qatar before Christmas, a tournament that came after the pandemic pushed Euro 2020 back a year.
Now the welcome growth in consciousness and coverage of the women's game means there's no break during odd-number summers, and they've also provided an Irish presence to go along with the reliable 'whoever's playing England' in the supporting stakes.
These tournaments also bring the opportunity to pick up a sticker album and spend the £870 it apparently costs to fill it these days.
An awful long time ago I did the same, not just for tournaments but for the English and Scottish club game as well. And then I stopped. I can't remember why, but it might be the same reason I've never collected anything as an adult. I'm too much of a completist. Not having all of something if it's there to be had just wouldn't sit well.
So, a visit to a food hall like Common Market can pose a relative problem. With six or seven stalls dotted round the former Arnott's fruit and veg warehouse in Belfast, there's an overwhelming urge for a taco here, some wings there, just enough to call "house" on that street food bingo card.
And even if you do, as time moves on the place will change, and that's certainly been the way for Common Market since my last visit in 2021. It's still buzzing, with queues at the bar and the rows of wooden tables piled high with some great looking stuff.
Read more:
Eating out: Beat the protocol blues in the Common Market
Eating Out: Filipino-inspired platters at Comber's Lasa
It also expanded as an entertainment venue with live music, including the morbidly intriguing 'Barrioke' next month, offering the chance to belt out some numbers with actor Shaun Williamson. So, if you've ever had a burning desire to sing Where The Wild Roses Grow by Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue alongside Barry from EastEnders, here's your chance.
Today, though, it's all about the food. More than 18 months since my first visit and review on this page, some places like Al Pastor and Oui Poutine are still there, while new faces have set up shop, including an outpost of Comber's brilliant Filipino place Lasa, one of the best food experiences I had anywhere in 2022.
It's all broadly 'street food', with two of the new boys pushing two of the classics of that genre: gyros and burgers.
Zeus Gods of Street Food can't just be Greek with a name like that, they really need to be good. In common with places like this just about everywhere, they'll load your fries for you, with chicken, beef or halloumi piled high on chips or a salad and doused in a choice of eastern Mediterranean sauces.
The heart of the menu is their gyros, mammoth pitas that come stuffed with any of those proteins, some salad and a handful of the fries for good measure.
The bland, welcoming crunch of lettuce and cooling, punchy garlic sauce is the ideal foil for the hot and crisp stuff – the fries and the vegan choice on the menu: herby, soft, crunchy-edged falafels. The blanket of pita struggles to keep everything in and proves useful to wipe up that super sauce.
The moreishness of the halloumi fries is necessary as the squeaky, salty sticks of cheese need to be put away quickly to avoid sliding into bouncy territory. There's really no danger they'll hang around with the zippy tzatziki providing the counterpoint to the deep fried goodies this time.
If handling the gyro was a test, the Double Smash Burger from Smash Bros was a PhD thesis. The name gives away what they're aiming for: the American diner-style burger that's not a thick, blushing pink disc, but rather a ragged-edged thinner patty with charred bits and cooked through but still moist meat, ideally in equal measure.
As a result, they are easy to make a mess of, and the line between perfect and not just overdone but inedible is a fine one.
These, however, are bang on. Soft and beefy inside, crusty on the outside. Simply adorned with cheese, onion and pickle, it's an exemplary burger.
More spot-on fries come with a sick of smoky, gently hot chipotle cheese sauce and a fistful of bacon. You can also get that sauce on a burger, along with some jalapenos and chilli jam.
One to add to the collection next time.
THE BILL
- Zeus Falafel gyro: £9
- Zeus halloumi fries: £8
- Smash Bros cheesy chipotle fries: £7.50
- Smash Bros double smash burger: £10
TOTAL: £34.50
