Take a tour in your own backyard with fascinating Kelham Island food tours

Sometimes, there’s nothing better than being a tourist in your own backyard.
Staff at The Jar Bar serving up Balkan specialitiesStaff at The Jar Bar serving up Balkan specialities
Staff at The Jar Bar serving up Balkan specialities

The Taste of Kelham Island food tour proved to be a journey of discovery, for locals as well as tourists, when we were invited to take part.

Our meeting point and first stop was food hall Cutlery Works, where we met guide Sophie Barber and other guests, visiting family all the way from Merseyside.

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Inside the hall staff at The Jar Bar cooked up sharing plates of Balkan delights, from courgette or halloumi fries to beer marinated pork and specialist sausages, dipped in Ajvar, a Serbian roasted red pepper sauce which takes four hours to make. It would have been easy to fill up on the first stop – but Sophie advised taking it easy, as there were five more to go.

Food from around the world is served up on the tourFood from around the world is served up on the tour
Food from around the world is served up on the tour

She said that more visitors to the city are taking part in the tour, including a German group who called into Sheffield just for it on a trip to the UK.

“It’s mainly been locals but on the last few weeks there have been more tourists”, said Sophie, who came up with the idea of Kelham food tours after moving back to the city.

“If what I am doing is helping the city economically that’s brilliant.”

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Sophie pointed out the historic Cannon Brewery before we moved on to vegan bar Church, Temple of Fun around the corner.

Meat eaters on the Kelham Island food tour were amazed by these mushroom rollsMeat eaters on the Kelham Island food tour were amazed by these mushroom rolls
Meat eaters on the Kelham Island food tour were amazed by these mushroom rolls

A citrus -tasting vegan beer prepared the palates for a selection of treats, including Korean fried cauliflower wings with a real zing of spice and Deep South style sticky “ribs” created with house-made seitan. The meat lovers in the group were impressed, and also amazed by the sausage rolls served up round the corner at Gaard cafe on Burton Road.

“I’d never have known it was mushroom”, was the consensus on the flaky pastry and beautifully seasoned filling.

We took in a spot of people watching with our stuffed bao buns at Thai joint Graffiti on Ball Street, close to Kelham pioneer The Milestone.

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In just the last decade dozens of businesses have popped up in S3, from shipping container creation Krynkl to Sardinian restaurant DOMO.

Stuffed bao buns at Thai joint Graffiti feature on the trailStuffed bao buns at Thai joint Graffiti feature on the trail
Stuffed bao buns at Thai joint Graffiti feature on the trail

One of the newest ventures – Noosa, was next. The Australian inspired cafe provided a light snack with a taste of their healthy power bowl, all grains, goodness and home-made kimchi.

And classic cafe The Grind provided the perfect sweet end to the tour, providing four decadent tray bake samples each.

The Taste of Kelham Island Food Tour costs £38 plus booking fee and more tours are available.

Visit www.kelhamislandfoodtours.co.uk for more details.

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