Street Food Kitchen is a global street-food restaurant and cocktail bar in Timaru's historic Landing Service Building at 2 George Street. Relaxed by day and swish by night — the team's own words — it serves share plates gathered from around the world alongside craft beer, wine and an evolving cocktail list, in an experience they describe as unique to South Canterbury.
The kitchen's philosophy is simple: good food starts with good ingredients, and they only bring you the best. The menu is built for sharing — tandoori chicken nibbles, Hanoi-style turmeric fish, Japanese karaage, Cantonese char siu pork belly, Mexican street corn and steamed bao buns — with vegetarian, vegan and no-added-gluten options marked throughout.
The bar travels just as far, from a Vietnamese espresso martini to a long build-your-own gin list and Emersons and Panhead beers on tap. Set formats like Feed Me and Trust Me let the kitchen take the wheel — Trust Me brings seven dishes to the table while you sit back and enjoy.
Service is part of the draw: the team works hard to make guests feel welcome through a high standard of service, excellent product knowledge and friendly conversation. Takeaway and pick-ups are available by phone (delivery is coming soon), reservations can be made online, and gift cards are on offer.
Timaru's Street Food Kitchen sits in the Landing Service Building at 2 George Street, and its promise is written right across the top of the website: we love making great food from around the globe. It is a relaxed restaurant by day and, as the team puts it, a swish restaurant and cocktail bar by night — an experience they believe is unique to South Canterbury. The kitchen's guiding line is just as plain: good food starts with good ingredients, and they only bring you the best.
The menu is street food built for sharing, so the ideal visit involves a full table and a lot of passing plates around. As the owners like to say, you can walk in the door and walk out an hour later feeling as if you have been around the world in 60 minutes.
The plates are grouped into Yum Yums and Signature Yums. Among the Yum Yums you'll find tandoori chicken nibbles with tandoori sauce, aloo samosa with cucumber and mint yoghurt, fried tofu in lemongrass sauce, and arancini — Italian tomato-basil risotto balls with parmesan and chutney.
Signature plates go further afield: Japanese karaage chicken with kewpie mayo and togarashi; nobashi ebi, crumb prawns with chilli herb salsa; cha ca, Vietnamese turmeric-and-dill fried market fish; hei jiao, Hong Kong garlic black pepper beef skewers; Cantonese char siu pork belly; and ga xao sa, lemongrass chicken. Bangkok salad brings slaw, mung beans, peanuts and nam jim; street corn rolls Mexican spice and butter over corn cobs; nachos stack beef mince, beans, guacamole and salsa.
The bao deserve special mention: two steamed buns a serve, with a choice of char siu pork belly, sticky Thai fried chicken or Thai chilli-glazed tofu, all layered with kewpie mayo and slaw. Round it out with tandoori naan, Filipino sinangag garlic rice or coconut rice, and finish at Happy Ending with tiramisu, crepe suzette or loaded donuts — the staff will tell you today's flavour.
If choosing feels like hard work, hand over the reins. Feed Me starts with a base of tandoori naan, garlic rice, Bangkok salad and street corn, then adds levels: four share dishes at Level 1 or five at Level 2. Trust Me goes all in — the kitchen simply serves seven Yum Yum and Signature dishes while you sit back; it's one per table with a two-person minimum. At lunchtime, Feed Me Lunch builds individual plates around the same base, with extra dishes added as you level up.
Evenings are when the cocktail-bar half of the description takes over. The list runs from an Angel of the Streets — vodka, vanilla Galliano, passionfruit and egg white — to a George Frost, Lychee Mojito, Perky Nana, Cinnamon Maple Bourbon and a Vietnamese Espresso Martini made with condensed milk. Cocktail flights — classic margarita, pornstar martini or Vietnamese espresso — pour until 9pm.
Gin drinkers work through a two-step list that runs from Gordon's to Four Pillars, Scapegrace and The Botanist, with Fever Tree and East Imperial mixers to upgrade the tonic. There's craft beer from Emersons, Panhead and Mac's on tap and in cans, Zeffer ciders, and a wine list that moves through sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot gris and riesling into pinot noir, shiraz, cabernet and a vintage port. Non-drinkers are looked after too, with mocktails like Strawberry Blush and Spiced Minty Mango, Jarritos Mexican sodas and a full coffee and tea range.
Street Food Kitchen opens Tuesday to Saturday, split across lunch (11:30am to 2:30pm) and dinner (4:30pm until late); it closes Sundays and Mondays. Reservations can be made online or by phone, gift cards are available, and takeaway and pick-ups can be ordered by phone, with delivery flagged as coming soon. The menu marks vegetarian, vegan, no-added-gluten and no-added-dairy dishes, but the kitchen is a multi prep and cook area, so tell the team about any allergens. Between the global plates, the evolving cocktail list and the friendly, knowledgeable service the team prides itself on, it's a Timaru table with a passport.