Street food: fresh, cheap and delicious

If you want an IN with local culture, hit the streets. We're not talking to just sightsee but to eat too. Skip the fancy schmancy dinner reservations and eat the way the locals do. Taste their flavours, keep up with their pace. Street food is the cheapest and easiest way to eat in many countries. Mexicans live off of tacos sold from carts in street corners, extra salsa, extra cheese please. In NYC there's nothing better than a jumbo sausage on a bun after a long-night out in the clubs. In Hungary, langos is king with tons of sour cream and tons of cheese. Thailand is master of the wok: choose your ingredients. noodles and sauce and in 2 minutes you've got a carton of the best stir fry on the planet.

Street food is simple and it's honest.

Here are five cities that are famous for their delicious street foods. Tuck in and eat up!

Bangkok!

Local flavours abound here in just about every neighbourhood. Hit the outdoor markets with an empty stomach and eat your way through it. Yaowarat Road is a good place to start in Chinatown. Dig in to skewered pork, fish curries, deep fried bananas and durian, the famously smelly fruit. Just don't take any on the underground because you'll likely be kicked off.

Istanbul!

You've never tasted a doner kebab like the ones here in Turkey. There's more to Turkish street food than just doners though, try a bit of a light and flakey börek filled with cheese and spinach, sesame pretzel bread and baked potatoes stuffed to the brim with olives and cream.

Mexcio City!

We've already mentioned the magic of a fresh taco but the capital of Mexico has plenty more on the menu than just tacos. Try a grilled cob of corn or sweet cornmeal cakes. The best places to find street food at in the city centre at the markets, Mercado San Juan for example or La Merced.

Marrakech!

Morocco is a haven for spices and flavour so it's no wonder that this country hails as one of the top for delicious and mouth-watering street food. The main square is where it's at, Djemaa el Fna. You can find everything at the food stalls here from plump snails to skewered meats, coucous, chickpea soup and a ton of dried fruits and nuts for snack.

Berlin!

There's no shortage of beer in the capital city of Germany. Alongside beer there has to be food, right? Berlin makes the best doner kebabs outside of Turkey but if you want to try something more local, grab a currywurst. It's a fried sausage covered in sauce made from ketchup and curry powder. Other typical biergarten fare included roast chickens (whole) and salty, doey pretzels.

What are your favourite street foods? What's street food like where you're from?

Images: mattmangum, work the angles, WordRidden / Flickr cc.