‘It’s upgraded from a food truck to a market stall

When the sun is shining and we’re gifted a rare bank holiday weekend, who doesn’t want a taste of sizzling street food to get you in the mood for summer? I’ve driven past the Little Sombrero food truck parked outside the Sainsbury’s in Pepper Hill many times, but I always think food from a roadside van is a risky move, so, despite hearing good things, I’ve never parked up for a pitstop. However, upon hearing that the team have recently upgraded to a permanent stall at Hatch, Gravesend ’s indoor food and drink market, I decided to treat myself to a spicy Good Friday lunch at the Mexican outlet’s new home. The former Gravesend Borough Market has been transformed into Kent’s version of Boxpark, although no football fans were hurling plastic pints into the air during our visit.

But the black tables and benches, multiple TV screens and music playing over the speakers certainly reminded me of the popular London chain, and I assume that’s the vibe that the owners, who also run the Dead Pigeon in Rochester and the Greedy Banker in Rainham , are going for. Some of the outlets were closed, but a good handful were open for business. We passed Thai, Caribbean, Nepalese, Japanese, pizza and burger stalls, all of which smelled tempting, but I stuck to the plan and headed to the colourful Little Sombrero.

It was being looked after by just one woman, who was busy but friendly, and greeted us with a smile. We ordered a couple of dishes and were handed a buzzer that would give us a nudge when our food was ready. Plenty of tables were empty, as I don’t think this is where many people would choose to spend their Good Friday afternoon, but I can imagine it gets packed on a Saturday night or when there’s live entertainment.

We wandered around the venue again, perusing the various menus, and also took a look inside the bottle shop next to the German-themed bar. I was with a craft beer connoisseur who was particularly interested in this and said they would love to come back without the car to sample some of the tipples. After waiting less than 10 minutes, our buzzer started vibrating and flashing urgently, so we headed back to the Little Sombrero to collect our goods.

We returned to our black picnic bench with two cardboard containers of food, along with two cold cans of Diet Coke, ready to dig in. The aroma coming from our nachos and tacos was mouth-watering and we couldn’t wait to have a taste (after the obligatory photos, of course). The loaded veggie nachos (£8.

50) were colourful and generously topped with bite-sized cauliflower coated in spices, a drizzle of chilli sauce and sour cream, a dollop of gooey cheese sauce and a fresh, zingy salsa. They were messy, as nachos should be, and very tasty. It was refreshing to try a vegetarian dish that has ditched the faux meat and instead gives actual vegetables a chance to shine, and I have to say that the cauliflower was cooked to perfection.

The vegetarian tacos (£8.50) were stuffed with a similar filling, but with a healthy dose of coriander and the sour cream on the side, and were equally delicious. The tacos themselves were clearly homemade, and the filling had a good kick without being too spicy.

The Diet Coke was just Diet Coke but, after a very late night the previous evening, it was the perfect afternoon pick-me-up. I can’t speak for all of the different outlets at Hatch, but the Little Sombrero was a great example of fresh, simple street food done extremely well. From the other customers I saw tucking into everything from steamed Asian dumplings to stonebaked pizza, I suspect the rest of the food here follows suit.

Out of five : Food : Packed with flavour and freshly made, we very much enjoyed our Mexican meal and will be back to try some of the other outlets. **** Drink : We didn’t have anything exciting, but sometimes you just can’t beat a Diet Coke. The Bierkeller bar looked interesting – if you’re not driving.

*** Decor : It’s strikingly similar to London’s Boxpark. The building is fairly impressive, the vendors have added touches to their stalls, and it was all kept surprisingly clean. *** Staff : The person who was running everything single-handedly at the Little Sombrero did an excellent job, she was friendly, efficient and whipped up some great food.

**** Price : Two decent portions and a couple of cans came to £21. The dishes were very shareable and could easily be split between a group, so I didn’t have an issue with the price. ***.