Battle Royale brought together the champions from Wylam Brewery’s food battles, showcasing winning pizza, curry, and burgers- battling it out to be crowned the ultimate winner. We loved getting to retry our favourite dishes from previous events and return for the showdown!
Champions
1st Place: Lobo Bar Cocina
2nd Place: Square Pizza
3rd Place: Davey’s
Burger Trends
Protein-heavy. Premium. American-inspired. Buns are back.
The Wylam vendors created a protein-packed playground for us foodies! Premiumisation disguised as casual dining ties directly into the emerging steakhouse burger trend: premium beef, thicker patties, glossy soft buns and indulgent toppings, sitting somewhere between fast food and restaurant dining. British Vogue specifically identified steakhouse burgers as a trend for 2026.
40 Ounce – Uncle Elroy Burger
Dry aged 40 patty, American cheese, candied maple bacon crumb, slow-smoked pastrami, Bros. BBQ sauce, creamy peppered mayo in a sweet, seeded milk bun.
Meat:Stack – West Coast Classic
Grill smashed super premium dry-aged North Yorkshire Beef, American cheese, lettuce, signature ‘stack: sauce’, house-made butter pickles, diced onion, ketchup and mustard in a steamed milk bun.
Daveys – New York Beef Rib
Smashed beef patty, American cheese, slow-cooked beef short rib, sticky NYC BBQ glaze, nacho cheese sauce, crispy shoestring fries.
Pizza Trends
The duo trend of buffalo + ranch is particularly strong within food and recognisable to consumers from wings and loaded fries. Pizza is the perfect canvas for novelty through familiar flavour combinations, using contrasting flavours and textures to create balance:
Buffalo + ranch – hot, tangy heat balanced by cool, creamy richness.
Chicken + blue cheese – mild, savoury chicken contrasted with sharp, salty and creamy blue cheese.
Creamy + pickled – rich, indulgent creaminess cut through with sharp acidity and a crunchy bite.
Dou_h and Co – Buffalo Chicken
Buffalo sauce base, for di latte mozzarella, crispy chicken, gorgonzola piccante, pickled red onion, ranch drizzle, fresh chives, pecorino.
Asian Trends
Elevated street food. Chakh Dhoom showed that even classic dishes like butter chicken can be rejuvenated, using smoke to bring depth, char and complexity to a familiar butter chicken, rather than simply making it taste “smoky”. Alongside this, smoke is becoming a flavour driver.
The crispy aloo tikki chaat is a perfect example of how traditional street food is being brought into a more premium dining environment. At its core, it’s a humble crispy potato patty, but the dish is built up by layering texture, flavour and temperatures.
Fat Koreanz – Veggie Dumplings with a soy dipping sauce.
Chakh Dhoom – Smoked Butter Chicken
Inspired by the place where butter chicken was invented: 24-hour marinated, smoked tandoori chicken tikka in creamy and buttery tomato sauce, finished with fenugreek.
Crispy Aloo Tikki Chaat
Crispy potato patty served Delhi-style with chickpeas, spiced potato, sweet yoghurt, homemade tamarind and mint chutney.
If you are looking for culinary trends, insights or inspiration based on the above blog, please get in touch: npdmarkerting@dalziel.co.uk
