You’d imagine that the UK’s best street food vendor would be in a buzzing metropolis – like London or Manchester.
So it might come as a little bit of a surprise to find out that the UK’s ‘best’ street food outlet Patrons Pizza is actually based in somewhere rather more rural: Thame.
But that’s not the only string this pretty Oxfordshire market town has to its bow – and it’s a place that has a dedicated following of fans who have visited or live there.
Thame, which is around 13 miles east of the city of Oxford and 10 miles south west of Aylesbury, has a population of 13,273 and it takes just and hour and a half to drive into London.
But given how easy it is to commute to the English capital, that does mean that property prices don’t come cheap.
The average property price in Thame is a whopping £504,448 on average, compared to a national UK average of £288,000.
Recently a mum that was considering a move to Thame asked fellow Mumsnet website users what they thought of the location.
One said: “Thame is nice. It has a fabulous high street with free parking and a good selection of shops.
“An award winning kebab van and other takeaways. I haven’t heard horrendous stories about the schools and think there are two primaries and a good secondary school.
“Not too far from the motorway with lots of options to get onto it and not too far from the Haddenham and Thame Parkway for trains to Birmingham and London.”
Another mum added: “Thame was voted the most vibrant High St In Oxfordshire recently – we do have some charity shops but we also have Mint Velvet, Crewe Clothing, White Stuff, Fat Face and some nice independent shops.
“Plus three great gastro pubs, Prezzo, two independent Italian restaurants, a Thai as well as the usual chip shops, Domino’s, kebab etc.
“And loads of independent coffee shops.”
Another simply said: “Thame is great”.
The location is the proud bearer of a number of accolades.
Its town council website summarises some of the titles its most proud of.
It said: “Thame is an award-winning town, coming runner-up Small Market Town in the 2016 Great British High Street Competition, and winning Rising Star Award in the 2015 Competition.
“The town also came second place in the RTPI’s England’s Greatest Places competition.”
And perhaps a little more niche – is its award winning kebab stall.
Last year the famous kebab van in Thame received national recognition for its sizzling food.
Atalay’s Kebab Van scooped Best Kebab Van of the Year at the 2022 British Kebab Awards.
