How many countries can you eat from in Wolverhampton? We take a look around the city

Wolverhampton is a cultural city, full of different races and cultures spread across the city centre.

As a result of a diverse population full of different nations making the city their home, the food scene within Wolverhampton has expanded as a result, far from the days of just fish and chips or pork baps being on sale.

But, just how many countries can you buy something to eat from in Wolverhampton? How many countries are there offering a meal or food stuff from their country?

To find out, I took a walk around the city centre to see just how many different countries there were, with whatever the primary food type dictating which country the shop or restaurant represented. This might mean two different countries being represented by one place.

My other criteria was that it had to be within the city centre, so anything outside the Wolverhampton ring road did not count towards the final total.

Starting out at the School Street Car Park, I immediately saw Turkey and Poland represented by the Istanbul Restaurant, a place offering the finest Turkish meats, vegetables and other dishes, and Idea, which is marketed as an Eastern European Grocery Shop, but is primarily concerned with the sale of Polish food and drink.

Directly over the road from the car park on School Street, you are able to take a trip to the Persian region and Afghanistan with Aryana, a restaurant full of Afghani dumplings, meats and curries.

School Street has always been a diverse street for food and drink and had been a good place for Italian restaurants with the much-missed Pepitos (one of my favourite restaurants growing up) a classic italian, as was Cataldos.

However, there is still a classic and welcoming Italian restaurant on School Street, set on the corner with Darlington Street, in Rosso E Nero, a place which provides a little slice of Italy with tangy pasta dishes and refreshing bottles of wine.

Its neighbour also provides traditional flavours, this time of south-east Asia, with Made in Thai a staple part of Wolverhampton’s food scene for more than two decades, full of fiery curries and sticky noodles.

The diversity of the city also provides an eatery with AA Rosettes and a number of other high profile industry awards. The Bilash on Cheapside is marketed as an Indian restaurant, but the cooking and traditions of the Bilash, which has been in Wolverhampton for more than four decades, hail back to Bangladesh.

Sticking with the Asian theme, Wolverhampton also has a place for lovers of sushi, sashimi, ramen and teppanyaki in Hi Tokyo, with an interior straight from the Japanese capital and set on Stafford Street.

Just along from there on the tri-point between Stafford Street, Broad Street and Lichfield Street is a place which, depending of whether you recognise the country or not, is a place to enjoy a bubble tea.

Multea Choice offers a range of teas, which it says are Taiwanese. Again, it comes down to whether you recognise Taiwan (or its official name of the Republic of China) as a country or not which, for the purposes of this story, I will do.

Broad Street is the food centre of Wolverhampton city centre, with more than a dozen different eateries spread along the street featuring everything from pizza to kebabs to fried chicken.

One of the more culturally diverse restaurants is Aunt Sally’s, a place which markets itself as a Caribbean restaurant, but is primarily concerned with the cooking and selling of Jamaican dishes.

Keeping with the Commonwealth, a newer addition to the city food scene can be found on the corner of Fryer Street and Lichfield Street called Sweet Elohim Afro, a restaurant celebrating west African culture through a combination of Nigerian and Ghanaian dishes such as Jollof Rice (both countries claim theirs is the best).

The windy route around the city centre will take you up Lichfield Street and, after two left turns, heading down Berry Street behind the Grand Theatre where a diverse shop and a much-loved restaurant can be found.

Wamba Store proudly wears its colours in the window and provides the tastes of Cameroon within its shop walls while, just down the street, there is a very popular Indian restaurant on offer.

The Dilshad is a place with a friendly welcome and you will see numerous photos and signed pictures from stars of stage and screen, indicating where these people decided to dine after a sold-out evening show or an afternoon matinee performance.

Take a walk down Berry Street and follow the road around onto Queen Street and you’ll find a city institution and something of a rarity in The Queens Cantonese Restaurant.

There aren’t many high street Chinese restaurants left in the United Kingdom, but this restaurant is one which is always busy and always seems to provide a good and varied meal.

Further up Queen Street is one of the most popular chicken restaurants in the country in Nando’s, which mixes the traditions of South African cooking with the spices and peri peri flavours of Portugal to provide something much loved by many.

By now, the main city centre pops into view, but the diversity of the food options keeps on coming, with a taste of Berlin-style kebabs being available at German Doner Kebab on the pedestrianised area of Queen Street.

The street is one full of food choices, from pound bakeries to burgers and curries, and leads onto Dudley Street, one of the main shopping streets in the city centre.

It’s also where people can enjoy a slice, or rather a burger, of Americana at McDonald’s, just one of a number of American eateries in the city (KFC is also represented, as is Subway).

Take a walk down Dudley Street and pass through the Wulfrun Centre onto Cleveland Street and there are places offering Polish goods and cafe culture, but also a place with a British feel to it.

Ocean Fryer provides the best of British through its excellent fish and chips and other goods and, if you want something that reminds you of home, it’s a good place to go.

Head into the Mander Centre and you’ll discover a place which is somewhat hidden, but has a wide range of flavours from Mexico.

Hello Tacos has originally started out as a place selling French Tacos (a kind of wrap filled with meat and chips), but has diversified itself to begin selling Mexican dishes like Quesadillas, Tacos and Burritos.

The Latin theme continues as you head out of the Mander Centre and progress down Farmers Fold, where you will find a little slice of Spain in La Casita.

The restaurant provides traditional food from across Spain and its islands, including Patatas and authentic small plates such as chicken skewers, meatballs in tomato sauce, chorizo and calamari.

Finally, as you head out of Farmers Fold onto Victoria Street, the diverse culinary journey comes to an end at Sithundu, a shop which celebrates the best of southern African culture, including Biltong, and marks the final country stop in Zimbabwe.

Having walked around the city centre and explored the different areas and streets, that brings the final total of countries people can eat from in Wolverhampton to 22 countries.

It’s a city I’ve lived in nearly my whole life and one I never realised was as culturally diverse as it was. It’s a culinary journey worth taking and worth trying.

Are there any countries I have missed? Please let me know in the comments.