Category: street

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street

Halal Truck on East 11th St & 1st Ave (East Village)

Rusty and I were watching the Denver game last Sunday at O’Hanlon’s in the East Village, rooting for our boy Tebow. Yikes!

During half time, I walked around to try to figure out what’s the meaning of life after I just saw Tebow get smashed, smothered, and diced. I passed by the Halal truck on the South-East corner of East 11th St and 1st Ave. I’ve passed there many late nights before and it always smelled so good. Most of the time I see a cart there, but this day it’s a truck.

Got the Lamb & Chicken combo over rice with white sauce, hot sauce $6. Dang. This is some of the best and spiciest Lamb & Chicken combo I’ve had in a long time. The rice is very similar to the Famous Halal Guys on 53rd & 6th. But I like this better. They put slices of jalapeno in there for extra spiciness. The chicken is not chopped up as much as most halal carts. The flavor was tangy and spicy. I just might have a reason to go back to root for Tebow tomorrow.

I suppose being a professional athlete has it’s ups and downs just like the challenges of real life. Maybe last week loss is just a stepping stone to success. I hope Tebow learns from last week and becomes the best NFL winner in the world. So keep Tebowing.

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street

Morris Truck

Today at 6th Ave and 20th St NYC …this is the first time I’ve seen a food truck selling Grilled Cheese sandwiches without a line. Why does the other grilled cheese truck (Gorilla) have a crazy ass line? I really thought you couldn’t go wrong with selling $5+ grilled cheese in NY at the moment …crazy as that sounds. But there must be something more to a food truck’s success other than doing Twitter. What is it? Add Korean Tacos? Have something that rhymes with Gorilla, Korilla? Let me know, so I can open my own truck. Grilled cheese with foie gras. I saw it on Master Chef.

I wonder if you paid a bunch of people to stand in line, would people flock and the line will become self-perpetual?

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caribbean street

Jamaican Dutchy’s Cow Foot Stew

The Jamaican Dutchy food truck has been parking in the Flatiron district lately (21st St and Broadway). I ordered the Cow Foot stew (special on Thursdays). The young server didn’t even know what I was talking about. He had to ask the boss man what I was talking about. I guess not too many people order it.

The small ($9) was huge in the big container. If that’s the small, what’s the large ($11)? I thought I was going to get it in the tiny box, but I guess that’s for the mini meals.

To be fair, the cow feet was a lot of bone. Everything else is mostly gelatinous gloopy gloppy tendon and skin. Barely a trace of meat if there was any. It was good. Flavorful and melted in my mouth.

The piece of fried plantain is some of the best I’ve had in a long time. And the hot sauce I asked for had a nice scotch bonnet flavor. I’d do this meal again.

http://thejamaicandutchy.net

Listen to how it sounds before I put this foot in my mouth.

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mexican street taco travel

Dining with Dondero: Izzoz Tacos (Austin, TX)

American singer-songwriter, David Dondero, is reporting in his meals from his current tour. He’s living my dream of playing music and eating on the road. Here’s Dave at Izzoz Tacos in Austin, Texas.

Austin, TX is one of my favorite towns on this planet to eat.   Breakfast tacos are very popular and can be found pretty much anywhere around the city.  In the past several years the food trailer trend has taken off like so many other places around the country.  On South 1st, my favorite trailer had recently moved to a new location.  They always blast terrible alternative modern rock like Puddle of Mud or some other similar shit.  They have the best tacos though so it’s worth suffering through their horrible musical taste.  Even better than Torchies.

They have a taco called the Bac Spin.  It’s scrambled eggs, bacon bits and spinach on a flour tortilla.  Their salsa is really distinctive with a more smokey flavor.  The price is cheap.  One taco fills me up for $2.25.  Their queso is also great.  That’s only if i’m really hungry.

I ordered the bac spin again and sat underneath a shade tree in the 105 degree heat.  This time i ordered 2 of them and was only able to finish 1 and a half.  I like Topo Chico sparkling Mexican mineral water to wash it down.  A nice way to start the day.  I wait at least 30 minutes before diving into Barton Springs.

Izzoz Tacos - 1503 S 1st St. Austin, TX 78704

David Dondero is one of the hardest working touring folk singers in America. Once named one of the Best Living Songwriters by NPR, alongside Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and Paul McCartney. It’s a privilege to have him part of Me So Hungry.
http://www.daviddonderomusic.com/

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street

The Halal Guys at 52nd St & 6th Ave

I was walking around Midtown looking for a late lunch at around 3:30. Dang, that line at 53rd St & 6th Ave is super long even between normal meal times. Then I saw the same Halal Guys cart a short block South on 52nd St. The same umbrellas, the same yellow bags, the same T-shirts advertising 53rd St –but this one had no line.

I got a heavy platter of Chicken and Lamb over Rice ($6). It all looked the same and seemed to taste the same or similar from what I remember and from the Midtownlunch Street Meat Paloozas. Although it was super spicy, because I asked him to add more hot sauce after it looked like he only squirted a little on my food.

Well now that I’ve learned that not all Rafiqi’s are the same, I still can’t imagine that everyone in that long ass 53rd St line has compared them both and decided it was worth the wait. Makes me wonder about businesses that try to expand. The demand is definitely there, but the demand doesn’t want to walk a short block away.

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street

Rafiqi’s New Beef Options

I’ve been noticing that most of the Rafiqi’s Halal carts now have “New Beef Options” … Philly Steak sandwiches, pita wraps and platters. I got the Beef Rice Platter ($5.50). The guy pulled out a couple of thin rectangle slices of Philly Steak-style of raw beef and slapped it on the griddle. Cooking and chopping it up, asking if I want onions and cheese –yes, please.

The Philly Steak platter was surprisingly delicious. Of course, top it with white and the green hot sauce.

I only trust the Rafiqi’s on 6th Ave between 19th & 20th St, Manhattan to make this. I’ve been trying other Rafiqi’s that have been popping up in the area recently and they don’t compare. Even though it appears to be the same ingredients and toppings, the salad just taste better and the meat is cooked right at 6th. I’ve also spent hours walking around trying to find a Rafiqi’s that hasn’t raised their prices yet. There are a few out there, but then I realize I’m just trying to save 50cents.

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street

Spiciest Lamb over Rice – R&Z Halal Truck

Does anyone else have this problem where you can’t decide what to eat for lunch and end up walking around for an hour? I guess with so many choices, it’s a good problem to have.

I ended up trying this halal truck on the southeast corner of 32nd Street and Park Ave, Manhattan. There’s a couple of halal carts in that area that seem to competing with the whole Rafiqi style toppings bar. I asked for everything on my lamb over spicy rice platter, which included chickpeas, black beans, corn, olives, cilantro, both grilled and raw onions, lettuce, tomato, a slice of pickle, white sauce, hot sauce. That hot sauce is the spiciest I’ve ever had from a cart or truck. Crazy good if you’re into the heat. Make sure you get the spicy rice too. I was sweating so much eating it in the park, I had to take it back to my cold AC office to finish up.

Only thing was that the lamb tasted like a salty hot dog. But pluses go to the two older guys in the truck. One of them smiled and thanked me genuinely. I’m not sure if he had teeth.

R&Z Halal Truck – southeast corner of 32nd Street & Park Ave, NYC 10016

Categories
lunch street

Halal Food Cart 5th Ave and 21st St

It’s a beautiful day to get skin cancer. I grabbed a platter of Fried Fish over Rice from the Halal Cart on 5th Ave (between 21st & 20th St). They had three different rices. A brown one, a light yellow one and a bright saffron yellow one. The light yellow had some vegetables and the rice had big granules.

Overall a decent plate of fish and rice. The guy also tossed on some chicken. Same thing happened with the two people ordering fish ahead of me. Isn’t that a little presumptuous?  Maybe it’s just the company I keep, but usually I assume most fish eaters are pescatarian (vegetarian except for fish/seafood). Most of my friends would have freaked if someone threw chicken on their fish/vegetarian platter.

I took it back to Madison Square Park and sat with all the young folk on the lawn, where they have the new Echo sculpture. It’s surreal sitting next to it. A lot of people taking photos and everyone else acting like it doesn’t exist.

I took a Fatbooth photo of Echo.