New York Street Food

One of the better and more unique vendors in midtown is the Trini-Paki Boys cart on the south side of 43rd St just east of 6th Ave.  They serve a good chicken over rice dish, but their daily specials are what you should ask about before ordering.

There could be jerk chicken, goat curry, chicken tikka masala, beef stew, oxtail stew, shark bake (not actually shark), or any number of other Caribbean and Pakistani dishes. You see the food is a combination of cuisines, just as the married owners are – one is Trinidadian and one is Pakistani.

Several of these specials were available when I recently visited, and I went for a small portion of chicken tikka masala for $6 and a Trinidadian double for $2.

Inside a Trinidadian double (credit: NYSF)

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Last week’s lunch of fried chicken from the Jerk Pan got me thinking about jerk chicken.  I really like the jerk chicken from Jerk Pan and Jamaican Dutchy, but they are pretty different from each other.

Not wanting to repeat myself, I decided to try the jerk chicken from the Trini-Paki Boys cart.  If you’re not familiar with them, the Trini-Paki Boys cart is one of the better street carts around, and is located on West 43rd St just east of 6th Ave.  They are tucked between one of the El Rey del Sabor carts and a generic halal cart.

If you’re not sure which cart is theirs, it’s the one with the friendly woman sitting in a chair handling the money while her son and daughter-in-law handle the cooking.  One of them is Trinidadian and one is Pakistani, hence the Trini-Paki Boys cart, named after their sons.

The chicken over rice from here is excellent, especially with some tamarind sauce.  But they started making jerk chicken a few months ago, and this is the first chance I’ve had to try it.  Today’s Lunch is the medium sized jerk chicken ($6) from the Trini-Paki Boys cart.

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I’ve been meaning to try the peppered steak from the Jamaican Dutchy for a while now. It’s their Wednesday special, but I keep forgetting to go there on Wednesdays. The one time I remembered about a month ago, they were out of peppered steak by the time I got there, and it was only a little after 1 o’clock.

I didn’t want to make that mistake again, so I headed out a little earlier than usual for Today’s Lunch, peppered steak (regular for $9 or large for $11) from Jamaican Dutchy, on 51^st St just east of 7^th Ave.

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We don’t usually associate street food with wine, although Dan Delaney of Vendr.TV had an episode last summer with Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV that paired New York Street Food with different wines.

Earlier this year, we learned how to cook Indian street food at the Miette Culinary Studio and had a wonderful time.

Combining these two things, The Astor Center is holding two cooking classes where you learn how to prepare street food from the Caribbean and Mediterranean, then learn the best wines to pair with the food.  Click through to find out what food will be cooked and more details on the classes.

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It’s freakin’ hot out, so I stayed near my office and went to the Jamaican Dutchy cart on the NE corner of 51st St & 7th Ave.  They were a Vendy Award finalist in 2009, and I’ve tried their jerk chicken sandwich and escovitch chicken, so it was time to try something new.  Today’s Lunch is the sweet & sour chicken from the Jamaican Dutchy cart.

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