New York Street Food

(credit: NYSF)

There’s a relatively new Thai street food cart on West 50th St just west of 6th Ave called Tuk Tuk Boy.  A tuk tuk is a 3 wheeled vehicle popular in Southeast Asia.  The cart first appeared late last year and didn’t have much of a crowd, but judging from my visit last week, they seem to be catching on.

Tuk Tuk Boy has a Thai menu including pad thai, chicken basil, Thai bbq and red & green curries. You can see their regular menu with prices here, but I often advise checking out the Daily Specials for several reasons.

With a Daily Special, you usually get something fresh with main ingredients that haven’t been in a refrigerator for a few days.  It’s also a way for vendors to show off a special dish of theirs.

The Daily Special during my visit was massaman curry, which I’ve enjoyed at Thai restaurants.  This one cost $8 and while I was waiting for it to be cooked, it became apparent this was a good decision.

(credit: NYSF)

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(credit: NYSF)

One of the long-time street vendors in midtown is Kim’s Aunt Kitchen. They are located on West 46th St just east of 6th Ave, next to Moshe’s Falafel (although Moshe’s is closed this week for Passover).  You can easily spot Kim’s by the slogan “Food Is Love” on the side of their cart and on the cart”s menu.  We couldn’t agree more!

One food we love is fried seafood, which Kim’s Aunt Kitchen has in spades, and at street food prices.  I know what you’re thinking, that cheap seafood is not the smartest thing to get from a street cart – but in this case you would be mistaken.  I have eaten Kim’s fried seafood numerous times, and they have a steady line of regulars at lunch every day.  I’m not aware of any health problems, other than of the cholesterol variety.

On this visit, I got the fried shrimp platter, which includes 8 pieces for $6.50.

(credit: NYSF)

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(credit: New York Street Food)

The expansion of Korean street food in NYC continues unabated.  On the SW corner of 52nd St & 6th Ave is a relatively new cart called Gobuki.  They have been around for a few months, and have a more traditional menu than the Korean food trucks.

You won’t find any Korean tacos or burritos here.  It’s all about galbi (marinated short rib), bulgogi (marinated rib-eye) and spicy chicken over sticky white rice.  The one concession to American tastes is that you can get any of the meats on a baguette for $1 less.  The full menu can be seen here.

I’ve had a lot of beef lately, and decided to try the spicy chicken over rice for $6.  The dumplings were also calling my name, so I placed an order for $4.

(credit: New York Street Food)

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(credit: New York Street Food)

One of the excellent vendors who doesn’t get a lot of press these days is the Kwik Meal cart, on the SW corner of 45th St and 6th Ave.  Muhammad Rahman, owner of Kwik Meal, was a Vendy Award finalist in 2008 and the People’s Choice winner in 2007.  There are tons of articles on the cart from 2007-2009, but not much from the past few years.  Judging from the crowd at the cart, they still have a steady, loyal following.

As I often do, I went for the Daily Special, a combination of fish and shrimp biryani for $9.

(credit: New York Street Food)

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Calexico Carne Asada, who won the 2008 Vendy Cup and has expanded several times since then, announced about a month ago they would be serving breakfast tacos and burritos at their Broome St cart.

A week ago Friday I stopped by to try their new breakfast dishes, and the cart was nowhere to be found.  A few days ago I found out why.

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