New York Street Food

(credit: NYSF)

I have been to the My Biryani cart on 44th St just west of 6th Ave a few times, but never tried their kati rolls.  Time to remedy that situation.  The “gold standard” for kati rolls is Biryani Cart exactly two blocks north, but I already know how good those are.

My Biryani seemed like a ripoff of Biryani Cart when they first came out in August 2010, but seem to have come into their own recently.  In addition to kati rolls and biryani, they now have two “lunch boxes” (one meat and one veggie), which have 3 different types of Indian food in each lunch box.  The meat one looked particularly interesting with chicken tikka masala, palak chicken (a spinach base) and dal over rice for $6.

The chicken, “lamb” or veggie kati rolls, which are $3.50 each or 2 for $6.  I wasn’t in the mood for gyro meat (‘lamb”), so I got one each of chicken and veggie.

(more…)

(credit: NYSF)

Last night at Choice Streets, there were over 20 of NYC’s best food trucks.  It was a fun event, but we’ve been to most of the food trucks before.

One truck we had not been to was Chinese Mirch.  That would have been difficult because last night was their debut!

The truck said Chinese Food | Indian Flavor.  Sounds interesting.

(more…)

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)

(more…)

(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)

(more…)

In any conversation about the best street food vendors in New York, Biryani Cart merits serious consideration.  Biryani Cart was founded by Meru Sikder, and they have a strong and loyal following on 46th St just west of 6th Ave.  But you already knew that.

Biryani Cart was nominated for Vendy Awards in both 2008 & 2009.  While they didn’t win the Vendy Cup, they did win the People’s Choice Award both years, meaning people who attended voted them as the Best Vendor.

The biggest problem with Biryani Cart is deciding what to order.  Biryani Cart has good chicken and vegetable biryani (natch), but I really love their kati rolls. They also have specials like fish curry and goat biryani from time to time.

Solving the problem of what to order is Zach’s Combo, which is named after Zach Brooks, the founder of Midtown Lunch, who asked Meru to put together a sampler platter.  Zach’s Combo has biryani, a kati roll and a samosa for $7.  That sounds like a pretty sweet deal.

Opening up the container, the smell was amazing!  Indian food is usually very aromatic, and this was no exception.

Starting with the chicken biryani, it was obvious where a lot of the aroma was coming from.  Biryani is a dish of basmati rice with various spices and fillings.  I got chicken, but veggie is available too. In the rice were pieces of boneless chicken, whole cloves, cardamom pods, a few golden raisins, and other herbs and spices.  It was topped with 3 different sauces, a white mayo-based sauce, a green herby sauce and a red hot sauce.  Delicious!

Next up I tried the samosa, the triangle in the photo above.  Most Indian samosas have a thick breaded crust, but Meru makes his with phyllo dough, which gives the crust a light crispiness you don’t usually find in samosas.  The potato filling is similar to other samosas, but the potato is spiced really well, and has some heat.

Last up was the kati roll, which is an Indian wrap served on chapati bread with various fillings.  There are 6 different types of kati rolls at Biryani Cart.

I got a King Koti roll, which had pieces of tikka glazed chicken, lettuce, onions, bell peppers, and a light sauce.  The King Koti roll was a tasty finish to the meal.

Another way to get some variety at Biryani Cart is to get their kati roll lunch.  You get a choice of any 2 kati rolls for $6, which is definitely one of the better lunch deals out there.  I love the Chennai roll too, which has a sweet and spicy chili sauce.

Biryani Cart is on 46th St just west of 6th Ave, and they are there until after midnight every night, so you can go there for lunch, dinner, or after the theater or a show at Radio City.  The food is as good as many Indian restaurants, and much less expensive.

If the weather’s nice, there are plenty of places to sit and eat Biryani Cart along 6th Ave, or you can go to the Bank of America atrium on 6th Ave & 43rd St if it’s cold or rainy.