New York Street Food

The Vendy Awards have announced this year’s finalists for the Vendy Cup, which takes place this Saturday on Governor’s Island.

In a break from past years, this year’s main category will have 7 vendors vying for the Vendy Cup.  In past years, no more than 5 vendors competed for the Vendy Cup.

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One of the better and more original 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 where you should look before ordering.

There could be jerk chicken, goat curry, beef stew, oxtail stew, shark bake, chicken tikka masala, or any number of other Caribbean and Indian/Pakistani favorites.

Today’s Lunch is Baked Fry Fish ($5) from the Trini-Paki Boys cart.

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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 stopped by 43rd St & 6th Ave to talk to Rosa, the Vendy finalist from El Rey Del Sabor.  She wasn’t there, but the trip was still worthwhile.

Right next door, I noticed the Trini-Paki Boys cart had fish, dumplings & sweet potato listed  as one of their Daily Specials.  I really like fish and don’t get it often at home, so I try to get it outside the house whenever possible – and Trini-Paki Boys is one of the fresher, more interesting carts around.

Today’s Lunch is the fish special ($7) from Trini-Paki Boys cart.

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One of the lesser-known gems of the New York Street Food scene is the Trini-Paki Boys cart on the north side of 43rd St just east of 6th Ave.  They were on the south side of the street for many years, but had to move across the street due to construction.  It’s a little tight across the street, squeezed in between the excellent El Rey Del Sabor Mexican food cart and a generic halal cart, but they should be able to move back across 43rd St next spring, when construction is expected to be completed.

Fatima (above, in yellow) and her husband started this cart many years ago.  One of them is from Trinidad and one is from Pakistan.  They named the cart after their boys – the Trini-Paki Boys.  Now one of their sons and his wife help run the cart.  They have a regular following, with a line of around 8 people in front of me and then behind me by the time I ordered, but it didn’t take more than 5 minutes or so to get lunch.

The menu is eclectic, with some Indian/Pakistani dishes like dal and samosas, and some Trinidadian dishes like shrimp curry and doubles, which I have previously enjoyed.

For Today’s Lunch, I went with the classic chicken over rice – but at the Trini-Paki Boys cart, there’s a twist that makes it better than at most of the other carts.

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