What Did You Have For Lunch Yesterday? I Had Street Meat

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Man, I was really in the mood for street meat yesterday… and can’t for the life of me figure out why.  (Oh, that’s right.)  I decided to hit up the Famous Halal Cart on the SE Corner of 53rd and 6th to try their kofta kebab (which we reported about a few months back.)  Probably not the smartest move considering they had just come in 3rd place in Street Meat Palooza 2 , but the line moved quick, and I just had to get my fix.

Check out my chicken and kofta combo plate, after the jump.

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For those unfamiliar with kofta, it’s essentially a Middle Eastern sausage without the casing.  Or, if you want to think of it another way, it’s a kebab made from ground up meat (instead of big chunks).  They didn’t have any ready, so it had to be grilled up fresh (great for taste, not great for time.)  It took about 5 minutes, but I was rewarded with a perfectly cooked, almost medium rare kofta.  Moist and well seasoned, the guy who works at the cart told me he makes them himself (so I’m guessing they don’t have the kofta at night across the street, or at the other daytime cart on 53rd & 7th.)

Getting a chicken/kofta combo was a nice change of pace from the standard chicken/lamb platter- and for $5 it’s a real steal.  And else everything was spot on, as usual.  Great rice, good white sauce, and melt your face off red sauce… but I have to admit I kind of missed the gyro meat.  The subtle flavors of the kofta got lost underneath the white sauce and hot sauce a bit- something that never happens with gyro meat.  I wonder if they’ll do a combo plate with all three!  Now that would be awesome.

Related:
Debunking the Myths of 53rd & 6th, the Most Famous Halal Intersection in New York City
Famous 53rd Street Halal Guys Add Kofta Kebab to the Menu

24 Comments

  • Before 3pm sounds reasonable for Halal Guys. It’s their lunchtime price at $5. How many of us MLers eat lunch after 3pm here? Or should I correctly state BUY lunch after 3pm here? After 3pm sounds like a Halal pre-dinner fatass snackdown to me.

    Thumbs up for the $5 kofta and chicken combo, if it’s really available to everyone.

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    Update: kofka available daily at the 53rd & 7th cart, though I tried it for the first time today and it was way overcooked. The guy was really proud of it, though, and made a point to tell me it was real Egyptian food (he’s from Cairo).

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