Miss Softee’s Favorite Street Meat
If there’s one things I love about eating street meat in Midtown is that everybody has their own favorite spot for chicken and lamb over rice. Sure, some of the halal carts have become more famous- and Street Meat Palooza has crowned two different winners. But most people have their favorite spot (usually close to their work) where the guy knows your order, and makes it just the way you like it. And while it may not win any awards, it doesn’t make it any less worthy of being patronized.
So yesterday when Miss Softee (yes, that Miss Softee!) offered to take me to her favorite street meat cart, I immediately took her up on the offer.
Miss Softee (aka “everybody’s favorite Mister Softee truck driver”) is back from her vacation, but since the Mister Softee trucks hibernate for the winter, she’s not currently slinging soft serve. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t come back into Midtown every so often to visit her old friends. She introduced to me to one of them yesterday… his name is Habibi Muhammad (Habibi means “my beloved” and is just what Miss Softee calls him!), and he runs the “Halal Food” truck on the SW corner of 56th & 6th. She is all about the gyro on pita, but I went for my standard order: chicken and lamb over rice with white sauce and hot sauce.
You get your choice of rice (white, yellow, or spicy) but Habibi said the spicy was the best if you like spicy. It was pretty standard rice, with a good flavor… not as perfectly cooked as the basmati rice you get at Kwik Meal or the Famous Halal Guys Cart or as flavorful as the rice at XPL, but it wasn’t the crappy waterlogged rice you get at so many mediocre carts. It was somewhere in the middle. The best part of the platter was that Habib lets the meat cook on the flat top for a good amount of time, ensuring that the gyro gets crispy. This usually happens more often when you go to a cart late in the day, but Miss Softee assured me that his gyro is always crispy. It also had veggies which I surprisingly enjoyed- and Miss Softee swears make the platter healthy. Muhammad echoes that sentiment… he’s quick to always let you know that his street meat is “good for the heart, good for the liver.” (Is that a hangover joke?)
Anyway, I was definitely pleased with my lunch. Will it replace my personal favorites, or win Street Meat Palooza 3? Probably not. But if you like switching it up every once in awhile, the Halal Food cart on 56th and 6th is worthy of being added to your rotation. Especially if you like your lamb crispy…
Halal Food, SW Corner of 56th and 6th
Posted by Zach Brooks at 11:45 am, December 4th, 2009 under 56th btw. 6+7th, Cart, Miss Softee, Street Meat.
8 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
I walk by everyday but was skeptical , but if Zach AND Miss Softee give a thumbs up, I gotta give it a shot.