Farewell Lunch Tour Day 2: Biriyani Cart & Kati Roll
So as painful as it is to say, this is my last week of full time Midtown Lunching. Don’t worry… the site isn’t going anywhere, but I’m moving to L.A. so this week I’m making sure to hit all the places I’ll miss the most. A “Farewell Lunch Tour” if you will. Here’s where I’ll be today…
The Original “Biriyani Cart”, circa 2007
I still remember the day that the Biriyani Cart went from being just another chicken and rice cart with a few Indian dishes tossed in, to the media superstars you now know and love. Kati Roll had just been forced to move their extremely popular operation from 46th btw. 6+7th, to 39th btw. 5+6th. And it was in that moment that Meru, the owner of the Biriyani Cart, had the greatest idea of all time. He threw up a sign on his cart for “kati rolls”, and a legend was born.
I still think of Kati Roll as the industry standard (their freshly fried paratha is out of control good), and my original post about Kati Roll was the most read post on Midtown Lunch for a long long time. But the Biriyani Cart is one of my favorite carts in Midtown… and they’ve had their share of accolades as well. It would be impossible to choose a favorite… so, I guess I’ll have to go both!
You can argue that Kati Roll’s kati rolls are better than the Biriyani Cart (on 46th and 6th)… but the Biriyani Cart has got something that Kati Roll doesn’t have. The Chennai roll! I love the sweet and sour kick of the tamarind sauce they put on the chennai roll, so I will definitely be getting one of those today (and hopefully Meru will throw a little taste of his delicious biriyani, and chicken tikka masala into the container for shits and giggles.)
But not too much, because after that I plan on heading directly to Kati Roll (on 39th btw. 5+6th) for a chicken tikka roll. I love the sliced red onions, and hint of lemon juice that permeates the big cubes of chicken tikka. And did I mention how amazing the bread is?
Since Kati Roll blazed the trail in Midtown, these little “Indian burritos” have started popping up all over Midtown. I hope they’ve made it out to Los Angeles as well…
Related:
The “Biriyani Cart” on 46th gives Kati Roll a Run for Their Money…
Original Kati Roll Post (6/2006)
Posted by Zach Brooks at 10:15 am, January 26th, 2010 under Farewell Lunch Tour, Review.
9 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
There’s an Indian food truck in LA called India Jones that I think may have something similar. We never made it there during our last trip so I don’t know for sure, but it might be worth a try!