With so many food trucks roaming the streets of NYC, I still manage to get excited when I read about a new truck hitting the streets- especially when that new truck serves oxtail. Last week Lunch’er Hengde reported that Sunrise Grill (37th btw. B’way+6th), a new Jamaican truck, was serving delicious oxtail with rice and beans. Just knowing a truck was serving oxtail was enough for me to trek out into the rain for lunch.

When we arrived at the truck, I noticed the menu was different from what Lunch’er Hengde had. There was no iron ball porridge (damn and I was looking forward to trying it) and the fried plantains were a buck less. Plus there were many more items added to the menu, like a pepper steak entree, brown stew snapper for $12, fried chicken for $12 and salt fish for $9. A rotating menu on a dry erase board? I’m loving this truck even more.

Thankfully they still had the oxtail ($7), which I ordered along with two fry festivals (how could I not order something that was called fried festivals?!)

Man oh man, were the oxtails delicious. For something to have been cooked before and sitting in the tray (not sure how long) these were tender and had great flavors. The combination of the crunchy cabbage side, plantains, rice and beans and oxtail was excellent (I can imagine a dash of hot sauce would make it amazing).

Sadly the fry festivals pretty much failed. The outside looked nice and golden but when I took a bite into it, it was all dough and super dense. These probably would have been better if there was some juice or sauce for them to soak up.

Another sad thing was me bringing a vegetarian friend. I was hoping maybe he could try the porridge but since it wasn’t on the menu my friend had to ask the guy in the truck what sort of vegetarian options they had. The only thing they had that was vegetarian was the cabbage side ($3) which my friend said was bland, but he was happy to find few pieces of fried plantains in the container as well.

After having the oxtail I am looking forward to having more meals from Sunrise Grill. Yes the $7 option may be a tad small but that just means there is more room for beef patties ($2) or super dense fried dough (if you like that sort of thing) and still walk away for under $10.

The + (What somebody who likes this would say)

• Oxtail from a truck!
• I hate to be super full from lunch so a smaller option is great.
• I love rotating menus.
• Fried plantains in my stewed cabbage! Excellent.

The – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• For $7 I can go somewhere else and get a bigger lunch.
• I hate rotating menus.
• I’m a vegetarian and there isn’t much options for me.

Sunrise Grill, 37th St btw. B’way+6th

My coworkers spotted this last week when I was away and we tried it today. It’s hard not to see – they have an electric moving sign that displays everything from a smiling sunglass-clad sun to the various menu offerings. They park on 37th between Broadway and 6th, 2 spaces in front of the Ecuadorian Truck. We tried the oxtail and the curry goat, and both were freakin fantastic.

All of the mains come in either $7, $9, or $11 size portions, and they have a few other menu items, including beef patties which aren’t listed on the menu. The entrees come with rice & beans and a nice salad with cabbage, carrots, and plantains.

The oxtail was soft, moist, and came right off the bone, not spicy but amazingly seasoned. The curry goat had just a little zip too it, not really spicy but great flavor, and not too many pieces of bone. I’m looking forward to trying out the jerk chicken next time. This is going to give some real competition to the Ecuadorian Truck, which has similar offerings, but I think Comme Ci Comme Ca won’t be feeling much pressure as it’s offerings fit a different niche. The only downside of the truck I can think of is the $7 portion didn’t really fill me up (there were 6 pieces of oxtail, rice, and cabbage in a 6×6 inch foam container, the more expensive sizes came in larger containers), where as $7 rice platter from the Moroccan Truck or Desi Truck give you a little more. Of course you can always go for the larger sizes too though. But the quality of the food and flavor really make the Sunrise Grill stand out.

Looks like Jamaican Dutchy and Jerk Pan have some competition! Has anybody else tried this truck yet? Let us know how it is in the comments.

With a budget of $30 between the 3 of us, I wanted to make sure to have savory with some sweet.  And of little nibbles mixed with more bigger servings.  Find two co-workers and this could your lunch today. Here’s what we had:

Stop #1: Austrian Food from Schnitzel & Things, in their regular Thursday position, 48th between 6th and 7th.

Our order: a bratwurst sandwich with sauerkraut and mustard on ciabatta, $5.  We hit Schnitzel shortly after they opened, and in spite of the cold there was still a short line.  Not too bad a wait, but if you’re attempting this in colder weather, it would be worth it to call your order in.

At five bucks, this sausage made for a substantial kick off to our tour.

Stop #2: Indian/Bangladeshi from Biryani Cart, 46th Street between 6th and 7th.

Our order: one Spicy Buradi Chicken Kati Roll, $3.  You really can’t go wrong with Meru’s Spicy Buradi Roll.  My guests had never had a kati roll and they loved the spicy, sweet combination of this roll.

Stop #3: Israeli from Moshe’s Falafel, 45th Street between 5th and 6th.

Our order: 4 falafel balls, $2.  Moshe’s takes some flack on ML for their poor sandwich layering, but at $2 for 4 sizable falafel balls, it makes for a filling a cheap snack.  And since they douse your entire order with tahini and hot sauce upon request there’s little risk of not getting the saucy bites that you want.

Stop #4: “Korean” from Kim’s Aunt Kitchen Cart, 45th Street between 5th and 6th.

Our order: a fried whiting sandwich, $3.50.  Ok, this might not be a traditional Korean dish like bulgogi, but it’s my favorite thing from the Kim’s.  My friends were astonished  that the sandwich was so big, so cheap, and so fresh tasting.  If sharing one of these sandwiches I highly recommend ordering it on a hero roll–less chance of the bread disintegrating.

Stop #5: Belgian from Wafels & Dinges

Our order: a Liege wafel with Belgian chocolate and strawberries, $5.  Brussels and Liege wafels at W&D run $5 with one dinge (topping), but if you follow their twitter they generally have a special password for an additional free dinge.  The Brussels wafels are a good choice if you want a waffle that’s more like what most Americans think of as a Belgian waffle, but the Liege wafels with its pockets of crystallized sugary goodness, might be a better pick if you want to show off a treat that’s hard to find outside of Belgium.  After polishing off our Liege, my friends were sad that there isn’t a W&D truck in the Seattle area.

Stop #6 Mexican from El Rey de Sabor, 43rd and 6th, north side of the street

Our order: a chicken tamale, $1.50. El Rey de Sabor gets a lot of love on ML and though this was my first visit to any of their carts, I can see why. Their chicken tamale was tender and delicious. My dad is a born and raised Southern Californian and has instilled this little New Englander with an appreciation for the good tamale. I can definitely see coming back to make a lunch of these.

Stop #7 Trinidadian from Trini Paki Boys Cart, 43rd between 5th and 6th, south side of the street

Our order: doubles, $2.  The curried chickpea filled doubles from the Trini Paki Boys cart is one of my favorite all time ML discoveries.  Even though neither of my friends had ever tried Trinidadian food before they are both adventurous eaters and were blown away by the doubles.  It was their hands down best of the tour pick for being “unique, tasty, and filling.”

Stop #8 Moroccan from Little Morocco, NE Corner of 39th & 7th Ave.

Our order: chicken and lamb combo over rice, $5.  Clearly street meat had to make an appearance in the cart tour extravaganza, especially since my friends had never experienced the wonders of chicken and lamb over rice before.  It was a tough choice on my part in terms of which cart we would get our combo from. Biryani Cart was a heavy contender, though they were ruled out fairly early on since I wanted cart variety and I already knew that we would already be stopping for kati rolls there.   53rd and 6th was a little out of our way and wouldn’t work out timingwise. Kwik Meal was considered as well, but ultimately eliminated from contention for budgetary reasons–in order to hit  10 carts and still stay within the $10 each budget, I had to find a combo platter that would come in at $5 or under.  I had read about Little Morocco being midtown’s “best new street meat” and was intrigued by their shipped directly from Morocco harrissa.  After the Spicy Chicken Buradi Roll, the ample hot sauce from Moshes and Kim’s, and the doubles, my friends had proven themselves capable of handling some heat so I knew they were ready for some Moroccan harissa action.  Little Morocco’s harissa and platter did not disappoint.  It’s such a beautiful thing to introduce out of towners to the wonders of white sauce and hot sauce.

Now I must caution that at this point in the tour more moderate eaters might be feeling a little bit of stomach fatigue.  Trying to be a considerate host, I asked my guests if they were ready to pack it in.  Their response?  “We’ve got 2 more carts to go.  Let’s hit it!”  With my friends determined to complete the 10 cart challenge, we pressed on.

Stop #9: American from the Treats Truck, in position on 38th street and 5th ave

Our order: a chocolate chip cookie, $1.  It had been several stops since out waffle, so it seemed right to go for another sweet treat and what better to represent American comfort food than a chocolate chip cookie?  Some of Kim’s treats tend towards the pricier side, but at $1 for a nice, soft chocolate chip filled cookie, this is one of my favorite Treats Truck bargains.

Stop #10: Jamaican from the Jamaican Dutchy Cart, west 51st and 7th Ave

Our order: a beef patty, $2.  The Jamaican beef patty was supposed to have come early in our tour which I had planned to conclude at the Treats Truck, not far from my friends’ hotel, but unfortunately I hadn’t taken note that the Caribbean  Spice Truck, normally parked near the Biryani Cart on 46th, had gone missing, so for our last stop we back tracked up to the Jamaican Dutchy cart on 51st street for their beef patty. A perfect spicy cap to our 10 cart tour.

And now the final tally:
Bratwurst from Schnitzel & Things: $5
Spicy Buradi Chicken Kati Roll from Biryani Cart: $3
Falafel Balls from Moshe’s: $2
Fried Whiting Hero from Kim’s: $3.50
Chocolate and Strawberry Smothered Liege Wafel from Wafels & Dinges: $5
Doubles from Trini Paki Boys Cart: $2
Chicken Tamale from El Rey de Sabor: $1.50
Chicken and Lamb Combo over Rice from Little Morocco: $5
Chocolate Chip Cookie from Treats Truck: $1
Beef Patty from Jamaican Dutchy: $2
Total spent on lunch: $30 or $10 per person.  Mission accomplished!

A few post tour notes.  We started our tour at close to noon on a Thursday afternoon and didn’t run into too much line trouble.  Eating as we went along we managed to finish the 10 carts within about 2 hours and this included me playing tour guide filling my guests in on each cart as we went along.  If you were meeting up with a group of midtown based friends you could probably do a similar “tour” in less time in picnic form by dividing and conquering with the food pick up.

This particular tour comes with a shitload of food for three people. If you have a moderate to light appetite you could do less carts for a cheaper per head lunch price and still come away satisfied or do the same amount of carts and just invite a 4th person along.  I crafted our stops based on their convenience to my Rock Center office and with the exception of the beef patty snafu, kept us heading in a southward direction focusing predominantly on carts in the 6th ave vicinity.  The stops were based on some of my favorites with ML recommendations that I’ve never tried mixed in and the entire tour was crafted to hit the 10 carts, 10 different cuisines at $10 per person in a decently timely manner on a Thursday.  When creating your own food tour you might have other priorities or other must visit stops.  And with the twitter trucks like Wafels & Dinges, Treats Truck and Schnitzel and Things be sure to always check their twitter for location.

What stops would you have on your own midtown cart tour?

With the Vendy Award nominated Jamaican Dutchy cart on vacation for another two weeks, Midtown Lunch’ers are being forced to get their jerk chicken fix elsewhere these days.  Caribbean Spice (on 46th and 6th) has always been an ok substitute, but I thought it might be time to suck it up and brave the line at the Jerk Pan cart on 48th and Park. Much like the Dutchy when they first opened back in 2007, Jerk Pan popped up back in July and instantly had a line that seemed to move at a snail’s pace.  The menu (and wait times) were clearly meant to be modeled after the Dutchy, but is the food as good?

I finally got a chance to check it out on Monday, and boy am I glad I finally did.

I actually tried to hit up the Jerk Pan cart last week but it had disappeared because of some “legal issues”, which I can only assume had something to do with their cart because on Monday they returned with a full blown truck.  Their menu structure will look familiar to anybody who has eaten at the Dutchy before, with small, large and “mini” portions.  The mini is just meat plus rice and peas, and comes in a small styrofoam container (prices range from $6 to $6.50).  The “small” is not small at all, with meat, rice and peas, and your choice of one side dish (prices range from $7.50 to $9.50).  A large is just the same thing, but more of it.  For meats you get your choice of  jerk chicken, oxtails, curry chicken or goat, brown stewed chicken, or fried chicken. They also have fish on fridays, plus patties, daily soup specials, and festival (a sweet cornmeal fritter.)

If you want a combo of meats, they’ll do it but the price varies depending on the meat.  Normally they’ll only do 2, but I convinced the guy to give me three so I could try more stuff.  (It was clearly over the ML price limit, but it was for “research”!)

Here it is dish by dish…

The jerk chicken.  Just like the Dutchy, Jerk Pan tops their version with a jerk chicken “sauce”.  It’s more spicy than sweet (always a good thing), but has a nice tang.  Off to a good start.

The oxtails.  Jerk Pan’s oxtails are tender, but not fall off the bone tender (for my taste they could have been stewed a tad longer.)  But the meat and fat were tasty enough, and the sauce completely knocked it out of the park.  Thick and complex, the oxtail sauce has this great sweetness that I think might come brown sugar (the guy in the truck wouldn’t tell me.)  They know it’s good too… of all the things I ordered, he chose the oxtail sauce to pour over my rice and peas.

Curry goat.  Also delicious, the goat was fall off the bone tender and the curry was really flavorful.  For those of you who don’t like bones in your lunch, I’d avoid the goat- or most of the stuff from this cart for that matter.  (Although you’re doing yourself a huge disservice.  Bones is where all the flavor is!)

We also tried a side order of their fried chicken, which they offer to top with a sweet and sour sauce.  Fried chicken from a truck is a double edged sword.  Fry it to order, and the already long wait times would likely triple.  Fry it advance, and it’s tough to keep it crisp on the outside and moist on the inside.  Their version is fried in advance, so the skin isn’t as crispy as it could be and the white meat was a little dry… but the flavor is delicious.  I can’t even imagine how good this fried chicken would be if it was hot and fresh!  Even dry, and lukewarm it was still totally worth it.

The brown stewed chicken was fine, but the mild flavor was no match for the punch of the other dishes.

Finally, I forgot to take a photo of the patties- but they were really spectacular.  They don’t skimp on the flavor, and the moist and spicy beef filling provided the perfect contrast to the flaky crust (which was also not dried out.)  Don’t know if it was just a lucky break, or the fact that I was there on the early side… but either way.  Patties = highly recommended.  (They also have spicy chicken, but I didn’t try those.)

With so many mediocre options in Midtown, it’s always so exciting to try a new spot where you just take a bite and immediately think “this is awesome.”  No need for excuses, or a +/-, or trying to justify a place as being “only good for Midtown”.  Jerk Pan, like the Dutchy, is just damn good Jamaican food.  If I worked on the west side, would I walk all the way to Park Ave for it?  Probably not (unless the Dutchy was on vacation.)  But for all of you who work on the East side, your long walks to 7th Avenue for good Jamaican food from a cart are over!  Jerk Pan is the real deal.  I pity the fool who works directly in between.  I don’t know what I’d do.

Jerk Pan Truck, SE Corner of 48th & Park,  menu

Check out the new cart’s complete menu after the jump…

Click on photos for larger version

Early adopters, let us know how it is in the comments.

Speaking of Jamaican carts, the Caribbean Spice Cart (on 46th btw. 6+7th) has rebranded themselves the “Jamaican Food” cart:

And I heard via Twitter that they got a little visit from Kelly Choi, so I’m guessing we can be prepared to see them covered on NYC TV sometime soon.

Related:
Caribbean Spice Cart Distinguishes Itself With Coco Bread & Roti
Recession Special: Jamaican Dutchy Chicken Mini Meals Now $5

Check them both out after the jump… 

Early on in the challenge a commenter suggested that the Dutchy should do a jerk chicken sandwich on coco bread, and quite frankly, why would they not? So here it is… the Dutchy’s jerk chicken sandwich on wheat coco bread. Tasty… spicy… delicious. And at $5, it’s tough to complain. It’s a boneless, skinless chicken breast so it’s nowhere near as tasty or moist as the regular jerk chicken from the Dutchy (bones + fatty skin = deliciousness) but it’s still good enough. And if you consider this an issue they’ll be happy to pour some of the jerk sauce over the chicken in the sandwich (something I highly recommend). You also have to like coco bread as well, which is a thicker breadier kind of affair (kind of like challah or egg bread). I’m totally down. Lettuce, tomato and hot sauce round out the nicely spiced sandwich. Surprisingly though, the vegetarian sandwich is kind of where it’s at…

…if for no other reason then I’m not convinced this doesn’t have any meat in it! The Dutchy does the same thing as the jerk chicken sandwich, but instead of chicken they used a baked tofu thing that’s been cut into strips. More the consistency of tempeh (if you’ve ever had that) the tofu is meaty and really flavorful, and ends up being a little more moist than the jerk chicken. If you are a meat lover through and through, this is not going to be a substitute- but for those who are into garden burgers, and vegetarian options- this one is top notch. (I’m still not convinced there’s no meat in it… it’s that flavorful!) Also $5, and it comes on the same coco bread, with lettuce, tomato, and hot sauce. Not the biggest sandwiches in the world, but for $5 you have plenty left under the $10 cap for some chips… or fried plantains.

Jamaican Dutchy Cart, NE Corner of 51st Street & 7th Avenue

“You look like Harold.” Wait, what? My name is Danny. “You know, from Harold and Kumar.” I chuckled along with the friendly cashier lady at Caribbean Kitchen, but really all I wanted was to pay for the jerk chicken and be on my merry way. Actually what I really wanted was a substitute for the Jamaican Dutchy Cart because for those of us who work in the Southern part of Midtown it is out of the way sometimes. No worries though, Caribbean Kitchen to the rescue. Semi-hidden from foot trafic, Caribbean Kitchen is located in this alley in between 7th and 8th ave. You might think an ‘alley’ sounds shady, but as you can see from the map, it’s really quite close to Macy’s and Madison Square Garden.

The menu covers all the common Caribbean dishes like curried chicken, curried goat, oxtail, jerked chicken, jerked pork, stewed chicken, and escovitched fish. They have small portions ($7 to $8) or large ($8 to $10), but unless you have munchies like Harold and Kumar, you can probably get by quite nicely on the small. You get the standard option of white rice, or rice and peas, a little bit of vegetables, some plantains, and the meat of your choice. 

First time in, I ordered the jerk chicken and was very satisfied. At Caribbean Kitchen it has a spicy kick that keeps you digging in bite after bite. They actually spoon some sauce over your plate at the end (if you want it), but I think you can skip it and won’t miss much. It detracts from the awesomeness that is the jerked chicken. If you want sauce/gravy, putting it on your rice may be the better option. While in line, some other guy requested ox tail gravy to go on top of his rice, which sounded like it may be the best choice. But if you like oxtail gravy, why not get the oxtail? What a great idea! (pats self on the back… what? Stop looking at me like that, I’m not Harold)

The oxtail is probably going to be one of my go-to lunches for lower Midtown. The meat is not ‘falling off the bone’ but it is tender enough and super yummy.  Oh- and make sure you get the extra oxtail gravy on your rice. I could drink that gravy for days. Flavor wise, I still like Jamaican Dutchy more, but Caribbean Kitchen is right up there.  And if you work in lower Midtown, it’s a great substitute.

THE +

• Jerked Chicken and oxtail are bangin
• Good substitute if you do not work by Jamaican Dutchy
• Slightly better deal than Jamaican Dutchy
• If your co-workers don’t like Carribean food, there is a burger place in the same store
• The cashier lady might think you’re an Asian actor

THE -

• If you love Jamaican Dutchy, this will not unseat the champion
• Slightly out of the way for many Midtown Lunchers

Carribean Kitchen, One Penn Plaza (but actual location is between 33rd & 34th St. in an alley between 7+8th Avenues), 212-290-2864

Photos and post by Danny from Food in Mouth

Tomorrow is Jamaica’s Independence Day, and Golden Krust  is celebrating by selling their jerk chicken patties for 99 cents the entire month of August. With the Jamaican Dutchy (on 51st & 7th) readily available, I’ve never given GK their full +/-, but with 4 locations in Midtown- maybe it’s time. Thoughts?

4 Locations in Midtown:

• 33rd btw. Mad+5th
• 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th
• 3rd Ave. btw. 43+44th
• Grand Central Terminal Food Court (although this is just a kiosk, so I’m not positive if they are participating in the August promotion)

A few weeks ago I wrote about how the new Carribean Spice cart (on 46th btw. 6+7th) was distinguishing themselves from the Jamaican Dutchy (on 51st & 7th) by offering coco bread, the perfect vehicle for a Jamaican patty.  Well, it turns out the Jamaican Dutchy has coco bread as well… in fact they’ve always had it.  For $3.25 it’s still the perfect snack, and now that I know the Dutchy has it, roti is really the only reason to go to the Carribean Spice cart.

Oh… and speaking of the Jamaican Dutchy, they’ve got a new LED screen:

Exciting news for the people who wondered if anybody would ever upstage that hot dog cart on 53rd & 5th.

Julia Moskin has a great Jamaican jerk feature in this mornings New York Times and guess who should pop up, but our good friends at the Jamaican Dutchy (on 51st & 7th Ave.)  She interviews owner Oneil Reid and calls his jerk chicken one of “the best truck lunches in the city.”  No argument here.

But the most interesting part to me is what the article had to say about jerk pork, and why Oneil doesn’t offer it at the Dutchy:

He said that he would like to make jerk pork sometimes, but that many of the other food vendors, and the taxi drivers who inch past his cart in Midtown traffic, are Muslim, and the pork smell bothers them.

That’s a bummer, although entirely commendable.