Midtown Lunch

Trini Paki Boys have been with us since the early days. They were with us back in 2006 on the street corner of 43rd and 6th, where they remain today. The menu has evolved over the years and still draws in many loyal customers. I checked back and noticed they haven’t gotten any love from Midtown Lunch in a while.

But we’ve got a long history, we and the boys. They’ve participated in the Street Meat Palooza. Chris reported the Shark and Bake last year (a dish with a solid fan base in my office). The doubles have been covered by both Zach and Clay. (If you’re not familiar, doubles are a Trinidadian treat with chickpeas between two slices of roti, and at $2 a double from Trini Paki Boys, perhaps one of the best deals in midtown for cheap eats.) But besides the doubles, the veg menu has been largely unexplored.

Now I know Midtown Lunch is all about the meat, but I’m out to prove you can be just as fat when you eat your veggies. If you haven’t read any other posts about the vegetarian world of midtown, I’ll explain again my main reasoning for going meatless one day a week: variety. Just by going vegetarian one day a week, I’ve been able to try many new dishes I’ve never tried before.
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If you’ve walked by Trini Paki Boys on the SE corner of 43rd Street and Sixth Avenue lately, you may have noticed a few changes. They have a new yellow sign and a slightly fancier looking design on the back of the cart. Based on the Forums, Luncher Xerlic must have unfortunately looked for them on a day they stayed in, but the cart has been out pretty consistently.
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Once again the Vendy Awards delivered as the best food event of the year in the New York City, but for fans of the Trini Paki Boys Cart (on 43rd & 6th) it was a tad bittersweet. Fatima Khan, the owner and “Trini” part of the nominated cart, spent Friday night in the hospital- so the Trini Paki Boys never made it to the event.  We spoke to her this morning, and it doesn’t sound like anything too serious so we hope she feels better soon!  In the meantime, her son is still running the cart… so if you find yourself in the mood for some chicken over rice with Trinidadian pepper sauce, you should still be able to find the cart in their regular spot on 43rd & 6th.

It was just a few days ago that Brownie noticed the bottled mango lassi at the Famous Halal Guys cart. And now, yesterday, I was getting lunch at the Trini Paki Boys cart and as I was reaching into the cooler to grab my bottle of water, I discovered some strange bottles among the Coke and Sprite cans. In addition to Mango Lassi (which Zach tried here a few years ago and lunch’er Formz recently mentioned), they also offer Sorrel juice and something called Mauby Bark – all for $3. I was most intrigued by the latter since I had never seen it before and the photo on the bottle looked like a bunch of sticks.

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About a year ago, the Trini Paki Boys cart were forced to move from the south side of 43rd Street to the north side due to construction in the courtyard of the Grace Plaza. They were stuck in between a parade of other carts, including some other halal and hot dog vendors and their lines often got confused with the lines for El Rey del Sabor. Ironically, this was Trini Paki’s original corner when they started 23 years ago, but the food cart scene was a lot less competitive then.

This past Monday, the blue construction plywoods came down and Trini Paki Boys have returned to their previous spot. And when I walked by yesterday, it seems all their regulars have already noticed the switch because the line stretched down the block.  Along with the recent addition of shark and bake, Fatima (the owner) tells me they may soon be offering desserts. I can’t think of another halal cart that does Middle Eastern desserts. That would be truly awesome – regardless of which side of the street they’re on.

You won’t see many carts or trucks in this city selling a bake. Sure, the Sweetery and Treats Truck make tons of baked goods. But a real “bake” is a Trinidadian street dish that is eaten at breakfast or after a late night of drinking, which might actually be one in the same for some. The most popular way of serving it is with a piece of breaded and fried shark – known as a Shark and Bake, which sounds like it could be a national fast food chain.

The bake itself refers to the bread pocket that holds the fish together. It can be fried, roasted, or um, baked! I’ve only had it once before at A & A Doubles in Bed Stuy and have never seen it in Midtown. So I’m certainly no expert, but I was beyond ecstatic when I learned that the Trini Paki Boys (on 43rd and 6th) have been running it as a special and will be adding it to the regular menu.

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When Lunch’er Steve informed us that the Trini Paki Boys Cart (43rd btw. 5+6th) was now serving jerk chicken, I quickly headed over to try it out. I was treated to a delicious mess of a plate, a huge piece of bone-in chicken, covered in gravy served on a bed of rice with a healthy serving of chickpeas and vegetables next to it. When I went back for more jerk chicken, they practically forced me to try some of their new chicken tikka as well (they didn’t have to force hard). Check out the ridiculous plate of food I got for $7 after the jump.
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Thanks to Lunch’er Steve for passing along this bit of news…  Recently the Trini Paki Boys Cart (on 43rd btw. 5+6th) started serving jerk chicken on Mondays and Tuesdays and the special has become so popular they are now selling it on Wednesdays as well.  The TPB Cart has always had some great (albeit sporadic) daily specials, but this one is sounding especially good.   Check out Steve’s full report, after the jump…

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