Midtown Lunch

It turns out the Trini Paki Boys cart (on 43rd and 6th) is not serving their biriyani every single day. This week it’s been a bit more sporadic. Luckily tomorrow is Thursday and you can always count on the biriyani on Thursdays…

Related:
The Hidden Delicious Mysteries of the Trini-Paki Boys Cart
Trini Paki Boys Cart May Serve Biryani Every Day This Week

One year ago this month 20 Midtown Lunch’ers converged in Bryant Park to taste 13 plates of street meat and rate them in an event that became known as Street Meat Palooza.  The Famous Halal Cart on 53rd & 6th was crowned the winner, and we vowed to return one year later to give another set of carts a chance at unseating the champ.  Last week a new group of lunchers once again converged in Bryant Park to blind taste test and rate 15 different street meat carts, many of them nominated by you.  Food was consumed, scores were given, and a new winner has been crowned.  Ladies and gentleman, Midtown Lunch’ers, and street food enthusiasts from around the world, I’m excited to give you STREET MEAT PALOOZA 2.

Some of you may be asking, “What exactly is street meat?”  Well, for the purposes of this contest it is an order of chicken and lamb, served over rice, with “white sauce” and hot sauce.  In Midtown it is often referred to as “Halal Food” (the Muslim equivalent of Kosher), but in this case the method of preparation (or its degree of holiness) is not important.  As long as you serve something called chicken and lamb over rice (with white sauce and hot sauce) it could be Palooza’d.  7 carts from last year were granted automatic entry, while the other 8 were culled from your nominations.  Carts received separate scores for chicken, lamb, rice, white sauce, hot sauce, and value, plus received an overall score (the most important.)  Every judge was also asked to choose a top 5 at the very end.

Keep in mind there are no losers in Street Meat Palooza, just different degrees of winning (I see the good in all street meat).  Just getting picked to participate meant that somebody likes the cart, and every single entry showed up in at least one judge’s top 5.  In other words, this isn’t a contest as much as a celebration- and just because a new champion has been crowned doesn’t meat that last year’s winner is no longer great.  It just means that on any given day, any number of amazing Midtown street food vendors might be putting out “The Best” plate of street meat.

Here are the results…

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Great news from the Trini Paki Boys cart on 43rd and 6th.  If you didn’t get a chance to try their chicken biryani special this past Thursday, you may have 5 more chances this week.  I couldn’t confirm the rumor with the cart, but I read this Friday on twitter: “Trini-paki boys sold out of rice and doubles today. Biryani all next week thanks to all the new business.” If true, this would be huge news (although not surprising at all.)  No harm in checking it out if you’re interested.  Worst comes to worst, if there’s no biryani you end up with a delicious plate of chicken over rice with yogurt and Trinidadian pepper sauce.

Related:
The Hidden Delicious Mysteries of the Trini-Paki Boys Cart

Trini Paki Boys Cart, 2006

I think it’s so cool that even after doing this for 3+ years I can still be surprised by something that had been right under my nose the entire time.  It’s the beauty of lunching in Midtown. No matter how long you do it, no matter how much you eat out, there is always something new to discover.  And sometimes it’s not even new… just new to you.  Such is the case with the Trini Paki Boys Cart on 43rd & 6th.

This cart really needs no introduction.  It’s been around for god knows how long (possibly 25+ years), and it has always been considered one of the best chicken and rice carts in Midtown.  Lately, it hasn’t gotten as much press (or long lines) as the cart on 53rd & 6th or the Biryani Cart- but if you had to pick a hall of fame of Midtown street meat, it would easily make the first ballot.  I first wrote about them in September of 2006, and they competed in last year’s Street Meat Palooza. I knew there was always something a bit different about their food, and there has been a lot of speculation about their name (Pakistan I get, but Trinidad?  Where’s the connection?)  It’s even a favorite of food media royalty, like Ruth Reichl and Pete Wells.  But admittedly it’s been awhile since I’ve actually eaten at the cart, and amazingly enough it took a trip with a New York Times reporter to unlock its full awesomeness.

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For years the chicken and rice cart on 43rd just East of 6th Avenue has towed the line of relative annoynymity and street meat fame. Often referred to as the “Trini Pak Boys” the cart has always served up a popular Indian/Pakistani tasting version of chicken over rice, but their sign has always been pretty crap-tastic. Hand scrawled, with no real indication of what they wanted to be called, the original sign has finally been replaced. The cart is now officially known as the Trini Paki Boys Halal Food, and the full menu is layed out in an easy to read format.

In our Street Meat Palooza post, the cart scored surprisingly low- but we were criticized for getting the yellow rice instead of the white basmati rice. I’ll make sure they get their fair shake in Street Meat Palooza 2!

So, Fashion Week is almost over, and despite it being only one block away from Bryant Park, I didn’t get my picture of a model eating at the Chicken & Rice Cart on 43rd and 6th ave.  But it didn’t stop me from enjoying a medium order of delicious chicken, served over rice, at this Midtown street meat institution.

There are many halal carts, serving many things in Midtown.  And if you are one of the adventurous lunch eaters willing to eat at the Midtown carts, you know that they are not all created equal.  Not only do they all serve their own “type” of halal food, the quality can vary immensely depending on what cart you decide to get your street meat from.  The undisputed “Chicken & Rice” king, seems to be the cart on 53rd and 6th (it was a Vendy Award runner up for best cart last year).  But unfortunately, that cart doesn’t open up until 7pm.  So for lunch, the cart that comes up the most is the Chicken & Rice cart on the SE corner of 43rd & 6th.

Pictures and the +/- after the jump…

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