Halal Gyro Express Adds Afghani Food, Including Real Lamb
Do you like gamey meat from a cart that does not come from a factory-formed loaf of gyro? If you’re like me, the answer to that question is yes. There are a few places in the Financial District that serve actual chunks of goat or lamb, but Halal Gyro Express is the first cart I’m aware of that sells it in the form of Afghani food. The cart got a face lift a while back after toiling away on William St. (btw. Maiden Lane & John) for many years as an Xpress Power Lunch selling the usual trinity of chicken, lamb gyro and seriously good falafel. In fact, just after I tried their street meat combo (which they still sell) was when they revamped the cart, put new pictures on the side, and added four new Afghani specialties to the menu including lamb and chicken tikka, lamb chops and chicken kofta. Check out a little lamb tikka over rice action after the jump.
If you’re in a big hurry, you should be aware that it’s about a five-1o minute wait for the new menu items, which are cooked to order. I really didn’t mind as I would rather have my lamb chunks not sitting in a steam tray getting tough, but instead freshly grilled.
The lamb tikka ($7) is not the cheapest plate of streat meat you’re going to find, but with the price of lamb elevating some carts’ lunches to more than $10 in Midtown, I really can’t complain. This is one of the best plates of street meat I’ve eaten -tying anything I’ve tried from the $5 $5.50 Lunch Truck. The lamb was tender and had good flavor to it along with some nice char from the grill. It was recommended I try the green sauce with this one, and it was tasty although there wasn’t enough of it to tell if it was mild or spicy. The rice also had good flavor and wasn’t dry, and along with the usual lettuce salad you get a smattering of pickled jalapeno and green olives.
I’m glad that a semi-generic cart upped its food game, which maybe had something to do with the Biryani House cart setting up shop on the same block. Whatever the motivation, we are the ones who come out winners.
Halal Gyro Express cart, William St. (btw. Maiden Lane & John)
Posted by Andrea H at 10:30 am, December 12th, 2011 under Cart, Halal Gyro Express Cart, Middle Eastern, Street Meat.
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The food here is excellent! They just started setting up on the corner of 19 and JFK a couple of weeks ago so I figured I’d give them a try. Awesome! Try everything, but my favorites so far have been the chicken sand rice, fish and rice and the lamb gyro. Not to mention the guys who run it are super nice. Highly recommend this cart.