Midtown Lunch

There are some carts in the Financial District that you kind of have to be lucky to catch, and such is the case of R. Retha’s. The cart – formerly the called Jamaican Dutchy, parking in Midtown – materialized downtown at the corner of William & Beaver before it was seen being towed away with a yellow sticker meaning it had been shuttered by the Department of Health.

Then there was word that the cart had returned, but every time I’d walked down in search of curried meats with some peas and rice, it was nowhere to be found. Had it disappeared again?

The good news is they’re still parking in the Financial District (or at least they were on Monday in the pouring rain), but you have to test your luck to see if they’re there. And if they are, might I suggest some curried goat? 

Instead of R. Retha, there were two gentlemen working at the cart when I got there. On offer for the day were three chicken dishes, oxtail, and goat curry. The latter sounded good so I ordered the mini meal ($7) which I’ve found is enough food for me at lunch.

Sometimes it’s a gamble for me to order the gamier meats, but this was some delicious goat. Yes, my hands were stained yellow from gnawing the meat off the bones, but it was super tender and flavorful without too much fat. I devoured it.

The peas and rice were soaked with curry from the goat and therefore was not dry as is sometimes the case with the dish. You also get a chunk of fried plantain and some cabbage and other veg which was the weakest part of the meal for me.

One warning – the hot sauce contains either habanero or scotch bonnet peppers and packs a serious punch. I only got a few dribbles on mine, and was happy for that.

I wanted to try the stew peas, but they’re only available on Thursday. I’m glad that goat curry was on offer, and it was one of the times that I didn’t regret my decision to get a gamey meat that I had to gnaw of of bones in my lunch.

R. Retha’s Cart, corner of William and Beaver streets