Midtown Lunch

When the Halal Gyro Express cart reappeared at William St. & Maiden Lane after apparently being damaged in an accident, I noticed there were some menu additions taped to the window. In addition to biryani and fish over rice, there was one that made me stop in my tracks. “Chicken lo mein? Really?” I thought to myself.

Of course I had to see what this street meat/Chinese mash up would be.  Read more »

It’s taken me awhile to check out the Cocina Mexicana cart. They showed up amid the cluster of food carts at Liberty St. and Nassau before all of them were booted from the spot. While most of the others relocated, it was Cocina Mexicana and a smoothie cart that stayed put, moving over to the opposite corner along Liberty St. Some days the cart hasn’t been there when I’ve stopped to check it out, or they still had the window shuttered when I walked by around noon.

But one day luck was with me and I got in line to see what this cart could do. My hopes ran high as I saw the man working the window making fresh guacamole in a molcajete.  Read more »

When last week Lunch’er KD1005 commented that we should check out a cart being run by a former worker at the venerable Sam’s Falafel, my ears perked up.

For you see, Sam’s is one of the longest running carts in the Financial District serving some of the best falafel platters and sandwiches, and anyone who worked there must have absorbed some of that awesomeness. Sure enough, a visit to the two-month-old Yummy Fawl & Falafel cart at Church & Barclay streets yields a similar falafel platter but there’s no line.  Read more »

At this point, I think I’ve tried most of the kati rolls available in the Financial District, at carts or brick and mortar shops. Some singed my hands with hot oil, while others were a more expensive revelation. Mostly I was looking for a happy medium between salty street meat and greasy paratha.

I still hadn’t tried the kati rolls at Shafiq’s Halal cart on Broadway at Liberty St. where I had a decent plate of chicken biryani soon after they started parking on the plaza. Believe me, it was hard to resist the lure of shrimp and fries or mini egg rolls on Shafiq’s sort of random menu, but I did.

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Halal carts also dabbling in Indian food have sprouted up all over the Financial District (OK, mostly in the northern part of the neighborhood), bringing us kati rolls and biryani alongside the usual lamb/chicken/falafel trinity.

I spotted a new entrant called Quality Biryani on Water St. at John last week and decided to stop by for lunch. A sign taped to the street side of the cart advertises that they have Bangladeshi food, likely vying for the business of cab drivers.

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It’s been awhile since something new has been added to the cart lineup at Broadway and Liberty St., or the newly relocated ones at Nassau & Liberty.

Yesterday, I spotted a new one next to Luckyim Thai, called Cocina Mexicana. They have the mostly standard lineup of tortas, burritos, tamales, quesadillas and guacamole and chips, ranging in price from $3 to $7 for the more substantial items. The menu is a bit shorter than a couple of the Mexican food trucks that park in the Financial District, but that’s to be expected as they have less space to work with.

You can expect a report soon, but if you’ve already checked out Cocina Mexicana, leave a comment about what you thought of the food.

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?  Read more »