Midtown Lunch

When lofty claims such as “the best kofta kabab in NYC” emblazon the side of a food truck, I feel they must be investigated through eating. After asking you all if Ambizza Cafe truck was worthy of a review, a few of you said it was so I headed over for a kabab platter ($8), although there’s a wide variety of meats cooked on sticks available as well as a couple of burgers and some vegetarian options such as falafel and a vegetable sandwich. Really, though, this trucks seems to cater to the carnivore.

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I’ve walked by the Ambizza Cafe Truck that’s been parked at Old Slip & Water, but haven’t had the chance to try it. There was a substantial line there yesterday and a glance at the menu shows they do meat kebabs and “the city’s best kofta” as well as a lamb burger & fries for a cheap price. Has anyone tried food from this truck? I might have to check it out, simply because I don’t want to miss out on the best kofta this city has to offer.

Across the street from perpetually mobbed La Esquina you’ll find Hoomoos Asli on Kenmare St. (at Cleveland Pl.) which is the area’s answer to Crisp (that is until Taim opens its new flagship shop in Nolita) or a go-to falafel cart. The restaurant serves Israeli takes on pita sandwiches and platters and although the falafel and other vegetarian sandwiches are the cheapest options on the menu that’s often over $10, I zoned in on the chicken schnitzel sandwich and decided to make an fried addition for an extra $1.

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If you’ve worked in the Financial District, chances are you’ve heard of Alfanoose on Maiden Lane (btw. Broadway & Nassau). It’s something of an institution in that it’s been there since 1999 and at some point earned recognition for having some of the best falafel in the city. I am not really into their falafel which is in a long cylinder rather than the usual orb, offing the ratio of fluffy inside to crust, and is a couple of dollars more than you’re going to pay at any street cart.

That was the only sandwich I’d eaten there, but then a couple of weeks ago Lunch’er Deep once again recommended the kafta kebab sandwich tweaked to include fried onions. Ground lamb and beef cooked over charcoal sounded pretty great, but would it redeem Alfanoose?

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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.

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Soho is pretty barren in terms of carts or restaurants specializing in falafel, unlike other parts of downtown this site covers (OK, mostly the Financial District). There are a couple of generic street meat carts scattered around, and others like Taim Mobile and Crisp On Wheels make stops once or twice a week but that’s about it. Maybe that’s why everyone got excited when Ba’al Cafe & Falafel opened on Sullivan St. (btw. Spring & Broome). And after eating there twice, I really wish whoever owns this place would expand to the FiDi.

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I kind of love it when new trucks pop up without a hype machine (or even a Twitter account) behind them, so that you have no idea what they’re even serving until you physically go check it out. That was the case with the Marrakech Chefs truck last week, with a lunch’er tipping me off that some new truck was parked way down in the Financial District selling burgers. While this was true, once you see the non-burger items on the menu you’re probably not going to be ordering a burger. Pictures straight ahead! Read more »