Midtown Lunch

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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Last week I got an e-mail from Ziaul at the Halal Gyro Express cart that’s a fixture of William St. between Maiden Lane and John St., rightly saying that this site has never given them a review even though they’ve been there for seven years. I was kind of confused when he gave the name of the cart, but quickly figured out it it must be the generic-looking Xpress Power Lunch cart that I’ve walked by a million times but never eaten at. Did they have “the best street food downtown” as Ziaul said? That was up to my stomach to find out.

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The Financial District now has two food trucks (here’s the other one) with patriotic themes, as I’ve seen the USA Halal truck parked in the same spot on Maiden Lane (btw. William & Pearl) two days in a row. The menu seems pretty by-the-book with lamb/chicken in pita or over rice, along with falafel and fish. I had already eaten so I didn’t actually try the food but you can’t miss the insane American flag decals enveloping the entire truck (or the string of lights on one side). Somehow this is still less showy than Gyro House’s gigantic scrolling electronic sign.

I’ve always wondered how the lamb/chicken over rice combo ($6) was at the Gyro House cart parked at Ann St. & Park Row. You can’t help but smell it every time you head to J&R Electronics, which it is parked directly in front of. I’d have to say after eating it that there were two things going on in their combo over rice that you’ll probably either love or hate.

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If you frequent the street food carts on Broadway between Liberty and Cedar streets you’re probably familiar with Zak’s Halal cart (later known by the man always working there, who told Daniel his name was Musthafa). A while ago, this affable man disappeared from the cart and I’ve never seen him working there since. There was always a line at this cart, mostly for the awesome chicken over rice plate. Lately I’ve noticed that line has disappeared and I was curious if the food had gone downhill or if everyone else was just suspicious with unknown faces cooking the food. So I did the only reasonable thing and went to eat a plate of street meat. Update: As you can see from the comment below, and confirmed by a couple of lunchers, Mustafa is back! He was just on vacation.

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There’s an otherwise nondescript street meat cart on Gouverneur Lane (at Water) called Desi Food that has all manner of fish specialties posted on the front. The couple of times I’ve stopped by, they never have these things but what they do have every day is chicken biryani and since it’s been awhile since I’ve eaten a version from a cart I figured it was worth a shot since the $6 price tag wasn’t exactly going to break the bank.

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It’s always a gamble when you head to any street cart with one item in mind, keeping your fingers crossed they will have it when you get there. I headed to HM Halal on Greenwich (nr. Beach) in Tribeca with the intention of trying the salmon over rice after a rave from lunch’er Mike. And I didn’t really have a back up plan should they not have that one item, so of course when I got there and was told they had already sold out I did the next best thing which was ordering a chicken and lamb combo over rice ($5.50). After all, it had been a while since I’d had the cheap lunch of kings. Read more »