Archive for 'Halal Gyro Express Cart'

Afghani-Style Fish Plate At Halal Gyro Express Not As Fiery As It Appears

Not all street meat carts serve a seafood option, and even if they do it’s usually an afterthought and not offered every day. One of the best versions in the Financial District can be found at the $5.50 Lunch Truck on Ann St., with a spicy Eritrean spin on white fish. Among the meat-heavy menu at the Halal Gyro Express cart there is the option of “fish over rice” and that is where the description ends. Everything else I’ve had at this cart featuring Afghan food has been good so I had faith in the seafood.  Read more »

Halal Gyro Express Brings The FiDi BBQ Chicken Lo Mein Mash Up

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 »

Halal Gyro Express Cart Is Back In Action!

Maybe I was the only one alarmed with an imposter halal cart started parking at William St. & Maiden Lane where Halal Gyro Express has parked for some time.

Yesterday, I walked by and they were back! Rest easy everyone, you can get your bargain lamb chops and other Afghani delights again.

Has Anyone Seen The Halal Gyro Express Cart?

It’s sometimes hard to keep track of all the halal carts downtown – especially in the Financial District where they are fairly rampant. Yet, there are a few popular ones that serve things other than the lamb/chicken/falafel trinity that are easier to notice if they’re missing.

These reasons made it easy to spot the halal cart with a generic menu that was parked where Halal Gyro Express has been for at least a couple of years, at William St. and Maiden Lane. You may know this as the cart that added Afghani food to their lineup, including real lamb. They also have some pretty great falafel.

I don’t know where they’ve gone, but please come back Halal Gyro Express! The neighboring Biryani House cart is great and all, but it’s no bargain lamb.

Has anyone spotted this cart somewhere else in the downtown area?

Kofta Is One Of Three Kinds Of Chicken Served At Halal Gyro Express

Whenever I walk by the Halal Gyro Express cart at William St. & Maiden Lane, there’s a line of people, and that’s because they are great at what they do.

In fact, as I visited on a recent day to try their chicken kofta (we’ll get to that in a minute), the man in line in front of me asked what the difference between the chicken tikka and the regular chicken over rice was. He got a pretty long answer which boiled down to the chicken tikka being white breast meat, and grilled to order “so it stays juicy” while the regular chicken is pre-cooked on the flat top and made from hacked up dark and white meat chicken.

There is a third poultry offering at this cart in the form of a kofta kebab, and how often do you see a non-lamb version of this dish? They pre-cook and then chop up and grill the kebab for a couple of minutes. Yes, you’re going to want to try this.

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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.

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Halal Gyro Express Harbors Some Great Falafel

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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