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I'm going to make a bold claim
Posted: 10:29 pm, October 12th, 2009 in Midtown Eating
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73 Comments
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In deference to my g/f, I will add she really liked it. I still stand by my position.
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goats i had my first taste of street meet from your truck a couple weeks ago after a scotch tasting. it hit the spot and cab drivers love it, but overall it was nothing great.
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The 53st hot sauce burns the s**t outta me. I must a lightweight.
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The white sauce isn't all mayonnaise. Certainly based in mayo, but there's an herbal spiciness (note: not peppery or hot) to it. The red isn't supposed to be hotter than anything you can get anywhere ever, it's just a hot, tasty sauce that's probably, as you note, the best red cart sauce going.
That said, I have yet to attempt the night version of the cart. Shredded lamb? Not just chopped from the spit?
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The hot sauce is one of the best street-meats wise. You find a street vendor that will use ghost chili in their food, charge the same prices, and I'll go try their face-melting action. The 53rd-6th cart's hot sauce is way better than any tabasco or watered-down hot sauces from other vendors. Only Little Morocco comes close in flavor, not heat.
As for the food, not everyone is going to like it - mainly drunkies or hungry nightclubbers grub on it at night that started their big hype (initial hype began with the cabbies) and love it more to pay the $6 dinner price. These days, I think it's only okay and don't really feel the need to eat it unless my lunch options are whittling down. I definitely choose XPL over it for taste but still a great deal at $5. You get crazy full. If you don't like it, spend your $5 somewhere else or pay much more for a better meal. I think I might go grab me the fattening platter today...Hmmmm.I still think shake shack is better than the even further well-hyped Burger Joint and their decent (but expensive) cheeseburgers.
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Only the chicken should be shredded meat. The lamb is chunks of meat.
White sauce is ok and not too overpowering or drowning the hell out of combo with rice. I'm more about the flavors in the hot sauce.
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agree completely, the hot sauce is good and actually hot but I think everything else is always a huge disappointment, Trini Paki Boys own 53rd
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I will say the 53rd carts may be better during the day, and of course, my expectations were real high, but I was disappointed overall (although props to the real hot sauce they give you). I used 2 hot sauces, and that was the best part of the meal. The $6 price per platter is normal as well--I pay that much where I live, so no problem there.
@ Steve re 27th + madison cart: You gotta go at night for the lamb platter, it's different than during the day. Dureing the day, I suggest getting the chicken. I get a huge chicken hero there for 4 bucks! At night, get the lamb or lamb and falafal. There are 2 different trucks in the same place, I think different owners, and definitely different recipes, but always there 24/7 (except Muslim holidays) and always solid. If my cart is considered "nothing great," I would call the 53rd cart "total sh*t!" LOL
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Oh, and my lamb looked like the chicken--shredded, not chunks, as the 2 meats were indistinguishable from one another! It looked like babyfood or saw dust. I actually smelled a napkin I used and it smelled like lipton chicken soup chicken! Wierd!
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The eternal debate over the halal cart white sauce rages on. Wars have been started over less.
Even Zach doesn't know: (http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/whats-in-the-white-sauce-he-doesnt-want-to-know/)
I just like to think it's mayo, vinegar or yogurt for tang, and cocaine for that extra flavor component.
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For the 53rd cart, my guess is mainly mayo, a touch of sour cream, and flecks of dill.....I didn't notice any coke in mine, but maybe they held back because I had a dog with me(which they openly expressed did not please them as they were "afraid")...wussies!
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at night...the 53rd street truck def has shredded to incy wincy mincy peices of lamb...they have the lamb on a seperate cart just for cooking and choppinng ednlessly.....i know...cuz i been coming here every friday or sat since.......01 =(
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Yea not too into the night cart anymore. The day is definitely my favorite. Less of an insane wait compared to night. 15mins instead of 30-45 mins? I only go to night cart if my friends want to have it. Otherwise I'm not willing to wait.
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I decided to take a Columbus Day night adventure with my dog Max and try the 53rd St halal cart to see what all the hype was about. Despite the annoyingly long line, it moved quickly enough.I got home a short time ago, and warmed the food up, and then poured on the white and hot sauce. First off, the hot sauce is nice, but not ghost chili by any means! I will say it was good for a cart, maybe the best I've had, but it's not much hotter than regular decent hot sauce that i get. However, that white sauce is awful! It's pure mayo! Bluck! Yuck! And that shredded lamb and chicken--flavorless! Bland! WTF!!! This is another shakeshack--all hype, no substanance. I daresay my cart on madison and 28th kicks its ass easily--even with the inferior hot sauce! Boo!!!!!