Midtown Lunch

The Little Morocco cart returned to its spot at 39th and 7th a few weeks ago, but the food didn’t seem the same. Gone were the beans, corn, free french fries and cilantro. The hot sauce was noticeably weaker. This was cause for concern. Would the real Little Morocco ever return? Well, last week, there was talk in the forums that things were back to normal at Little Morocco, and that there was a new item being served (and that the usual operator had returned). Clearly I had to see it for myself.

It’s back! It’s all back! The beans, corn, french fries and cilantro (I swear there is meat and rice underneath all that). The hot sauce is hot again (though it seemed a little bit different than before, more concentrated). But what’s that mysterious little ball in the upper right hand corner?

It’s called maakooa (at least I believe that’s how the guy spelled it – I can’t find anything about these things on the internet). He said he is just trying it out by giving samples to customers, so it’s not actually on the menu yet. It’s a little ball, comparable to a falafel, except the outside isn’t crunchy. The inside is mashed potatoes, with some little potato chunks, that have a curry-ish flavor to them. The taste is a little unusual but really good. The two I had were very salty though. When I told him this he seemed surprised and immediately started working on some fresh ones.

Here’s the innards. I really hope that he adds these to the menu at some point (or at least just starts dumping them on top of my combo over rice). Regardless of potential new items though, I’m just happy to have the cart that I know and love back.

Related:
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