Midtown Lunch

It’s been freezing outside, and waiting in the cold for food doesn’t sound all that appealing. That was the case for me until a craving for street meat hit. I thought about where to get my fix, and decided to branch out to one of the handful of carts on the west side of Broadway at Zuccotti Park, since we’ve basically only reviewed Sam’s Falafel. I stopped at Cairo Halal to fulfill my street meat needs. The plate of food I got had some good along with some bad.

The menu is pretty straightforward at this cart. There’s no biryani or kati rolls or fish over rice. So I went with the classic of a lamb/chicken combo over rice ($7!). Yes, the bad pops up pretty quickly here – I don’t think I’ve ever paid $7 for a combo plate at a cart before, but I’m guessing the higher price was because this is a tourist-driven area. You get a can of soda or water with your plate, which for me didn’t really offset the higher price.

The good news is that the components of the plate were solid, although I only got two measly pieces of lamb gyro. The chicken was nicely-seasoned and I liked the inclusion of sautéed onions and the bonus piece of hot pepper on top. Also in the “good” column was the yellow rice, which was moist without being greasy. Still, for the price I could have used some more meat and less rice on my plate. And more lamb…

The price is a bit high for me to return to Cairo Halal, which is a shame because the chicken and rice have a lot of things going for them.

Cairo Halal Cart, Cedar St. & Broadway