This was the scene we encountered on our way back to our hotel from Roxy Delicatessen. (That’s our hotel to the right of the line.) Surely with a line that reached the end of the block, the food from this tiny food cart had to be good and I definitely needed to find out for myself. I figured, what’s the worse that could happen from eating from a street cart – unwelcomed stomach turns, possibly nausea or worse, mystery street meat… but what the hell… there was a 24-Hour Duane Reade pharmacy down the block where I could pick up some Tums or Immodium, if I had to. So I made it a mission to try the cart out at least once during my trip.

The next day, after a morning spent touring uptown Manhattan, bits and pieces of Harlem and some shopping at Macy’s at Herald Square, on the way back to our hotel, we stopped by the Halal cart across the street from our hotel. (Halal food is like Kosher food. Except Halal food refers to Arabic/Muslim food and Kosher refers to Hebrew/Jewish food.) The cart has a fairly simple menu – chicken over rice, chicken over salad, lamb over rice, lamb over salad, or combination – over rice or over salad. I think they also had lamb or chicken gyros, but I wasn’t really paying that much attention.

What I couldn’t get over though, was the fact that there was no line, like there was the night before.

So I decided on the combination lamb and chicken over rice and when we got back to the hotel room, and opened up that little round foil container, this is what greeted me…

Half of the bottom of the plate was filled with a salad of sorts (mainly lettuce), the other half was filled with rice. On top of the rice was the lamb (bottom left of the plate) and the chicken (bottom right of the plate). They also give you 3 pita quarters, that were a bit dry, but decent enough to eat, since it was coated with the sauce. The entire plate was then doused with a generous portion of white sauce. The guy asked me if I also wanted hot sauce on the plate, but not being sure how hot it would be, I opted to have the hot sauce on the side.

I was pleasantly surprised. The lamb had a texture that was more like a ground lamb and was lightly seasoned with a bunch of spices that I could not quite pinpoint. No gaminess to it at all, which I was afraid of. The chicken was also lightly seasoned, though a bit on the dry side. The rice that the lamb and chicken sat on had a very faint orange color to it – saffron maybe, who knows, it could just be food coloring. But it was the sauce, I think, that held the entire dish together. I wasn’t sure if it was yogurt based or mayonnaise based, as it didn’t really have a distinct flavor that I could pick out. But without the sauce, this plate would have been sub par, edible at best. The hot sauce, unfortunately, had the heat, but lacked any flavor – the worst kind of hot sauce, if you ask me. The entire plate was pretty decent tasting. And no digestive problems arose = ).

That night, on our way back to the hotel after some cocktails on the Lower East Side, again, there was a line at the street cart.

Where was the line earlier this afternoon when we were picking up our late lunch? Could it be that the cart at night was somehow better than the one during the day? Night after night on our way back to our hotel, the lines were always this long or even longer. So finally we had a chance to do a comparison, on our last night in New York City. And let me tell you…. there certainly is a big difference between the cart that is there during the day and the cart that is there at night.

First, here is the line that we stood in. You should too. You will not regret it. Trust me…

The workers (at least 3 to 4 at a time) work at lightning speed, so the line moves pretty quick. By the time you try to figure out what you want, you’re already at the front of the line.

Here are some scenes from the front of the line. Make note of the guys’ YELLOW SHIRT WITH THEIR LOGO. I think it said something like 6th Ave. & 53rd St. Halal Gyro & Chicken. Also make note of the YELLOW BAGS WITH THEIR LOGO. Trust me… this is important.

Again, I decided on the combination lamb and chicken over rice – so that I could make a true comparison. And there was a significant difference. See…

First of all, let’s talk portion. This plate had a lot more than the one that we had a few days before. I could barely get the lid over the mountain of lamb and chicken.

Next, let’s talk visual presentation, texture and flavor. The lamb was browned a bit more and had more flavor than the one that we had a few days before. The chicken was not as dry and also had a bit more flavor. The pita slices were “fresher” and softer, I wish the pieces were a bit bigger though – this pita was good!

Next, let’s talk condiments. Instead of putting the sauce on for you, on the side of the cart are some squeeze bottles of this magical stuff. And the white sauce here was FANTASTICAL! You have the option of putting as much or as little as you want. You’ll want a lot of this stuff… (From the picture above, you can tell that I didn’t get the memo on how good their white sauce was… I wish I had put a lot more on my plate…) They’ve got squeeze bottles of hot sauce too, but be forewarned – this stuff is super hot. A little certainly goes a long way.

Here’s another look at my combination plate. I lifted some of the chicken off of the rice so that you could see the bright orange-ness of the rice. Pretty, ain’t it? I had maybe less than a teaspoon of the hot sauce sparingly sprinkled on the top of the plate and I was already grabbing my drink after almost every single bite. It was HOTTTT! And flavorful, too…

This was good! Like really good! You can’t find anything like this in Las Vegas. It’s the perfect cure for late night, after-bar-hopping munchies. I’ve been craving for this like you cannot even imagine – and it’s a craving that will remain unsatisfied until my trip back. I’m even a fan of theirs on Facebook – I LOVE me some CHICKEN & RICE…53rd and 6th!!!

I know… I’m a GEEK!

When I got back to Vegas, I did a little research on this wonderful cart located on 6th Avenue and 53rd Street, and it’s no question that this cart – the night cart – is famous – like UBER FAMOUS!

It’s got a cult following, which explains the long lines. Apparently, during the day, the cart is run by the “fake” halal guys, who try to pass themselves off as being affiliated with the night time cart. The “fake” guys have the run of the southwest corner of 6th Avenue and 53rd Street from 10-ish in the morning to around 6:30 p.m.

The real deal Halal guys start to set up shop around 7pm every night and the line already starts forming before they even open up. Every night, this corner was crazy busy. I almost expected a late-night rave to break out with the post-club/bar crowd that seemed to gather at this corner, with one weekend night even requiring police assistance to do crowd control. Check out this article that I came across. If you can get stabbed to death just for cutting in line, then the food has to be THAT GOOD.

I hear that the real guys have a cart set up during the day on the southeast corner of 6th Avenue and 53rd Street.

Look for the YELLOW SHIRTS and the YELLOW BAGS WITH THEIR LOGO imprinted on them. These are your only indications that you are at the right cart.

If you do not see the yellow shirts or yellow bags, run…. fast… and eat somewhere else….

Here’s one last look…

<- combination plate from the “fake” cart…

<- combination plate from the “real” cart…

Not too difficult a decision to make huh?!?

So if you’re in the neighborhood of 6th Avenue and 53rd Street anytime between 7pm and 3am, make sure to stop by and grab a chicken, lamb or combination plate from the Halal guys.

You’ll thank me for it…

Happy Spooning and Forking…

*****

The (Real) Halal Guys on 6th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) and 53rd Street

Southwest Corner of 6th Avenue and 53rd Street

Between 7pm and 3am

Southeset Corner of 6th Avenue and 53rd Street

During the day (not sure what their actual hours are)