Street food is chancey. Will you get a cheap lunch, or pain and time-consuming digestive problems?
Fortunately, there is a simple way to find safe and tasty cart food. People vote
with their feet, and they don't line up to get poisoned, this side of Guyana.
So look for a line and find fine food.
This cart serves chicken or lamb, in a little box with rice ($3), on pita ($3?) or a big box with rice and salad ($5?).
Many other carts sell the same thing, but this one does it well.
Hallo Berlin
Northeast corner of 54th & fifth (off the map)
The owner of Hallo Berlin restaurant runs this cart. Prices have risen to $6 or $7, but
it is the same sausages and potatoes as the restaurant. It's very good. No beer though. And there is usually a long slow line.
With enough floor space to easily accomodate a bridge team, Shuvam Deli
has a dependable and almost unvarying menu of bengali-tinged foods at sub-reasonable prices.
The $3.75 chicken curry (chicken, rice, do you want beans & 'salad' (shredded lettuce and machine-edible tomatoes))
is a rainy-day comfort, goat curry is sometimes available, and there is fish (fish and chipsish) on friday (early).
These are also $3.50, or perhaps $4.
The tuna on whole wheat (I still don't want the 'salad') is as good as anyone's, and as exciting.
There is an adequate selection of loose beers at decent prices, if you don't feel like working this afternoon.
But avoid the wrapped, soggy, overpriced danishes and the like.
Ethnic pride has kept me from even sampling the wrapped buttered bagels.
Excellent breakfasts of the egg & stuff on a roll variety, in the $2 range.
They also make sandwiches on bagels for a few cents more.
There are adequate lunch sandwiches of sliced deli meats.
Dress is clearly casual.
The wrapped danishes are better than at Shuvam, but the stuff on any cart is better and cheaper than these.
On 38th, between 7th & 8th (a few stores in from 8th) on the south side of the street.
Cute counter girls can scarcely ameliorate the minimum-security prison feel of this working-class hash house.
The $3.75 pile of rice with three steam-table choices could feed two easily.
The steam table changes daily and with the seasons, and cover a wide range of food types.
I generally get one completely vegetable choice (green stuff or bok choy) and two meats.
You can take the food out, or eat at a table full of silent, sullen men.
There is also self-serve free water.
There is also a small selection of pastries (melon or black bean cakes, and sesame-coated rice balls with black bean paste in them).
Two nearby and substantially identical shops 38st between 7th & 8th, and 9av between 39th & 40th
Featuring soft flour tortillas and hard taco shell fare, these asian-run texmexy shops owe little to any culinary tradition more exotic than Taco Bell.
But the items are cheap ($1-$2 per handful) and pretty good, too. I especially like #1 (meat wrapped in a soft taco).
$0.99 Pizza
Northeast corner of 36th and 8th, on 36th.
Just what is says. A slice of pizza ordinaire for $0.99.
They serve it out of a window, and you eat it on the street.
The usual condiments (red pepper, garlic, oregano, salt, napkins) are on the counter.
When you're done, dump the paper plate in the garbage can and leave.
Lucky 301
Right next to $0.99 Pizza
If you are not totally put off by the tray of goose feet in the window(!!),
they sell one extreme cheap treat: A little square foam container (the kind
usually used for a single burger) filled with fried rice, and two fried chicken legs,
for $2.50. It even tastes good.
There are tables, and even a vegetable store, though I have used neither.
Bakery
On 35th, between 7th & 8th (near 8th) on the south side of the street.
How did the thousands-of-years-old Chinese civilization, with so many incredible accomplishments, completely miss inventing dessert?
We may never know, but if you like what they have come up with instead, here is a good place to get it.
There are little dough-wrapped chopped meaty things and bean-filled things and little egg-custards in baked shells
and sesame balls and... well, lots and lots of stuff, all in the $0.50 to $0.90 range.
And good coffee too.
There are also cakes, made with risen dough and icing.
They are disappointing--extremely sweet but tasteless, like the proverbial bad musician who plays all the notes and none of the music.
I generally keep to the solid dough and pounded rice items.
On 36th, between 7th & 8th (near 8th) on the south side of the street.
The deal here is deep-fried fish, on bread or with french fries.
Grays Papaya
Northwest corner of 37th and 8th.
Hot dogs. Big peculiar drinks. They raised their prices recently, but it's still pretty cheap. Especially for a lone hot dog.
Kashmir Express
On the west side of 8th, between 39th & 40th streets.
Vegetable samosas at $1.00 each are all I ever get here. They are quite tasty when filled with fresh, hot, microwaves.
Trio French Bakery
On the east side of 9th, between 36th & 37th streets.
Basically a pretty good bread and roll bakery, with some ordinary bakery cookies.
For lunch, there is a limited selection of good, simple delicatessen sandwiches ($4-$5).
There is a hard-working stove to cook up the hot sandwiches. I especially like the hot pastrami.
You spent Five Dollars on lunch?
