Halal Cart

like chi'k'n riiiice? i do. not my vice per se, but here's my advice:

good food at a great value (aka cheap for you dullards) then look no further than this tiny food cart of spices, rices, and real dreams of eating on the cheap!

a shiny food beacon on Delancey, near Essex. it's a small cart with LED lights, generic pics of food it serves, and looks pretty clean from the outside versus the other soot-cladded carts in the city. so apparently the owners of the cart care or own a hose, bucket, and soap.

the Halal chicken + rice is $4.99 for a "spiced chicken” piled atop a heap of rice with a flurry of salad--drowned in your choice of white sauce
(yogurt-y) and/or hot sauce. all served up in a white styrofoam-y container.

the chicken is tender and chopped--but not minced to the point of it almost being ground. there's still a bit of chunky moistness to the bird. it's definitely season well with a host of spices and has that indian/pakistani curry aroma. the rice they use is a basmati rice which does a nice job of soaking the meat juices and spices as well as the sauces you choice to put atop the your heap of eats. the white sauce is solid and good. is it like Halal Guy? absolutely not--that's the gold standard. however the white sauce is cooling, creamy, and does its job of cutting the spice. the hot sauce here is kinda tame in my book. so i just opt for the white yogurt sauce.

the cart also offer lamb over rice for $4.99. pretty good. lamb stinks (in a good way) of spices and such. they also serve up a mixed plate of chicken + lamb over rice. for $5.99. good values in my book for the serving size.

the cart also serves up hotdogs, kebabs, falafel, gyros, cheeseburgers, italian sausage, grilled fish over rice, and some other random eats. i have never seen anyone order these. the core high turnover orders are the chicken or lamb over rice...my advice stick to those. honestly the idea of eating grilled fish from a cart that small feels like a horror film that ends with you hugging a toilet. you were warned!

there's a cooler area in the cart with water, soda, and juice..priced between $1-$2.

cooks/owners are really friendly and all smiles, but they are not much with the banter. so expect a quiet period of smartphon-ing while waiting for your food.

the hours of the cart seem to be from sundown to late into the night.

PRO TIP: since the cart seems to be only able to prepare one entree at a time if there's a more than one or two people standing on line...come back.

drops mic bc i'm focused maaaaaaan...on this container of eats