York and 70th Halal Cart

$ 5
It isn’t the best in the city, but $ 5 is a win. That will get you a hot, delicious, combo box.

5 bucks for chicken+lamb over rice? (Well, and dollar for water) So far, so good. Comes with a handful of French fries and 2 falafel balls as well? Another thumbs up. There’s a couple pieces of broccoli somewhere in there too. The chicken and lamb are both good, but it’s hard to even analyze the quality of these things beyond it having good texture and having agreeable spices on it.
Chicken comes with onions? Unfortunately I hate onions in my combos. It’s nasty out-​of-​place filler for me. The guy selling the food asked me if I wanted a water or soda three times before handing me my meal, which came off as a bit more pushy than concerned for my thirst. Gonna be giving this badboy a 4 out of 5, for those onions. Can’t stand em. (Some of the carts around here, like the one outside hunter college, deserve 3 out of 5 even without onions, so consider this 4 a pretty good rating for what it is. Like a 4.5.)

If you’re in the neighborhood, some of the best meal options around are being dished out at the halal carts on York Ave. — across the street from the hospital. I make the long trek from Hunter College and it’s well worth it.
This particular halal cart is my backup if «Big Boss Halal» on the corner of E. 69^th St. and York has left for the day or has an insanely long line. Nevertheless, hands down, if you have a choice — go to Big Boss. Both the service and the food are much, much better, and both carts have the same prices.
At this point I’ve tried the rice dishes and the gyros. I can recommend their gyro but the rice dish left me disappointed. The rice and meat were both okay but the fries and falafel were pretty bad. Vegetarian options aren’t so great either. I tried a falafel sandwich and wouldn’t order it again. They’re $ 4 just like the meat gyros but aren’t as big (no veggies — not sure why [?]), and the falafel tasted like it was made a loooooooong time ago.
Street food is street food and I’m sure someone could question the freshness factor at most of these halal carts. However, if you’re not looking to spend a lot of money on lunch and want something that’s sorta healthy, this is the spot.

This is the BEST Halal food cart in all of NYC by a very wide margin. Their chicken is so well seasoned that I go out of my way to go here when I am in the mood for a chicken and lamb on pita sandwich! And I consider myself lazy when it comes to stuff like this, so that tells you just how good they are!