53rd Street off 6th Ave.
Yes I am referring to the all famous Halal Cart by Radio City. The one who gets high ratings in Zagats, the one who was featured on Oprah. The only Halal Cart with a logo, their own tee shirts and their own bright yellow shopping bags. YES THEM!
I finally had their food for the first time. Believe it or not, all these years I’ve lived in New York and have never tried them. Why? Because their line is too damn long! Sometimes that line goes all the way down the block and Im not standing on that long line! I hear the line moves fast but I wasnt interested in seeing for myself. Do you know someone got stabbed on that line for skipping? That is hilarious! What’s even MORE hilarious is that I skipped that line last night (and I didnt get stabbed! hahaha). Dont tell my mother.
It was 2 degrees outside and I was starving! I WISH I WOULD stand on that long line. There is an ART to skipping the line. I was going to give you my tip, but I changed my mind cuz I dont want people using my own trick on ME! Its so sad (but funny) to see the line go down the block for this cart. There are several other carts within a one (or less) block radius and all you hear is crickets by them. My friend and I walked by one cart dude and he was sitting there all by himself with his head down while the line was trailing down the block at the other cart. We were like “awwwww. I bet all the other carts want to KICK THEIR ASS”! How bad can the other carts be? I feel like going there and asking to taste every cart’s food and then crowning a winner. Unfortunately Im not Oprah, so nobody will care.
So yeah I got my food. I realize the line moves so fast because you have to do most of the work yourself. You put your own white sauce, close your own tray, pack your own bag, get your own napkins etc. Shouldnt they be charging less than other carts considering we have to do half the work? Im cool with adding my own sauce though, because then I can dowse it and not annoy the man with my “more, More MORES”.
So since this was a street cart, and its winter, theres nowhere to eat it without the food freezing before it gets to your mouth so I sat in starbucks with my friend and ate it. Yes I shared. Shes one of those “No I dont want to buy any….can I have a bite of yours” friends! lol! A bite, turned into 3 or 4! So I guess its safe to say SHE LOVED IT! I on the other hand wasnt that impressed. Maybe my expectations were too high! When a place makes it to Oprah I guess you expect diamonds to be sprinkled over your food. Honestly people, its just CART FOOD! Its good cart food…but its just cart food! A LOT of cart food is good. A lot of cart food is NASTY! and sometimes you get one thats GREAT! theirs wasnt great! Maybe I caught them on a mediocre day! Or maybe its because I only had the chicken and the lamb is where the good stuff is. Orrrrrr maybe people are just impressionable! So since Rachael Ray and Oprah say its so great, everyone just jumps on the bandwagon (or the cartwagon?).
I eat lots of cart food and honestly, I’ve had better! They are NOT the best in NYC! The one on Prince St. right off Broadway in SoHo is much better to me! But I must reiterate, THE FOOD WAS GOOD! Im not discrediting the fact that their food is good. I just dont see what the big deal is. A lot of carts have good food!
If youre in the NYC area, do a taste test for me! Try the one on 53rd and 6th and try the one on Prince St. right off Broadway and tell me which is better! Make sure u dowse the one on Prince St. with Sauce..because I think the secret is in the sauce! YUM!
One great thing I CAN say about the one on 53rd street is that they chop their meat up really fine, and they make sure its well done! Kudos to them on that! That alone will make me go back to their cart, but only if the line isnt too long!
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Greenwich Village
119 MacDougal St
New York, NY 10012
(212) 674-8685
22 Saint Marks Place
New York, NY 10003-8022
(212) 387-7747
www.mamounsfalafel.com
If you’re ever walking down the street in the village and you see a long line coming out of a hole in the wall, GET ON IT because most likely its the line for Mamoun’s, the best falafel you may ever have, unless you catch a flight out to Isreal! You really can not beat Mamoun’s falafels. Not only are they good but theyre cheap! $2.50 will take you a long way in that place! If you have 5 dollars you may as well be rich! Dont be intimidated by the line because it moves pretty quickly. They make sandwiches all day so theyre almost like machines. In a pita bread trance just stuffing and wrapping stuffing and wrapping.
If you make special requests, make sure to check your order. Because most people are not annoying like us, and just order standard falafels with all the fixins, so being the machines that they are, it becomes second nature to just throw everything in there without thought. I cant tell you how many times ive gotten extra tomatoes in my “no tomato” falafel. But I dont blame them. Its my fault for being picky. One of my favorite things to do, is go around the corner to Pluck U and get a side of their mild sauce and pour that into my falafel sandwich! Just when you thought a falafel couldnt get any better, the Pluck U sauce mixed with their tahini sauce just sends it through the roof!
The people in Pluck U would look at me sideways when Id go in there and just order sauce and no chicken, so I had to finally confess to them what I was doing with it. They didnt mind though because Im such a regular customer of theirs we’re like family! HAHA
Everytime I’m in the village, I feel the need to drop in and grab a falafel, even if Im not hungry. I know eventually I will be and its an exciting feeling to know that when you get hungry you have a falafel in your bag. I have walked (i like to walk. as much as I eat, its much needed) from 34th street, to 8th street for a Mamoun’s falafel. Some people may find that strange because New York City streets are filled with halal carts and stands that boast to have the best falafels. Yes I can easily stop at one of those and get a falafel, but all falafels are not the same. And once you’ve had Mamoun’s you compare every falafel to theirs, and its not fair to the other falafel stands so I dont even bother.
Mamoun’s is not a sit down restaurant although they do have a couple of benches and tables inside, and I do see people sitting and eating in there. You wont catch ME eating in there! Its too cramped and kinda dark, and damp dark places give me the willies. They keep it as clean as they can but the turnaround in that place is so quick! People are in and out all day so its hard to pick up every piece of lettuce that falls on the floor as soon as it gets there. So I just get in, get my grub and get out. Id rather walk down the street and eat it.
They also have chicken kabob sandwiches, shawarma, full platters, and other dishes and desserts, but I usually stick to the falafels. People tell me that the other food is just as great though. If you plan on getting a platter, bring more than 2 dollars and change though. Platters start at 5 dollars and go up to about 10.
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EVERYWHERE!
www.mcdonalds.com
DONT JUDGE! Yes I’m reviewing McDonald’s. They must be doing something right if theyve been around for like 100 years and have more chains than Mr. T.
McDonald’s gets a bad rap for being unhealthy..and they probably are. But from my previous posts, you can most likely tell that I’m no health food nut! And you cant say that McDonalds doesnt try! They have salad (with one of the best dressings I’ve ever had), and apples to dip..for the weirdos who actually walk into McDonalds looking for something healthy to eat. Whats the MATTER with you people? Listen, there is a place for everything! McDonalds is not the place for you to go to with your yoga mat and bottle of water, complaining that theres nothing healthy to eat! Go to the salad bar next door! You dont go into a car dealership looking for a bike. You dont go into the Toys R Us lookin for beer! So dont go in McDonald’s with that BS! MMMKAAAY? And plus, McDonald’s is fine as a guilty pleasure once in a while. Just dont eat it every day! As Fran Drescher says “Everything in moderation, EVEN moderation.”
Now, lets get to the good stuff. Filet O Fish! Yes!!!! That is what I go into McDonald’s for! They can take everything off the menu but Filet O Fish and fries and I wouldnt even notice! I dont even read the menu because I go into McDonald’s with an agenda! Only people with yoga mats read the McDonald’s menu! LOL just kidding. I would also like to take this time out to commend McDonald’s on their McNuggets! THANK YOU McDonalds for making all white meat mcnuggets! I remember when I was a kid the McNuggets were NOT all white meat, and it used to piss me off because the flavor of the nuggets were so good, but when you bite into them you didnt know WTF you were gonna find in the middle! Gristle and fat and all the grossness you can imagine. That’s not the case any more! Now I can confidently buy a six piece, and bite into that crispy layer without fear! Thank you Ronald! YOU DA MAN! And forget about every sauce but the BBQ SAUCE! That is where its at! I wish I knew where to get a bottle of that stuff.
Ive seen a lot of videos where people have been ransacking McDonalds and abusing the workers because they havent received good customer service. McDonald’s arent giving them refunds or exchanges for their foods. Well I dont know what McDonalds they go to because Ive never had a problem. If I get cold fries, they give me new ones with no problem. One time I dropped my food, and they gave me all new food! Now, maybe the problem arises when you ask for a refund! I’ve never tried that before. But if you see me on youtube beatin someones azz with a brown tray, you’ll know I finally tried and it didnt work.
Hey McDonalds, lemme ask you a question. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE APPLE PIES!?!?!?!? I remember they used to be fried. They had these little bubbles all around them which added to the crispy goodness. They were all nice and greasy and crispy and delicious! Now theyre these dry baked pockets of blandness! I guess thats why theyre 2 for a dollar. I will pay you a dollar for ONE if you bring the fried ones back! I hate when companies make changes that the consumers didnt ask for! Did I asked for a baked pie? HELL NO! It was those people with the yoga mats wasnt it? If you want baked pie, call Sarah Lee! I want my fried pies back!!!!
Thank God for Pluck U. They have fried pie! So if you left your yoga mat at home today why dont you run on over to Pluck U and pick one up! You can burn the calories in advance on the way there!
One other gripe I have about McDonald’s are the prices. McDonald’s WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE with 6 and 7 dollar meals? Are you crazy? That might be fine for dinner time, but for lunch I THINK NOT! I can go to a sit down restaurant with a waiter for 7 dollars at lunch time. I guess Im the one you made the dollar menu for? Well put the Filet O Fish on there, and we can talk. (I do love the buy one get one special that you run sometimes though. GOOD JOB!)
Shout out to the McDonald’s on Broadway near Gates avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant (I’ll update with the address later)! Theyre so friendly and professional in there and the establishment is always clean. Fast food restaurants (especially ones in the hood) dont always have that kind of environment, so I will be sure to point it out whenever I see it!
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My Auntie’s house
Ok this post is not about any restaurant! But I just wanted to give a shout out to my Aunt Renee who is one of my ALL TIME favorite cooks! She is the QUEEN of frying! She can fry ANYTHING and it always comes out perfect.
I hate when I hear someone say “Well ANYONE can fry something”. Yes anyone can fry something but everyone cant fry something WELL! My aunt could fry a pair of socks and they’ll taste good! And I will ask her “whats this?” and she’ll say “fried socks” and I will still eat them! Anything she makes, I will eat!
Anyhoo…..her latest fried creation are fried ribs!!!!! (Yes PORK ribs! What did I tell you about beef ribs ?! click here if you forgot) Forget the grill! forget the oven! She deep fries ribs and theyre CRISPY, TENDER AND DELICIOUS! I dont know how she gets them so tender because she doesnt even par boil them first! She’s just THAT skilled!
I keep telling her she should open a restaurant! She would make a fortune off fried ribs and fried chicken alone! And if she makes some of her diabetes lemonade you will be down for the count! Its so good but soooo sweet! I know none of the aforementioned foods are good for the body but theyre definitely good for the soul (and if you eat too much of it, your soul will be all thats left of you)!
Unfortunately I can’t tell you where to get these because if I gave out my aunt’s address on the internet, the next thing on her fried menu would be ME! But if you’re a master at frying things, and youre up for the challenge…why dont you try to fry up some ribs! Let me know how they come out! And if theyre good, email me your address and I’ll be on my way!
(Btw let me take this time to point out my lack of apostrophes. Yes I notice them, but Im lazy. Who has time for punctuation? This is a BLOG not an English test. Maybe one day I’ll start making my posts in MS word so that theyll be autocorrected, but right now please know that I understand my grammatical errors. Believe it or not, I was an Honors English student.<---wow...there you have it folks...the public school system at its finest! lol)
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35 West 35th St.
New York, NY 10001
212-564-9333
www.madangsui.com
I went to this place last night for a friend’s birthday. Its reeeaally reeeeally good….but only if you’re a meat eater! Its all about the meats! I went with 9 other people which is always a great thing because that way you get to order a whole bunch of different dishes and everyone gets a taste of everything.
We ordered 3 different kinds of beef, spicy pork and spicy chicken. I dont remember the NAMES of these dishes, but I do remember the numbers! So get your bingo card out, because these are the dishes we had B-3, B-4, B-9(my favorite) AND B-14(i think). B-9 is the spicy pork! Omg its so tasty! The pork and the chicken were my favorites! I love spicy foods and they were pretty spicy so dont get them if you’re wimpy.
This place would be a great place for you if youre one of those weirdos who’s worried about how your food is prepared because the food is cooked RIGHT at your table. Theres a little grill right in the middle of the table where you can watch the meat sizzle and smoke, and you get to smell all the yummy aromas. And if youre like me, and you like your food well done, you dont have to bother sending it back to be cooked more! You can just throw it back on the grill, and take it off when you’re good and ready.
We had some bibimbop (E-12) which is a dish of meat, rice, veggies and fried egg all mixed in together. It’s pretty good, but dont mistake it for fried rice because thats not what it is. The other ingredients overshadow the rice, plus the rice isnt fried at all.
We also had 3 different kinds of scallion pancakes (Seafood, Oyster, and Kimchi). The Oyster pancakes were my favorites!!! I would definitely get those again. The Kimchi were also really good. I liked the taste of the seafood pancakes, but I didnt eat them because I was afraid there was squid in them. I dont eat things that have suction cups lol.
Aside from that, each meat dish comes with a BUNCH of appetizers. None of which I know the names of. I know one of them was kimchi, there were some onions, peppers, veggies, a brown dish that had the texture of tofu, and some tiny little fishes with the heads still on them. They looked kinda good, but i passed on those because I dont eat face! (I’m a little picky lol). My friend said theyre very good for you though. So go ahead and give those a try and let me know how you like em.
If I were you, I would make friends with someone who’s Korean and go there with them! That way you’ll know what to order, and you’ll know what the hell some of the stuff is that you cant identify. Dont go there with your Japanese friend and ask her “whats this?” cuz she’ll say “DUDE! Im not Korean!”. I know that from experience.
But seriously! Even if you dont have a Korean friend, go there and just order some of the stuff we had! Its a lot of fun to try new things, and give your tastebuds new experiences. I wouldnt steer you wrong! I strongly recommend the chicken(b-14 I think) and the pork (b-9). The beef was really good too, but it required too much chewing! I dont have time for all that chewing! I just want to inhale my food. Plus I like my beef EXTREEEEMELY well done, and I was probably annoying everyone by putting my pieces of beef back on the grill and letting it cook until it was black.
This is a really great place to go as a group. I think it’s much more fun than going solo or with one other person. Although it might be fun for a date, trying each other’s food (awwww arent you cute). If you’re a really prissy girl, you might not want to go there with a date though, because when you leave your hair is going to smell like barbeque. If you ask me, thats ok, men love food! He might like that smell better than your perfume!
By the way, don’t go there if you’re broke, because this place is NOT cheap! Not to me anyway! There were 10 of us and it cost 40 dollars per person PLUS drinks. It wont break your pockets, but it’s not for you if you’re on a tight budget!
Go there and give it a try! Your tongue will thank you (your tummy might not though! My stomach is on FIRE right now from that spicy meat! but it was worth it!)
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