Mike's Halal Cart

Halal carts are ubiquitous in New York, particularly in neighborhoods like Midtown and the Financial District, where a halal cart might be found on all four corners of a single intersection. That's a lot of street meat. How is one supposed to distinguish between the good and the bad? There are, of course, those that have achieved widespread fame (Chicken and Rice at 53rd and 6th, Kwik Meal), and others get by on a combination of word-of-mouth, loyal cult following and food bloggery. I found Mike's thanks to the latter, and was sufficiently intrigued by the promises of real grilled lamb (not a Kronos gyro cone) to pay them a visit.

Mike's is the little halal cart that could. Simple and nondescript (I wasn't even sure I was at the right cart until I saw a small stack of business cards perched on the ledge of the cart emblazoned with "Mike's"), this cart dishes out one of the best halal platters in the city.

The first thing you'll notice is the white sauce. Unlike the white sauce at most other halal carts, which often look either like runny mayo or ranch dressing, Mike's white sauce sits majestically on top of the platter in snowy, stiff peaks, the key indicator of the thick tangy yogurt that comprises it. It tastes different too, like a beautiful, rich tzatziki, with an underlying grassiness reminiscent of goat cheese. The second thing you'll notice? The tender chunks of grilled lamb, boasting veins of unctuous fat interspersed throughout the meat that bombard your taste buds with a fierce, lamb flavor. At one point, I actually began to wonder if Mike had run out of lamb that day and substituted a particularly delicious cut of pork. There was little gaminess to the meat, which only intensified my confusion. It didn't help that I was in the throes of street meat ecstasy at the same time*.

The chicken at Mike's exhibits similar tenderness and flavor, but the star here is the lamb. Both rest on a bed of exceptionally fluffy rice, infused with hints of curry and coriander. Everything tastes fresh, and the quality is on par with what you would get at a fine Greek or Middle Eastern restaurant. Indeed, your senses may be fooled into thinking you are dining at such a restaurant, until you see the white expanse of your now empty Styrofoam container, and you realize, with a slight jolt of disbelief, that your supreme contentment can be attributed to two ordinary men, doggedly grilling meat, trying to earn a living out of a little cart on the corner of South and Wall.

*After my initial post, I was informed by several law school classmates that in places devoid of food carts (a.k.a. uncivilized America), the term "street meat" is used to refer to prostitutes. Let me just clarify that I was not in that kind of ecstasy during my lunch. But hey, you learn something new every day.

Mike's Halal Cart

Corner of South St. and Wall St.

New York, NY 10038