Super Taco – 04.29.09

Super Taco
truck parked on 96th and Broadway
(6pm-late night)

Possible Swine flu pandemic grips nation with fingers pointed at Mexico and New York City has the most reported cases in US.  I know, let’s goto the city to grab some real Mexican food actually prepared by Mexicans.  Great idea!  Only 2 brave souls accepted this grave task, bravely putting their lives in danger as well as their immediate familys’ by dutifully heeding Eatclub’s call to eat authentic.  We survived but caught an incurable infection:  Mexican food fever!

Fast and friendly staff

Super Taco is street food at it’s most evolved.  It is indeed a truck parked on a corner with a full kitchen busily preparing fresh food as it is ordered.  There is an expansive menu (though some knowledge of Mexican is required), a makeshift salsa bar with lime wedges, and even a counter for eating standing up.  Somehow, this truck even manages to have a phone number for takeout orders.  For cart comparison, 53rd & 6th Halal cart makes Super Taco look like white table cloth fine dining.

Three carnitas tacos

Steak, chicken, and al pastor tacos

We got tacos.  Real tacos at $2 each:  chicken, carnitas, al pastor, and steak.  You get a double corn tortilla piled with your meat of choice, and a mountain of onions and cilantro.  Slather on some red and green salsa, squeeze the lime wedge and savor this super taco.  The fillings were all fresh but some definitely stood out.  Carnitas were very cartilage-y and were an acquired taste.  I am sure its authentic but it wasn’t for us.  The steak was just average tasting but you shouldn’t expect top quality beef from a truck.  The chicken was outstanding, clear tasting flavor and juicy enough to quench your thirst after crawling out of the Baja desert.  Al pastor was the meatier and heavier alternative but just as good.  Perfectly cooked marinated pork strips cooked up with a touch of pineapple.  Drool.  This truck is the real deal.

Good
The TACOS!  @$2 a piece, why not try them all, especially the chicken and al pastor.
Large menu and open late.  You can even call ahead for pickup.

Bad
Carnitas was like eating a taco filled with gristle

Ugly
You may not get swine flu from the food but perhaps from the cook.

Brucio

We stopped by Koronets near Columbia University for their infamous pizza slice.  It was big.  Quarter shown for reference.

1 large cheese slice for $3.50

Mamoun’s Falafel, Joe’s Pizza, 53rd and 6th, Red Mango – 08.13.2008

Mamoun’s Falafel
119 Macdougal St
New York, NY 10012
(212) 674-8685

IMO the best falafel in NYC. A village landmark, it’s more than just the falafel that makes this hole-in-the-wall joint stand out, it’s the snapshot of NYC life it captures. There is only one narrow entrance to the dimly lit 2 table dining room, ordering area, kitchen. In there amidst the chaos, to-go customers, sit-down eaters, and food delivery porters shuffle around and form a single file line patiently waiting for cheap and tasty middle eastern comfort food. They have schwarma (real lamb freshly sliced from the spit), kufta, various kebabs, baba ganoush, tabbouleh, etc. NYU Students, bar hoppers, tourists, vagrants, hipsters, and professionals all make up the line that often forms out the door.

Made when ordered, the sandwich comes with 3 falafel balls mashed in a pita with lettuce, tomatoes, parsley, onions and a tahini sauce. Pair it with the hot sauce (read hot) that is floating around the place in a communal squeeze bottle and prepare yourself for a flavor explosion. The fresh veggies and tangy tahini are a bright contrast to the crunchy, heavily spiced and herby fried falafel. The hummus is excellent: smooth and flavorful despite its bland appearance. How can something vegan taste so good? Truly a food miracle in my book. Grab some falafel in the quick moving line and eat outside on the bench to enjoy ethnic fast food with an eclectic view.

Joe’s Pizza
7 Carmine Street (and Bleecker St.)
New York, NY

“Without a doubt this is the best pizza in the entire city,” Ben Affleck says in a NY newpaper. I have to disagree with the Daredevil. The pizza is average. Yes, I tried it only once and yes the fresh mozzarella slice looked good but I am basing my opinion on what I consider a reliable barometer of good NY/NJ pizza: the Sicilian slice. I have no idea what authentic Italian roots it has but it doesn’t matter. I judge by your plain Sicilian slice. It was large and cheesy and for $2.50 it was a great value. The large crust was airy and crunchy with some buttery flavor but the other 2 elements of the pizza trinity (cheese and sauce) were off the mark. I may try their plain slice to give it a proper tasting but Joe’s is about as unremarkable as Gigli right now.

53rd and 6th Halal Street Cart
Corner of 53rd Street and 6th Ave. Cart across from Hilton driveway and next to water fountain.
Open 7pm-4am
New York, NY

Another NYC landmark, 53rd and 6th goes by many names: street cart, halal guys, platters, gyro man, street meat…the list goes on. As so does it’s line for food served in humble aluminum trays and plastic forks; a wait that can be up to 40 minutes on any given night. Why all the fuss you ask? Juicy grilled chicken and grilled gyro meat over surprisingly flavorful yellow rice. It is true the portions have shrunk from ginourmous to now huge, and the food isn’t cooked from raw to done on the cart anymore, and yes prices have gone up but you will not find a better and tastier deal for $6. And who knows the city’s best food spots than NYC cabbies: where they congregate and spend their hard earned tips for inexpensive, quick, and filling food on the go, an eater must also check out. Order the combination platter with rice and pita, slather on the yogurt sauce and atomic hot sauce, grab a spot on the nearby benches and enjoy NYC street cart food at its finest.

Hint: The other less busy looking cart across the street and diagonal to the Hilton is run by the same guys. When the line is huge, go here. Don’t let others sway you otherwise, IT IS EXACTLY THE SAME.

Red Mango
723 8th Ave. ( @ 46th Street and 8th Ave.)
New York, NY

Korean frozen yogurt, or as I call it KoFroYo, has become Eatclub’s defacto standard post-Eatclubbing dessert. This trendy hotspot serves up sweet, tangy frozen yogurt with a myriad of toppings that span from fresh fruit to dark chocolate chips to Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Its yogurt is certified active from American Yogurt Society (something like that) and according to its website, only 80 calories per serving (small). Healthy, tasty, and good for you. What more could you want? Perhaps lower prices but the quality is consistent and the shops are fun place to hang out and people watch. There are other KoFroYo chains out there but Red Mango was the first in the states (popped up in Cali first) and it is the best.

Correction:  Pinkberry was first in the US in 2005 but Red Mango has been around in South Korea since 2002.  Thanks to xteethx, one of eatclub’s ever vigilant readers.

All this in one night. We ate till we puked. Thanks to E, Soph, Bethany, Haeme, Annie, and YM for making it through this ephemeral eatclubbing extravaganza.

The city that never sleeps and always eats…

-bru