THE HALAL GUYS: Chicken & Gyro (Lamb) Over Rice

Leave a comment

August 20, 2013 by Victoria Li

★★★★★
$6

The Halal Guys
Multiple Locations Listed on their Website
West 53rd Street and 6th Avenue

This review is guest written by Wallace Wang, who is a freshman at University of Michigan. I asked him to write this review for the famous 53rd and 6th Halal Guys because I’ve seen him post so many photos on Facebook of his outing there. He claims to have eaten there 20 times! Enjoy. (Words in italics are written by myself, Victoria Li.)

Extremely long line. The yellow/red umbrella is the location of the cart! Bring something or talk with a friend to occupy yourself.

Menu

The reason why I like 53rd and 6th is that while other street meat carts offer you of what appears to be a mess of oily meat and then some b-grade quality rice, 53rd and 6th is different. Whenever I finish a platter of it, I scrape the bottom of the plate with my fork and notice that there’s significantly less grease and oil at the bottom. 53/6 doesn’t need the oil and grease to add to its flavor. Every batch of 53rd and 6th meat is prepared on a rotisserie so in that way there’s no need for that much oil. Along with the meat, the pita bread mixed with white sauce provides for an experience that is out of this world. The heavy flavor of both the white sauce and meat is balanced out by the pita, something that gives you a break from the rush, while not stopping the flow.

Behind the scenes cooking.

The flow of flavor of it all, makes the experience memorable. The chicken is fresh that you can rip apart at it with your fork, yet when you bit down, it just has the right texture. Not too soft, not too hard. The lamb makes your mouth savor for more and more and more.

Chicken & Gyro Over Rice

To end it all, there’s one thing I can promise you. Most halal carts would give an impression that their food tastes good, but you don’t crave for that one specific cart. Only 53/6 provides you with the feeling that whenever you’re hungry and just want everything you could possibly ask for, for only $6, turning it down would be a hard decision to swallow.

Slight disclaimer: I’ve been to 53rd and 6th 20 times and had over 30 platters, but there were one or two times where it just seemed off. It wasn’t anything bad or anything, but there were a few instances where there was a slight lack of flavor. The meats were fresh, but it tasted minutely bland. That is the sole reason why I can’t say it’s perfect. Other than that, there should be absolutely no logical reason to deny visiting this place of awesomeness.

Tip #1: Wallace often requests for BBQ sauce. Make sure to ask if you like BBQ sauce because there isn’t a bottle of BBQ sauce on the side. The hot sauce is extremely spicy. When I ate here, I only added a few dabs the size of the ends of the fork I used to add the right amount of spiciness. Please be cautious and add small amounts until you get to your intended spice level. 

Bottles and bottles of white sauce!

Hot sauce VERY hot!

Tip #2: Don’t be fooled by the other carts nearby. They try to look similar to The Halal Guys but look out for the cart with the long line, follow the native New Yorkers, and their signature yellow bags.

Tip #3: Most people sit at the benches near the cart or even resort to sitting on the ground as depicted in pictures below. Most people don’t know it, but I found out from a couple standing behind me, that if you walk towards W 52nd St & 6th Ave., there are more benches. The night I went, there were barely anyone sitting there!

Benches nearby that are filled.

No bench space left? Sit on the ground. Actually, go find more benches at W 52nd St & 6th Ave.

Tip #4: People definitely debate if this is worth the hype. It is obviously the most popular Halal cart in NYC. As for the quality, I think it is up there also. I sampled a friend’s Halal dish from a cart nearby because he was too lazy to wait. The meat was definitely sub-par and the man, who was cutting lettuce earlier with gloves on, used the same gloved hand to give us the change after paying. The wait is long at The Halal Guys, but I was surprised by how fast I received my dish after ordering. It is an experience.