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| Halal Cart Map (Jackson Heights + Elmhurst) |
Jackson
Heights, home to a
thousand and one different ethnic eats, has a bunch of halal carts. My friend
Jeff, of Jeffrey Tastes - Queens Qustodian, had the brilliant idea of a
Halalathon. We would try all the halal carts in one night and compare them. I
had never tried the halal food in
Queens and
thought it would be a great opportunity to gain a greater understanding of them
and appreciate their flavors.
The word on the street was that the Gyro King in Jackson Heights had the best Halal food. Was it
a rumor, an award, or fact? We were to find out at Halalathon. Last night, my
friends and I decided to tackle five of the carts and compare them to two
restaurants Gyro King and American Chicken.
The rules of Halalathon were simple. Everyone was to buy a
chicken and lamb combination platter over rice with sauce on the side. We would
then do a taste comparison of each dish. We created a map on Google
Maps pinpointing the location of the carts. The majority of the carts were
clustered on the corner of
37th
Road and
73rd
Street and a few were around the corner at
74th Street
and
37th Avenue.
We met in front of Kebab King, split up to buy food, and then met up at
Tastes Village
in
Jackson Heights to eat.
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| Location: 74th Street and 37th Avenue |
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| Gyro King |
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| Sammy Halal Food |
The dishes were varied and none looked identical. I was a
surprised that they were so different compared to the Halal cart food I bought in
Manhattan. In
Manhattan, the
combination chicken and lamb over rice or salad were always the same color,
same look, and same taste. In
Jackson
Heights, the halal cart food
looked and tasted more specialized.
This got me thinking. What was the definition of halal food
and was it more than just chicken and lamb over rice?
According to an article on About.com, writer Saad Fayed
explained the basic definition of halal:
“Halal foods are foods that are allowed under Islamic
dietary guideline. According to these guidelines gathered from the Qu’ran,
Muslim followers cannot consume the following:
-
pork or pork by products
-
animals that were dead prior to slaughtering
-
animals not slaughtered properly or not slaughtered in
the name of Allah
-
blood and blood by products
-
alcohol
-
carnivorous animals
-
birds of prey
-
land animals without external ears”
It is the type of meat supplied to the carts and there was
much more than just chicken or rice. Some carts had hotdogs, hamburgers,
samosas, and Philly cheesesteaks. The hot dogs were especially popular among the Muslim and Indian children. There was often a line at each cart.
Of all the carts we tried, only one was a recipient of an
award, the Vendy Award. Sammy Halal Food was voted best food cart in 2006. Our
collective notes determined that while Sammy may have an award tucked under his
belt, his food was not necessarily the best. We voted the cart by TD Bank on 74th Street
and 37th Avenue
#1 for the night. A well balanced plate was the key. I had watched the man cook. The lamb started out as a patty. He then chopped it up and
while the chicken and lamb were cooking he sprinkled seasoning all over. I have
no idea what was in the seasoning but it sure made the dish good and tasty.
As I had mentioned earlier, each cart was different. They were varied in
presentation, taste, and ingredients. Some used Basmati rice, some were oilier
than others, and one, American Chicken used Mexican rice and it was extremely
bland. American Chicken even gave sour cream and jalapeno sauce. They were the
worst tasting of the bunch, dry and flavorless.
Gyro King was also a tad bit disappointing. Their salad consisted
of pickled vegetables and the red sauce was on the sour side. The cart food was best when slathered in white sauce and hot sauce. We
concluded that the sauces made all the dishes decent and edible. The best ones
and most favored were consumed within minutes.
