Food and travel go hand in hand. I adore trying new cuisines and have had many interesting culinary adventures. One of my most recent discoveries was carrot pizza which I had on the shores of Lake Atitlán – absolutely delicious. I’m still traumatised by the memory of discovering legs on what I thought were crisps (chips if you’re American) in Japan.
New York is a foodie heaven. There are countless restaurants, bistros, diners, cafés, coffee shops, chophouses (I’m still not entirely sure what that is – do they just serve chops?) and many of them carry a hefty price tag. You could actually go bankrupt trying them all. So it might come as a bit of a surprise that the place I recommend to everyone who visits will cost you at most $6.
At 7pm each evening, a line begins to form at the corner of 6th Avenue and 53rd Street. The line is made up of business people in suits, shoppers, kids, backpackers and the occasional world-renowned chef.
The street is lined with cop cars, taxis and limos, pulled over to the side and parked askew, doors flung open as their drivers spill out onto the sidewalk and get in line…
…because this is when The Halal Guys roll into town. They set up their cart at 7pm each evening and stay open right through the night until 4am (5am on Friday and Saturday). The stream of hungry customers never lets up the entire time they’re in town. Beware of imitators – there are many. Look for the yellow shirts and the yellow bags and you’ll know you’ve found the real deal.
The menu is pretty simple, but it is done extraordinarily well. First you choose between chicken, gyro or falafel (I’ve seen some people go crazy and order half chicken half gyro) and then you choose whether you want it in a sandwich ($4) or over rice ($6).
I’ve only had the falafel, but it is the best falafel I’ve ever tasted. Hands down the best; just the perfect amount of moisture and an intoxicating mix of spices, served with some lettuce and cheese. Then you move over to the sauce rack and kick things up a notch.
I’ve heard people refer to the white sauce as crack, and I can’t argue. I don’t know what the ingredients are but it will make your tastebuds weep for joy. But the hot sauce. Oh, the hot sauce. I live for spicy food. I have been known to use the phrase “hot enough to make a grown man cry” when ordering levels of spiciness in a restaurant – and even I respect the hot sauce at The Halal Guys. Just a light drizzle will have your eyebrows sweating and your eyes tearing up. So, so good. If you are in any way delicate about spices, heed my warning: Back away from the hot sauce.
Falafel sandwich ready to go
There are two other Halal Guys carts- West 57rd and 7th and East 53rd and 6th – but I head straight for the main cart, because it’s always an experience.
Now I just know you have a food experience to share, so create your own post between now and next Friday, title it “Travel theme: Food” and put a link to this page in your blog post to make it easy for others to find your post. Don’t forget to check back in next Friday for a new travel theme.
What food are you going to share?
xxx Ailsa
Where's my backpack? 
Here is mine for the week, http://missperfectlyimperfect.wordpress.com/2012/07/13/travel-theme-food/
Mmmm, bumbleberry!
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the first photo is so yummy looking!!!
my link = http://nprimopiano.wordpress.com/2012/07/14/panino/
It was the best pizza ever! Nice panino post! 🙂
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You have really hit the spot this week Ailsa, so many people with so many takes on food. I’m sure every one found it hard to just sort out their favourite food experience. The camp fire is an iconic Aussie experience, up there with the barbie…
http://memoriesaremadeofthisblog.wordpress.com/
Oooh, I love camp fires. Cooking by fire is one of my favourite things. I used to live in a house that had a fireplace and in winter when the fire was roaring I’d wrap potatoes or chestnuts in foil and cook them in the embers. My dog Major would get so excited because he just loved roasted chestnuts. Yummy!
Thank you Ailsa! This is such a fun theme. NYC is the best place to start the food theme. Here is mine: http://shareandconnect.wordpress.com/2012/07/14/weekly-travel-theme-food/
NYC certainly has some good food! I love your post, great series of photos, that lobster-shaped dim sum is awesome!
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Those desserts look amazing, Madhu. I had a friend in school who would always eat her dessert first, just in case her main course filled her up and she wouldn’t have room for dessert. I always thought that was terribly sensible of her 😉
I have been known to read my dessert menu first and order my mains depending on what i was going to have after! No point wasting precious calories 🙂
I like how you think, Madhu!
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I am in love with the Halal Guys and their food…yummy. Now I may have sidetracked a little Ailsa…but it started of with a Kiwi favourite food…fish and chips.
I just got a little carried away with where I eat more than what I was eating. It is hard not too really. God I love New Zealand.
I can see why! Lovely post, Jo! Made me smile, a lot. xxx
My mouth is watering just looking at that sandwich!
Haha, it didn’t last very long after that photo was taken, I sat by the fountain on the street corner and chomped it down right after I took the shot. 🙂
Here is my contribution to this theme:
http://davidrwetzelphotography.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/travel-theme-food/
Brilliant, David, a really different interpretation of the theme, the most unusual water tower I’ve ever seen! xxx
after a post like that..the queue’s just going to become longer………..:-)
here’s my post for this week……….
Great find, 4otomo, and a wonderful series of shots. I particularly like that first photo, with the red tents contrasting beautifully against the sky.
Falafel is one of my favorite foods on the planet! Now I’m hungry…
Me too, Ruth, I would go a long way for good falafel! 🙂
New York is a food paradise…Enjoyed your post and posting my contribution Fish Tales……http://travtrails.wordpress.com
Lovely series of shots, travtrails, from boat to plate! I’ve never seen crabs that colour before…
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An authentic Saudi Arabian meal:
I love the look of all those different dishes spread out on the carpet. Good eating, I bet!
My favourite place for food – Thailand! 🙂
Stunning shots, Color Odyssey, they practically leapt off the page at me. I adore Thai food too, I’m feeling rather hungry now after reading your post!
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more food in Thailand
Those big blocks of something jelly-like are scary, but awesome too! Love it! xxx
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Yum! Here’s mine…http://newsofthetimes.org/2012/07/16/travel-theme-food/ Thanks for another great theme – I’m getting hungry! 🙂
I’m surprised you have any room left to feel hungry after that big pile of crabs you and your dad were working on! Great post! 🙂
There’s always room for at least one more crab! 🙂
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Love your photos and theme this week! http://ayearinmyshoes.wordpress.com/2012/07/16/travel-theme-food/ Here’s one from Barcelona.
Briliiant shot, Livvy, from the angle you took it at, it looks like a veritable Everest of fruit. I’m now craving some of those figs over to the left.
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What is it about street vendors that makes the food taste so yummy??? It’s the love they put into it. Hmmm … mmmm … I think so. I love walking down a city street and eating something with sauce that just drips down your hand and you can’t help but think – “Damn, this is good.” YUP – it is so good. The challenge was hard as I was trying to be healthy while thinking these decadant thoughts. So here’s my healthy submission. Sure wish it had been a hot dog from a street vendor. LOL
Toodles,
Isadora
http://insidethemindofisadora.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/travel-theme-food/
Ah yes, much healthier than street food – I love pineapples. There is an organic pineapple farm in Costa Rica called Finca Corsicana and I have never in my life tasted more amazing pineapples – they ship to the US and sometimes Whole Foods carries their pineapples. When that happens, I am a very happy person.
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Considering I love eating local foods while traveling I don’t photograph it, I think I will start! My favourite country for food is Austria, this is due to a love of desserts, Kaiserscharrm ( chopped apple pancake) Germnodel (like a sweet dumpling sitting in Vanilla custard) are just 2. The Falafel looks great too!
Oooh, Austria makes those delicious Mozartkugeln too, so good!
I forgot them!
MAking note of this place – looks yummy! Done right – with enough sauce! Spicy…oh must book ticket now…
Heh heh, nice one, phil 😉
The Falafel sandwich looks great…oh, just to have one bitty bite…
Ah, Sunshine, once you take one bitty bite you can’t stop, it’s that good! 😉
I can believe that…I am so hungry now. 😦
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A little Montreal for you…
http://quotidianhudsonriver.com/2012/07/18/travel-theme-food/
Looks like a rather big bit of Montreal! And I love the jiggety-jig poem 🙂
Looks yummy! I have not tried this before, but I definitely will when I pass by this store the next time I drop by NY! ^_^v
Definitely worth a visit when you’re in town, Vanessa. Let me know how you like it! xxx
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I decided to take you shopping around the world for ingredients: 😉 http://adinparadise.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/ailsas-travel-theme-food/
I love the look of that market in hills just outside Marrakech, with the veggies all piled up in heaps. and that corn in Peru looks delicious. Yum!
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Thanks for encouraging me to eat. http://canoecommunications.wordpress.com/2012/07/18/american-diner-with-a-twist/
Tasty, c & c, now I know where to go for brunch if I’m ever in La Grange. Thanks 🙂
Being a certified ‘homebody,’ I kept things simple…
Simply Home-grown http://wp.me/p1RzUf-1gY
Simple but simply delicious! 😉
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My second… Food Tribute!!! http://mystiic.wordpress.com/2012/07/19/travel-theme-food-2/
Fab, Mystiic, I think the instructions “lotsa butter, lotsa garlic” should be mandatory in almost every recipe! 😉
😉 it truly does bring out the flavour 😀
Thought you and your readers might be interested. Hope you’ll join in: http://newsofthetimes.org/2012/07/19/canon-photography-in-the-parks-and-you-are-invited-to-a-photo-blog-party/
Wonderful initiative, and those Canon workshops sound brilliant, can’t wait to hear about your experience!
I can’t wait to share!!!
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Hi Ailsa, Your Halal Guys with their falafel sandwiches seem wonderful!! I would love to try those sometime in NYC!! And you always have such interesting stories to tell with your posts!
I have two entries, right under the wire. One from Oman, one from the Mekong.
Thanks Cathy, glad you enjoyed my Halal Guys tribute, they’re something of a legend in the Big Apple. I love both your posts, the heron carved out of turnips are incredible, and those banana leaf cups are awesome!
Thanks Ailsa! Vietnamese and Cambodian foods are my favorite in the world so far, with Turkey close behind. I can’t wait to find the culinary delights in Greece!!
Greece has some incredible dishes, and wine that will knock your socks off! Oh, and the watermelons they grow there taste like nowhere else on earth. I couldn’t get enough of it.
I can’t wait!!!
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Hi Ailsa! Loved your description about the Falafel guys and how the hot sauce makes your eyebrows sweat ha ha. Love middle eastern food!
Here is my contribution! I picked several pics from my trips around the world. Hope you like it 😉
Til next time,
Love
Kay 🙂
Oh so good, Kay. Do you happen to remember where you got that veggie platter in Antigua? It looks sooo good – and since I fell in love with Antigua I’m bound to return at some point. xxx Ailsa
Good question, it was off the plaza central maybe on 4ta calle? We stopped there on our way to Mercado de Artesanias.
I loved it too, it was a family restaurant and we went to the terrace. The view of the city from there is great!
If you go back, make sure you go to Iglesia La Merced and also Arco Santa Catarina. Couldn’t stop taking pictures there 😉
Oh I’ve been to both, they’re stunning. I also did this crazy trip up the side of Fuego to see it erupt at midnight. Guatemala rocks!