Rafiqi's, New York City

I'm really proud of myself because I have finished writing all seventeen posts (!) on New York.

And that's just New York... More to go on Boston!

Traditionally when a visitor thinks of New York street food, pizzas, bagels and hot dogs are usually Top Of Mind recalls. But I have a feeling that isn't the case for New York natives. Walking around, I was surprised to see the ubiquity of halal carts. It's hard to believe that these shoebox carts can actually house a stove, grill, sufficient working space for 2 grown men and crunch out cowabunga halal street food.

Gyros are the new bagels.

On my way to Farmers' Market at Union Square, I walked past Rafiqi's eye-catching gyro and pita cart, stamped with quotes of praise from New York Mag and New York Times. Interesting, I thought to myself without paying more attention to it.

However after an enjoyable time at Farmers' Market spent taking quackloads of pictures and one giant shortbread cookie later, I found myself yearning for something greasy and exotic, so a detour was made to Rafiqi's.



Although hot dogs are a universal favourite, I thought of it as kiddy food. But gyros... now gyros are what grown ups eat.



"One lamb and chicken gyro, please..."

Before I could even finished my sentence, the guy in the picture above moved with such dexterity: first re-grilling the meats and pita, then chopping the meats into chunky strips, before overloading the pita slice with the meats and vegetables, relishing them with a dash of 'red' and 'white' sauce (chili and tzatziki), finally twisting the gyro into a handy aluminum baton.

WHOA, it was like seeing some balloon contortionist at a fun fair conjure poodles and swords with those balloon-frankfurters- except this actually made sense and was something kids adults would fight over for.





Watching him only served to whet my appetite and I couldn't wait to devour the gyro. I wanted to enjoy my gyro without having to worry about jaywalking and motion-induced mess so I just decided to have it there and then. I stood in front of the Parsons Design School (sigh, Project Runway), tore open the aluminum armor and tucked in with 'fierce' gusto.

Oh gaw-, it was really worth looking all uncool and unglamorous for. There was the spiciness, the sharp tang, the grease and the pita that obediently soaked up the meat juices and sauces.

I bit into an unidentifiable brown squishy thing and was surprised that they added aubergine. Now when did that happen? I didn't even see them adding aubergines. However, a couple of bites later, I realised the unidentifiable brown squishy thing was in fact an absolutely delectable piece of lamb fat!

I realised I have a penchant for 'guy food'. That's not to say females don't eat pizza or gyros but in the next fifteen minutes, only men above 35 (years and/or waistline-inches) approached the stand, determined to be a part of this heartclogging affair.



Voted "Best Street Food" by NYMag, Rafiqi's is so successul it has spurned off imitations "Ra-Fakey's" like fake Prada totes. Frigging awesome, Rafiqi's gyro tasted better than heaven, it tasted like just like ... payday.

Rafiqi's
Apparently they have a few outlets:
32nd Street and Park Avenue
52nd Street and Park Avenue
24th Street and Park Avenue
47th Street and Madison Avenue
6th Avenue between 18th and 19th Streets (which is the one I visited)