Bombay Biryany Cart

I stopped by at 7 PM or so, and there was obviously no line for any of the carts. I ordered a combo over rice which was a pretty average price of $ 6 including a soda. Surprisingly, the portions were very ample… more than what I’m used to getting. It’s possible it was because I went in the evening and they just wanted to get rid of everything. The flavor and texture of the meat and rice was quite good, so I will definitely stop by again in the future.

On the southeast corner of Liberty Street and Broadway (in front of the Brown Brothers Harriman building), there is a lesser known cart that doesn’t seem to get the love and attention of its neighbors. Since I was feeling the love and a bit adventurous, I decided to check out Bombay Biryany Halal Food Cart. The cart is run by a mellow soft-​spoken woman who runs on her own clock and doesn’t seem to be affected by the fast beat of New York.
I ordered the Chicken Biryani ($ 6.00). She won’t ask if you want any side sauces (white, hot, etc.) so I made sure to ask for hot sauce on the side, which she gladly squirted along one side of the container. As she handed my bag over, she also informed me a free can of soda is included, which surprised me since other food carts have been taking that privilege away, but nonetheless I grabbed one before taking off.
As the picture on the cart might suggest, there actually are no carrots or potatoes included in the dish which was a bummer. But also, there were no bones in the chicken as one might also be led to believe, so I’m not sure if I was relieved or disappointed. The styrofoam container was smaller than the norm which resulted in smaller portions. The container was divided into three sections, a small section for plain crisp lettuce with no dressing on top. In the other corner were 2 – 3 slices each of cucumber and tomato. Again, it was dressed with nothing, but luckily some of the hot sauce and green sauce got on it, which helped make things a little more interesting. At first glacé the hot sauce looked like the one you get at in the small packages at Chinese take outs, transparent in color like duck sauce. Don’t be fooled as the hot sauce packed some moderate heat in the back of my throat. But enough of the sides, let’s move on to the main attraction, the Chicken Biryani. The chicken was tender and flavorful but very sparse in portions. I think I only counted about 10 small pieces of chicken. The yellow long grain rice was tasty as well. The green sauce was also glopped lengthwise onto the rice. I didn’t really know what to make of it, mild but good, creamy with a hint of gritiness, satisfying. If the small portions don’t get you full, hopefully the plain whole boiled egg will.
Did the can of soda and boiled egg compensate for the smaller portions? I don’t think so. They definitely need to increase the portion size or lower the price. At $ 6, it just didn’t cut it. My hunger was subdued, but I was no where close to being full. On to the next food cart…