Comme Ci Comme Ça

Best food truck in NYC!!!
Recommend chicken couscous. Dirt cheap and unbelievably delicious!

This food is typical overpriced halal plate u get from any standard $ 6 – 7 dollar halal cart. Nothing special. Garbage. Do not pay $ 9-​$ 11 dollars when u can go to any nearby halal cart in Manhattan and pay less.
Nothing special at all. And it’s not even really shwarma. Taste like crap. Don’t be fooled

Incredibly friendly. Lemon chicken couscous was great. Will be back to try other items/​give them my support.

This place is awesome. Delicious food and they are so friendly! I usually have the vegetarian cous cous. Basmati rice and tilapia are also great. Try all the yummy sauces!

Just had the Cous Cous Royal and was definitely blown away. This is by far one of the best food trucks that I have encountered on the streets of NYC. All the meats were tasty, but my favorites are the merguez and kofta.
Will definitely be back!

I agree with the comment that food trucks should have LETTER GRADES. I regretted spending $ 7 or so here on my tacos that were soggy with what appeared to have week old, left in the warmth, browning lettuce. It was disgusting.

I decided to try the chef samir food truck because it had a group of people anxiously waiting for food outside of it and I assumed during the busy midtown lunch rush hour that meant it was worth waiting for… well, the food was pretty mediocre. I had the beef couscous, as that seemed to be a popular item. For $ 9 I got 6 little half dollar sized pieces of beef and a thin layer of couscous and some veggies. They veggies were good but everything else could have used a little more spice to it. The couscous was cooked perfectly but it had no flavor aside from salt… with such high quality food being made at other food trucks in the area I don’t think I’ll be going back.

Its been a couple of years now since a colleague told me about the Moroccan truck that comes by my office on Thursdays. Now every Thursday is a struggle as I try to convince myself that I should have another boring salad in my feeble battle against my slow metabolism.
Invariably on most Thursdays I loose that battle to Comme Ci Comme Ca. I fall victim to the Cous Cous Royale, which I ask for with extra vegetables and the spicy green sauce.
I don’t mind standing in the hot sun, or on a chilly day. I don’t mind the flimsy fork that they give me, or the long wait on most days. It’s all worth it when I get back to the office and taste that fluffy couscous, sink my teeth into the merguez, and savour the perfectly cooked vegetables.

Reader beware! Once you’ve tasted this food truck, well the rest of the food trucks just don’t feel right.
Hmm…maybe I’m being a bit carried away but give me a chance to first explain myself. After all, this is the land of the free and the home of the hungry.
You come up to the truck and you see some logos, some awesome art on the truck, and usually a long line of hungry customers. Chef Samir is just an overall amazing person. He brings it out not only in his interaction with his customers but it just beams out. So now let’s get to the meat of why I’m writing this review. Before you continue, check out my picture because after all, pictures speak volume.
I got the lemon chicken cous cous with Casablanca sauce and some other red spicy sauce. Whole chickpeas, eggplant, carrots, sweet potatoes, tender juicy perfectly seasoned chicken. I mean, when I give a review like this we are usually talking about full blown establishments but this is coming out of a food truck! Samir is the real deal and his food will make you believe… I don’t know what it is you believe but trust me, he’ll do it! And, on top of that I texted them my order and pick up time and it was ready precisely when I got there! Talk about service! They are on 52^nd and Park on Wednesdays FYI and it’s a must!

I give this truck 3.5 stars. I got the beef shawarma wrap. The portion is a little on the small side but considering this is midtown east, $ 8 for a wrap isn’t that bad. The meat was tender, juicy and flavorful and the sauces are amazing. I got the Casablanca sauce (white sauce) and the Spicy andulasian sauce (red sauce).

The tilapia couscous was delicious! I was at Royal Palms Shuffleboard in Carroll Gardens on a Tuesday when this food truck was there. It was a pleasant surprise! The hot sauce has a bit of a kick so beware! The white sauce is delicious though!

Check out Samir’s twitter to see where he’s at. Standup guy full of energy and a cart full of great food. From the Kofta to the Shawarma, anything over cous cous is the way to go. Nice selection of veggies as well. Yum.

I’d been looking forward to this truck for awhile, because I grew to love couscous while studying abroad in Paris and haven’t really had a chance to get any in the city. Unfortunately, I’ve been busy every time it parks close to my office, but took the opportunity today to jet out there at 11:55am in an attempt to avoid the line. Luckily, there was only one guy waiting for food when I arrived. I ordered the lemon chicken over couscous, since it was so highly touted by Unilocalers. I’m sorry to say that I was slightly disappointed with the portion, as I could see a lot of the tin gaping through. Usually I’m not one to complain about portions, since I have a pretty small appetite. Maybe it’s a wider tin than most? Probably not. There was also very little chicken, and it was shredded, which isn’t my favorite. It was a very filling meal for me, still, but for $ 9 I’d generally expect a little more. At the same time, couscous and Moroccan food in general is pretty pricey if you sit down at a restaurant, so I don’t know. As you can see from the rambling inner debate, I’m not really sure how I feel about it yet. Regardless, t flavor was all there, though – the chickpeas and the grilled vegetables were perfectly cooked and seasoned. And the couscous definitely hit the spot.

I really enjoy the food from this truck, the spice combination is unlike anything else in the area and it has just the right amount of heat. I tried the Chicken Shwarma over rice and it comes with chickpeas and mixed vegetables and everything was done perfectly. I will be visiting it again soon.

Saw this truck parked near Old Slip Park in the FiDi one day and since I was in need of a new lunch spot decided to hit it up. I saw a decent line forming outside of this truck at about 12:30pm and was curious about the small buzz developing. I did some research on Unilocal and the next thing I knew I was at the front of the line ordering.
I gave the Lemon Chicken Cous Cous a try. I’m not an expert on Cous Cous, nor do I prefer it over rice, but since I rarely eat it I thought why not. The order came in a huge aluminum tray, reminiscent of the The Halal Guys truck trays. Unfortunately, the tray was not filled to the brim, but the serving size was more filling than I anticipated. The order included lots of cous cous (as it should have) and chicken. Sides inside the dish comprised of large chunks of potatoes, carrots/​yams and chick peas.
The cous cous, potatoes and carrots were good, but the lemon chicken was a disappointment. I felt like I was eating a regular chicken and rice dish substituted with cous cous instead. The chicken was pretty much like halal meat and did not have any lemon flavor or sign of seasoning. As I said disappointing, especially at $ 9!
I’ll probably have to give other dishes a try from here, but at the steep prices they are selling them at it’s hard to want to come back after a letdown like that.

My favorite food truck to stalk!!! I’ve been looking for some basic Moroccan food since I moved to NYC and this hits the spot! For a good truck, it’s amazing! Fluffy couscous, perfectly seasoned meats, yummy sauces, and the chicken cigar is fantastic! I’ve loved everything I’ve tried and am insanely jealous of my hubby who works in midtown and has access to them during the week!

This is from my first visit to Chef Samir’s food truck.
This was parked right next to the dumpling and noodle cart, at the intersection of Water St and Hanover Square.
I had the Moroccan Kofta Brochette — ground beef mixed with a blend of mild spices, onion and cilantro, served with caramelized onions, roasted tomatoes, green peppers and green olives. I opted for the spicy and white sauces.
The portion size was just perfect — a decent 8 inches of bread with just enough stuffing to make it filling but not overly so. Unlike the gyro-​on-​pita sandwiches, which need an afternoon nap just to soak them in.
I was happy right from the first bite — the flavors were rich, the meat tasty, and olives and the sauces added a very pleasing «Mediterranean» touch to it. No wonder the lines were fairly long an hour into lunchtime.
Plan to return here soon to try out the other options — clearly their platters are the favorite choice among those in the know.

C’est magnifique! I will join my fellow fans of Chef Amir in offering other French phrases to exclaim joy for the existence of this delicious food truck.
I always, always get the cous cous. It is homey and delicious with just the right balance of well seasoned meat and accoutrements (usually butternut squash, zucchini, carrots and chickpeas). And the Casablanca sauce is a must add.
I love the lemon chicken, although the tilapia is a nice light alternative.
The chicken cigars are very tasty, but being deep fried, a decadent treat I only will have once in a blue moon.
The service is friendly and Chef Amir is always there with a smile. And they have a frequent flier card where you get a free cous cous or rice plate when you buy 10. Can’t beat that!
Come see them on a corner near you.

You think you can’t regret if it only costs $ 7? Think again.
And by the way, food trucks should be REQUIRED to have LETTER GRADES like restaurants.

First thing’s first — the guys who run this truck are THE best — always a smile on their faces and just extremely friendly!
This truck is by my office at least once a week and there is always a line. The food is great. I’ve been a couple times and have gotten the lemon chicken over basmati rice — basically their take on street meet. This comes with onions, tomatoes and chick peas which is good for those of us who have big appetites. Seven bucks for a lot of GOOD food, yes please!

A more appropriate French phrase for this truck would be «Tres Bien» or «Super Choutte» or «Mon dieu! C’est delicieux!». Really, it’s hard to exaggerate how damn good the food is. I don’t know what magic goes on in that truck but I’m sure there’s a dissertation to be written on the most economically effective utilization of cooking space using Comme Ci Comme Ca as a case study.
The cous cous is phenomenal and every single meat is seasoned to perfection. The sauces are great too; the mint sauce especially elevates the selection from your standard street meat.
I’ve been working downtown for the past three months and the thing I miss the most about midtown without a doubt lunch on Wednesdays when Comme Ci Comme Ca parks on 52^nd. I may consider finding a new job just for the sake of that.

Dup of
Steep prices especially given the portions, and the fact that it’s a truck.
As their only customer around 5pm on a weeknight at the start of dinner service, I figured my single item would take less time, especially since they recently raised all sub-​$ 5 prices posted on their site
by a dollar, a massive percentage spike. Really friendly guys (and a well-​staffed truck made the wait even more surprising) who accepted my PayPal and a few minutes into the wait offered up the mint tea that I forgot to mention from their tweet*. The menu can confuse, as it places veg couscous under a separate category than ‘best cous cous’, so clearly I had zero incentive to shell out $ 8 for an inferior dish. Went instead with their previously-​$ 4 veggie cigar for $ 5 (tasty but not a $ 5 item from a food truck, and they only made it white-​dude spicy, even after asking), and it came on a ‘bed of greens’***.
‘Chef Samir Truck’ on PayPal…
3-​Veggie Cigar 1 $ 5.00 $ 5.00
Total $ 5.00 USD
B8-​vegetarian fajita — not bad
$ 7.00
SubTotal
$ 7.00
Special Offer
-$ 5.00
Total
$ 2.00
*Be sure to wait until a little while after their tweets to arrive at the mentioned locations, because I made the mistake of not heeding their preparatory ‘for dinner’ notice and had to return a half-​hour later when they were posted in front of Stern for finals week, when NYU becomes a midtown-​like food truck row on some evenings.
**This listing is oddly placed, guess the Unilocal bot had fun with that one.
***Those greens must’ve woken up with a bad back because that was a bit inaccurate.
^ Those 3 other check-​ins were the result of attempts to visit them in Midtown, but they’d already closed.

I want all the meat. That’s why I rocked the Cous Cous Royal.* It’s got the lemon chicken, the beef, the merguez AND the kofta.
Now that I’ve had all the meat though, I think I would just stick to the chicken (shockingly enough). It was cheaper, moist and delicious. And next time, I’d probably say «a tiny bit hot» when Chef Samir asks, because evidently «a little hot» means «light a fire in my mouth and make me cry.»
It’s not Chef Samir’s fault that I can’t handle the heat though, and he was very, very nice. Almost too nice. I’m a little bit suspicious of anyone who stands in a hot truck serving food all day and is that nice.
The flavors are reminiscent of what you might get at a halal cart, but I’m assuming (read: hoping) the ingredients are of a bit higher quality. As a friend of mine likes to say (and please excuse the crude language): «I love halal carts, I just don’t love peeing out of my butt for days.»
Well, with Comme Ci Comme Ça, I can happily report that the latter is not an issue.
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*Which autocorrects to CPUs CPUs Royal, in case you were wondering.

On a recent food truck lunch hunt near the office, I came across this interesting little mobile eatery and was pleasantly surprised. The menu spans across some tasty flavor combos from lemon chicken over cous cous to kofta sandwiches, and the price point settles around $ 10 for a meal. Chef Samir greets everyone with a warm smile and definitely seems to enjoy his gig, making the experience extra pleasant.
My lemon chicken with creamy mayo sauce over couscous had a healthy helping of veggies and was crazy filling, definitely enough to share for two people. The dish itself is not all to dissimilar to halal cart meals I’ve had, perhaps a bit healthier, but definitely still savory decadent. I’ll have to come back to try their sandwiches!

WOWzaaa. I have walked by this truck so many times and never tried it. I wish someone told me how tasty this place was earlier. The chicken and rice platter here is definitely different from the other carts in the area. I could taste the ethnic authenticity in each bite! The spices, the tender chicken, the chickpeas, yummmmmmy. Their chicken cous cous is also delicious. Definitely try this truck out. They’ve been featured on a bunch of tv shows too.

Always has a long line because the food here is so damn good. The couscous is delicious and every meat I have had here whether it was lamb, kefta, chicken, etc. has been awesome. The chef is really friendly and I am always happy to see the truck when I go looking for lunch. Highly recommend the truck. The spices he uses are unique and I have never had anything that did not fully satisfy me.

Comme Ci Comme Ça is not your average street meat truck. It melds all different type of Mediterranean flavors in one plate.
I had the Royale combo over Basmati Rice which has a little bit of everything (lemon chicken, beef, kofta, and merguez).
You can really taste all the Mediterranean spices Chef Samir uses to create these unique street meat dishes.
So glad they park near my office twice a week!

Chef Samir is a great guy! He always has the biggest smile on his face when he takes your order (and asks for your name, so they can call you when they’re done).
The food is also amazing. The lemon chicken over rice was heavenly with white and a little spicy Andalusian sauce.
I’ve also had the beef brochette and the beef kofta over rice. Both were good, but the lemon chicken blew them out of the water.
Definitely plan on trying everything on the menu. Only bad thing is that we saw someone with a punch card for a free meal after X orders (I assume 10), and when we asked about it, they said they were out. I definitely could have made good use of that!