Mysttik Masaala

Pure addiction, love this place. Best cart in the area for sure. Great guy who runs the place too.

This guy is awesome! His food is great and he’s so personable! I go at least once a week!

Delicious food, and great price,
Simply perfect for some one who wants Indian food for lunch in good price and is too lazy to cary a lunch box to work.

We were on the road so thought of having a quick grab n go. Found mystikk masala on Unilocal and decided to give it a try. Reviews were pretty good and enticing. We tried chicken biryani, chicken samosa and dahi vada. Biryani was not bad, even though it was not technically a biryani but chicken gravy on rice. I liked it nevertheless. One small plate cost $ 10 which is probably the most expensive plate of rice and chicken on any cart in the NYC. Samosa was very average and oily. Dahi vada were also average. Overall, not bad but not awesome either. The only thing awesome about the cart was the man inside the cart! He had great attitude.

I hereby nominate the guy who runs this cart, to be the nicest guy on the New York street food scene. If you’re having a crappy day, go order some food from here. Not only will you come away with a tasty, filling and unique style Indian dish, but you’ll also come away with a smile for sure. And the next time you go back he’ll be happier to see you than your own mother would be (granted of course, that your mother still even likes you). «What’s happening bhai!!». I swear, I just want to throw money at his truck.
My go-​to here is the naan roll. The naan is softer and fluffier than any restaurant naan I’ve ever had. The biryani is also pretty good. I’m determined to eventually try everything on his menu. Chaat for lunch? Why the hell not…

I forgot they were also on 47^th, I wasn’t too fond of that truck. The chaat wasn’t that good. I got an aloo-​tiki chaat frm 54^th and it’s really good. The onions are a bit overpowering but that’s my fault, should’ve skipped those. Will try out other veg menu items.
Any recommendations?

Great food, super nice owner. Had the chicken vindaloo, as well as the chicken seekh kebab — neither disappointed. The chicken in the vindaloo was tender and the spice was just right; the kebab was also seasoned nicely. The ‘meat meal’ came with a serving of lentin stew (yum) and basmati rice, and since this was my first visit, he threw in a sample of the chole (chick peas). Needless to say, this won’t be my last visit.

Great food at this truck! I have never been disappointed and have eaten almost everything they have to offer. The food genuinely tastes as though it was made with so much love. A must try for anyone who has not had their food. I would pick his food over any Indian restaurant here

I had to try this food cart spot it’s so convenient for me since it’s right next to Grand Central Terminal. Great prices the guy even threw some free bread and pea soup in there and it was fantastic. I’m very open to trying new food and this didn’t dissappoint me not one bit.

Convenient lunch right near my office! I got the chicken biryani with naan. It was spicy and flavorful. Their roti is also good. The service is a little slow when I’m in a rush to get back to work, but if I had time to take a more leisurely lunch I would come here. The guy who works here is nice!

Very tasty food! It’s so nice to have it in our neighborhood as a dinner option. Owner is super friendly – remembered that my husband likes his food spicy and I like mine mild! :-)
My favorite is the Palak Paneer, the lentils and chana masala are also delicious.

I don’t get the high reviews. The food was full of oil and rice kind of tasted spoiled. I didn’t finish eating just threw it away. I love Indian food and I had so much better. The reason for a line is that there is one guy doing everything.

Best Indian food truck ever! The food truck owner is super friendly and courteous. Everyday you have new items on the menu and all of them tastes really good! My favorites are Rajma, Lobia Masala (Black eyed peas), Dal (everyday), Black Chana Masala (one of the best I have ever had) and all other items on the Vegetarian list (since I am a Veggie: P).
I would definitely recommend everybody to just go and try the food once! I am sure you will visit again!

Great food. It’s a 4 block walk from my job. That’s a good thing and a bad thing.
Good because I can eat here in moderation, bad because walk in a winter time is gonna suck.
Either was, food is very fresh and tasty. Owner is a great guy as well.

Yuvraaj is a tiny piece of Bombay (whoops meant to say Mumbai) street food. Of course on a Bombay street corner you’ve gotta watch out for the Indian version of Montezuma’s revenge, but here on the pristine buttoned down Park Avenue corner you can get a taste of quick but incredibly tasty Desi food on the go. Yujraaj home cooks a menu that changes every day. That means you can get black eyed peas one day, some yellow Daal another and on the 3^rd you can get some Moong daal. He’s extremely friendly and if you pay attention he’ll give you a nice little tip on life that tends to stick with you for a while.
I remember he said once that life was an echo… you get what you give … wow that’s worth a hella lot more than the 7 bucks I shelled for the veg special (which by the way is easily the best bang for the buck for quality Indian food I’ve seen in the NYC) … The Queens Necklace, Marine Drive might have some street food that beats this truck, but that’s a long out of the office ;)

Anyone who loves Indian food must try this! Best Indian truck food ever and friendliest food truck owner who clearly loves his job and shows it. The owner even called me sweetheart… awww.
We had chicken vindaloo, chana masala, and aloo gobi. He threw in an additional item for us to try. Everything was so flavorful and I was literally savoring every bit of it. The owner said that he makes his curries from 5−10am everyday. Also gave me a little spiel about his previous life: he used to sell jewelry and found his passion in doing this instead. I say good decision.

Mysttik is closed until August.
I know this because after looking for the cart this afternoon with my coworkers, I called the owner (# listed on Unilocal) to see if he had moved. After no answer and no luck finding the truck, we ventured over to 47^th street for other options. On our way back to the office, the owner (never caught your name) gave me a call back (from the airport!) to tell me that he was off to India for vacation until August 3^rd.
To you, mystterious cart owner, the simple fact that I got that call earns you 5 stars in my book. Safe travels & looking forward to giving your food a try in August!

Hands down the best food cart that I have ever been to. The food here is better or on par with some of the best Indian restaurants I have been too– both in the US and in India.
The line is always very long because everyone knows that this is the best lunch option around, however my trick is to go later in the day after the lunch rush. That way I also get to chat with the very pleasant proprietor of the cart, Yuva, as I eat. He starts cooking every morning at 5am so that the food is fresh each day and this is certainly reflected in the taste.
After my first day here, I have been back everyday– going on my 4 straight day. I’m shooting for 30 days as I know that everyday the specials are different and each dish will certainly be better than the last!

I have not cooked in over ten years (nay, not even boiled an egg for myself). I read recipes like I read science fiction; I get to the end, smile to myself, and say: «Ah, this is not going to happen in real life!»
It goes without saying, then, that a home-​cooked meal is a rare treat for me, which I relish whenever the opportunity befriends me. The food from Mysttik Masaala is the closest to home-​cooked Indian food that I’ve had in New York City. It is not the kind of food that blows me away, but that is not what this business seeks to do; it rather is the kind of food that leaves me perfectly satisfied and very happy, which is the effect that home-​cooked meals have on me.
The chicken samosa is my personal favorite among the appetizers /​snacks. The chicken is seasoned with black pepper, which gives it a nice kick without making it overpoweringly spicy. The vindaloo is not as spicy as I’ve had elsewhere, but then, this business caters to the Midtown East lunch crowd that needs to go back to work after lunch, so a less spicy vindaloo probably is a blessing for our stomachs. The bhindi masala (okra) is cooked perfectly; it is not excessively slimy, and is well spiced. Oh, and I really like the aaloo tikkis (potato patties) too!
The platters consist of very generous servings of meat and vegetables (or different kinds of vegetables, if you choose a vegetarian platter), and the price is quite low for the quantity of food you get. Yuvraaj, the owner, is very convivial and welcoming, and provides helpful recommendations for meat and vegetable pairings for your platter.
The food is cooked earlier in the day, and transported to this location to be served out of a cart. This presents certain limitations, which one must accept when eating from a food cart. As the day draws on, the samosas lose some of their crispness, and the naans become increasingly chewy as they lose some of their freshness. This is not an issue for me, because I am mindful of the fact that this is a food cart, and I should not expect naans to be scooped out of the tandoor right as I place my order.
Did I just give a street food cart a 5 star rating? Why yes, indeed, I did. Why? Because a fair review would measure a business against its peers, not compare a food cart to sit-​down full service restaurtants, which are not even in the same league. As far as Indian food carts in New York City go, this is, in my view, as good as it gets (exactly aligned with Unilocal’s rating guidelines)!

Had a delicious lunch from here today!
Typically I go with the all vegetarian options when it comes to Indian food, but they highly recommended the speical chicken curry of the day and blackbeans, so I went with those.
Both were excellent — the chicken was melt in your mouth tender and had a good kick of spiciness to it. He even put some okra on top of my rice because he heard me say to my friend that the okra is always good. He also gave us a sample of a vegetable samosa, which was SO delicious — potatoey and just the right amount of spice to it!
Very much enjoyed my lunch here and will be back! :)