Young Xinjiang BBQ Cart

I always search for this when I am in chinatown in New York.
Its seriously so much better on the carts than they are at restaurants. I can eat like twenty of these things… And they’re only like 1 – 2 a stick.
Now I want more.

Good, authentic chinese street bbq. The meat was nice and juicy and had the small portions of fat that I love. Price is cheap too.

This is a popular food cart that sells BBQ’ed meats at the food of the Manhattan Bridge on Forsythe Street. What makes this place popular is that you can get different skewers of meat for a extremely low price of $ 1 each. Every time I visit, I walk away with 5 or so different skewers. My personal favorite would be the chicken, lamb, beef, fish tofu and chicken wing skewers. The meats are juicy and succulent and you’ll definitely be wanting more. A sprinkle of red cumin powder adds a little zing to the meat. Definitely do check out this cart whenever you’re in the area. You can smell the BBQ aroma of charcoal and meats from blocks away!

The thing about these carts is that they’re *sometimes* never there when you go. But thank you meat stick man for being there!
The meat is so amazing because it takes in the smoky flavor of the charcoal under it. My favorite is the lamb, fish ball (with sauce), and fish tofu (with sauce). And add the spice on it! It isn’t TOO spicy and well worth it.
Like most places in Chinatown, it is cash only. After getting your fill, walk along the bridge to buy some cheap groceries and different types of ginger for cheap: o

Probably not the healthiest or cleanest, but this is street food done right. Take a risk and you have my word that I’ve never had a stomach bug from eating here.
Pros: The spice rub, a blend of cumin and chili powder, is so legit. The skewers are grilled over an open charcoal grill and I swear it tastes just like the ones in China.
–My favorite is the lamb, which can be greasy with chunks of fat, and the chicken, which is always a safe choice.
–Spice levels can also be adjusted.
Cons: I’m not fond of the sweet brown sauce that they sometimes glaze on, but you can ask to have it without the sauce.
–It may help to know Chinese, but holding out your money is pretty universal. There’s a sign with English on the side of the cart, so you’re good to go.
–The skewers are a bit on the small side, but when it’s this cheap, you can always eat to your heart’s content.

it’s ok. nothing really compaline about as it is a food chart and the price is ok. take off one star, just because it is not easy to find…

I love coming here every once in a while to snag a grilled skewer stick. My favorites are the chicken, beef and lamb. The seasoning is pretty spicy so be prepared with a bottle of water. I usually grab herbal tea before or after I stop here, just to detox from such a smokey snack.
The meats are all pretty tender and flavorful, the lamb has ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ fat and meat though. Prices went up and they’re not $ 1.25 each instead of 1.
Worth checking out.

Price went up from 1 to 1.25. Still totally worth it. Remember to ask for your food «spicy» first if that’s how you like it. Yum.

I am glad that there is a BBQ skewer cart in Manhattan Chinatown but I have to say the ones in Flushing are much better. The prices are roughly the same but the real difference is in the lamb skewer. This one a 3:1 ratio of lean meat to fat chunks whereas Flushing’s had all lean meat which deducts a star even though it is on the more «authentic» side.
I also got the chicken gizzard and chicken heart skewers — nom nom nom!

After trying the Xinjiang BBQ Cart in Flushing and falling in love, I wanted to find if Manhattan had something similar. I was vacationing in NYC and was staying in Manhattan, I didn’t want to go so far to Flushing but I wanted skewers! So I looked on Unilocal to see if there was one in Manhattan and there was!
I went on an adventure to find this cart. It was a little hard to find at first because it was already dark outside and I was unfamiliar with the area. But when I did find it, it was this lonely cart near the corner of the street with an older gentlemen watching the cart.
Unfortunately, his English isn’t that great but if you point to the menu on which item you want and how many, he’ll get them right away. I got 4 – 5 lamb skewers and he was very friendly, even offered to wrap it up in foil for me to go. I ended up taking it back and waiting for my boyfriend to come back to try it. I also tried a skewer but it wasn’t as great as the one in Flushing but that could be because it was wrapped in foil right after it was done cooking so it became well done …
So my boyfriend and I tried the cart again a day or two later. But this time, there was a woman at the cart instead of the older gentlemen. Once again, we got the lamb skewers. They were delicious when eaten fresh but the meat quality, I feel, wasn’t as great as the Flushing cart. There was a lot of fat in the meat .oof. Though, still yummy and nicely seasoned with the cumin, salt, and spice.
However, beware! On a more recent NYC trip, I wanted to get skewers again because I can’t seem to find anything close to it at home… and I couldn’t find the cart. So I’m not sure which days they have off or what not.
But if you can find the cart and have some cash on you, give it a try. It is delicious: D

This place is great because it’s simple, cheap, and delicious. A random cart in Fuzhounese part of Chinatown Manhattan that serves up coal roasted meats. For about a dollar a stick you get flavorful meats seasoned with spices like cumin and chili pepper.
For me I always get the fishballs and beef on a sticks, the chunks of beef they use while small are fat and flavorful. A+ everytime.

$ 1 for any skewer you want. Grilled fresh over charcoal and sometimes even catches on fire. One of the best street snacks you can get anywhere (what would take it to the next level is a peanut sauce like satay or a sour-​spicy Viet/​Thai style sauce.) YUMM!

I stumbled upon this cart while running some errands on the far side of Chinatown. Haha, I gotta say, she knows how to hide her cart well. I’m actually half a XinJiang native; my mom was born and raised there, so I do know what authenticity tastes like!
I got a skewer of lamb for $ 1. To be honest, I thought for that small skewer, $ 1 was quite a steep price. Having said that, even though the meat wasn’t exactly quality, there was a taste of some authentic XinJiang flavor with the mix of spices. The whole 3 seconds that it took me to eat did bring me slightly down memory lane, back to my carefree XinJiang vacation days.
If you got an extra buck on you and are in the area, why not?

This seems to be the only Xinjiang BBQ meat stick option in Manhattan, which automatically gives it 3 stars, because sometimes I just need my fix and this hits the spot.
A skewer of beef, lamb or chicken is $ 1. However, the meat does not taste as good (the lamb is chewy and dry) and the cart does not feel as clean as the ones in Flushing. Overall, it’s not too bad. Would be OK when desperate for a Xinjiang kebab without the time or energy to head to Flushing, but it’s just not as good as the carts in Queens.

$ 1 lamb kebabs $ 2 chicken wings
Lamb was rubbery but with a good amount of fat but were just meh
The big chicken wings, on the other hand, were tasty — hot, crispy, salty and a little sweet. good stuff.

We came upon one somewhere near this location and I was beyond ecstatic. I can read the Chinese characters and know we have to try at least one skewer. Any only skewer is $ 1 each. Each skewer is skillfully grilled over coal. You’ll be asked if you want it spicy — the cook will then sprinkle spices on the skewer — the end result is super tender and tasty lamb. If we haven’t tried 4 other places that afternoon, I would have 1 – 2 each of everything.
LOVE every bite — I’m beyond jealous of all these fabulous food carts…

Yitiao Yangrou Chuarrr!
Just like on the streets of Beijing, a skewer of lamb here is yi kuai. But unlike Beijing, yi kuai here = $ 1 whereas it is only ¹⁄₇ of a dollar over there.
I’ve only tried the lamb here, as that’s what I usually stick to in Beijing. The lamb here is subpar and rubbery. For good yangrou, hit the streets of Flushing, Kissena Blvd to be exact.

Look for the smoke (or Google Maps says it’s approximately at 16 Forsyth St), Young Xinjiang BBQ Cart brings traditional Xianjiang BBQ to Chinatown. The wait can be a while, and you might have some difficultly without Mandarin — but like Phoebe says, get it spicy. I would also stick to the lamb, but saw many other people ordering other items (chicken wings, hot dogs, SQUID).
I prefer the one in Flushing (
) but this one is way closer (though not as tasty).

Look along the Manhattan Bridge and you will see the charcoal smoke piping up from the little food cart– and sure enough, you have found Young’s Xinjiang BBQ Cart (similar to the one out in Flushing).
For $ 1 — ONE DOLLAR– you get a delicious, grilled skewer: chicken, lamb, beef, hotdog. The lamb is juicy and perfectly charred to perfection. They also offer corn and sweet potato wrapped up in some foil. Be SURE to ask for the killer spice powder– it truly makes everything here special.
Combine this little cart with a trip to Prosperity Dumpling (5/​$ 1 dumplings) and you have yourself a $ 2 – 3 lunch. and a mini Chinatown Adventure.

$ 1 Beef, lamb, Chicken & more per skewer! Talk about recession! I think this is better than a protein shake because it is pure protein grilled on a stick!
I just tried it the first time this past weekend and it was so GOOODD!!!