Biryani Cart

I've been to the Biryani Cart a number of times, including sampling everything at the Vendy's and last year's visit for kati rolls. The cart is one of the closest places to my office, if you don't count the Cafe Europa I visited way too often in the early years of my career.


As the first place on the block for my current block by block challenge, I thought I should order what I would get if I were a Biryani Cart newbie and wanted to try the most at once - their triple combo named after Midtown Lunch founder Zach.


The combo consisted of chicken biryani, a potato samosa, and a kati roll. I guess sometimes they ask you which one you want but they just gave me one. I'm not sure if it's the Pune or the King Koti. All of that cost only $7.


I decided to try the samosa first and then alternated between the kati roll and the biryani.

Clockwise from top left: samosa; potatoes inside the samosa; biryani under white sauce, red sauce and green sauce; kati roll
The samosa was filled with potatoes but unfortunately I found this very dry. The outer shell which was covered in sauce was full of flavor from the sauce but the inside of the samosa wasn't that impressive. I was glad that I tried this as part of the combo instead of paying for an order of samosas on their own.

The biryani was also OK. I think on previous visits it was much spicier than this time, which actually edged closer to bland when not covered in sauce. The chicken for the most part was prepared well and tender, but the rice in the biryani was just OK. I have long preferred the biryani at Trini Paki Boys, finding it more heavily spiced and less greasy, and I don't think that opinion has changed. This time the biryani here was not as oily or greasy as it has been on past visits but I still prefer the spice mix over at Trini Paki Boys.

Last, the kati roll. I really enjoyed the kati rolls on my last visit and this time was no different. Eating the first bite of kati roll after the samosa and then trying the biryani after that really highlighted just how much more flavor there was in the kati roll. It was full of chicken and some vegetables, the chapati had just the right amount of chewiness, and the flavors of all the ingredients shone through in the roll. This was the best part of the combo for me and I made sure it was the last bite I had.

I'm glad I tried the combo. I think it's a good choice for someone who hasn't been to the Biryani Cart before (and perhaps you might prefer their style of biryani more) or someone who might have a favorite dish but hasn't tried other items. As for me, I think I'm going to stick to the kati rolls or the chapli kebab (which I had at the Vendys but have not been able to get at the cart since then) from now on.

Biryani Cart is located on the southwest corner of 46th and 6th.