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I'm gonna say it is UES, but I live 4 blocks South of the Halal stand. I am "on the foothills of Carnegie Hill."
You cannot buy a 1 bedroom apartment for less than a MILLION, so yeah, UES.
Yeah, it's a yoghurt based sauce, and I have a huge appetite. Half the halal dish is my feeble attempt to control my yearnings and my WEIGHT.
The authentic yogurt sauce (tzatziki) i've had at greek places tastes different from the halal stuff. It's a little thicker and there is a pronounced dairy taste. I'm sure maybe there are a few halal carts that use something that is more similar to tzatziki but most don't seem to do that.
[quote=city living;44256817]Meh, restaurants can do the same thing and you wouldn't know.
That is a rather disturbing story, but what you said expresses my feelings exactly. Not only can they do the same things in other fast food joints, diners, and restaurants, they do the same things far more often than we dare to suspect or care to know. As shady and cut-corner as people can often be, especially when under a lot of pressure or when no one is watching, I figure you either choose to eat out, or else you never eat out.
I know enough microbiology to drive me to paranoia, but as squeamish as I can be about sanitation and food prep, I figure I must draw the line somewhere or else become an obsessive/compulsive germaphobe and lose my mind. I pray, trust God, try to make good decisions, and enjoy tasting different foods and having the convenience of a variety of options when the day is long, I'm far from home, my tummy is empty, and/or the money is low. It hasn't killed me yet, and I've even found some favorite spots to which I've returned again and again!
Meh, restaurants can do the same thing and you wouldn't know.
That is a rather disturbing story, but what you said expresses my feelings exactly. Not only can they do the same things in other fast food joints, diners, and restaurants, they do the same things far more often than we dare to suspect or care to know. As shady and cut-corner as people can often be, especially when under a lot of pressure or when no one is watching, I figure you either choose to eat out, or else you never eat out.
I know enough microbiology to drive me to paranoia, but as squeamish as I can be about sanitation and food prep, I figure I must draw the line somewhere or else become an obsessive/compulsive germaphobe and lose my mind. I pray, trust God, try to make good decisions, and enjoy tasting different foods and having the convenience of a variety of options when the day is long, I'm far from home, my tummy is empty, and/or the money is low. It hasn't killed me yet, and I've even found some favorite spots to which I've returned again and again!
That's okay. I know a lot about microbiology and I touch disgusting stuff for a living, so really it doesn't bother me all that much. As long as I don't see utter filth, I'm not too worried about it, since it's what you can't see (you know, like salmonella) that would harm someone anyway.
Yeah what ever happened to those? I used to see shops and carts that had them all over the city back in the 80's and 90's. In order to get a really good gyro or souvlaki you have to go to a sit down place and I don't have time for that. I wish we have more cheap variety than these halal trucks.
Unfortunately I only started visiting New York in 2006, so I didn't get to experience that era.
The best souvlaki stick is from a cart in Astoria, on Broadway at the corner of 32nd street. There is a Capital One Bank right next to it. 3$ for a pork stick.
The best souvlaki pita is also in Astoria, from the King of Souvlaki cart on 31st and 31st avenue. The proper way to dress that any gyro or souvlaki pita is with tomatoes, onion, tzatziki and french fries, which is what they do there.
Unfortunately, I am not too fond of those processed gyros cones they used to make gyro pitas in the New York and in the USA.
A proper gyro pita sandwich should look like like the picture in my post. It is from a local place in Montreal called Elatos. It's the most authentic gyro I've had in all of North America.
I SO miss the Souvlaki joint on 14th and SIxth (SW corner.) My partner's aunt would go away for the Summer so we had her place at the Chelsea Lane on 15th between Fifth and Sixth Aves when we got sick of Jersey City...it happened often. We were there for the great blackout weekend.
As often as possible dinner would be a pita stuffed with lamb/beef carved off the rotating mass of meat. (It was not a stand but rather counter service.) Now it's another chachki shop with plastic statue of liberties, Empire State buildings and "I heart NY" T-shirts.
The sandwich was sublime, packed with meat and soaked in hot sauce, and cost, stand back............ $1.49. One was a very full dinner.
Does anyone's memory go back that far? Like the late 1970's.
What makes you think transplants are behind any xhanges like that? You think they don't eat junk food in other states?
I'm pretty sure most of the scooped-bagel type people here are native New Yorkers.
And if what you say is true, then why are there still a million junk food options?
because nyc is the capital of money and doesn't care for traditions and vendors will sell out at a moment's notice for $. it's a place always in flux. old neighborhoods transformed by new transplants and immigrants. the largest demographic group to migrate to the city past 20 years have been out of state college grads. there has never been this type of migration in the history of nyc, in the past were dominated mostly by foreign immigrants.. yes, and that makes a huge difference on what they're serving. restaurants and eateries recognize this and adjust. i saw how my beloved nyc street slice slowly morph into the 99 cent low milkfat joke of a pizza, gone was the orange oil full of greasy goodness and cheese, replaced by minimalist garbage. and no, joe's is not the best slice in nyc, it never was.. it's the best slice for transplants cos ben affleck and sex and the city said so. "it's too greasy, i don't like it." "do you have gluten free crust". "is there dairy or nuts in it?" "can i get brocolli and pineapple topping?" that's the language of out of state transplant and that's what the vendors will serve for $$$$. all ethnic foods have been diluted.. chinatown too. and old italian deli counters can't compete with trendy sandwich shops, subway and potbelly, cos that's what the transplants want.
and yelp contributes to this. i read transplant yelpers write reviews about a once great sushi place, "the sushi is too small it's not big like that other place", "it tastes like fish", "OMG, they put wasabi IN THE SUSHI, and my nose burned for half an hour, I complained but they still made me pay for it", "waitress didn't smile at me or treat me like a princess, 1 star", "i asked if they could make my sushi with brown rice and no seasoning, and they refused. never going back". so all these other sushi places take notice and change everything.
not saying there's less junk food, even that junk food has changed. and bagel quality has gone way down. good old nyc staples still exist, but few and far between. now you can't be too sure what you'll get at the random corner joint.
Last edited by ControlJohnsons; 06-02-2016 at 10:28 AM..
The authentic yogurt sauce (tzatziki) i've had at greek places tastes different from the halal stuff. It's a little thicker and there is a pronounced dairy taste. I'm sure maybe there are a few halal carts that use something that is more similar to tzatziki but most don't seem to do that.
I wouldn't say there's any one authentic yoghurt sauce. Raitia, for example, is just as authentic as tzatziki. As is laban sauce.
the largest demographic group to migrate to the city past 20 years have been out of state college grads. there has never been this type of migration in the history of nyc
I think it is not unique. My demographic migration of college grads into New York was sizeable (Undergraduate 1965, MBA 1970.) Perhaps equally sizeable to today's hoardes.
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