Adham’s Halal Food

Preface/​background: I am now more focused on quality and am always looking for a great deal (read: value). Less meat, no more 2 Chipotle burrito eating.
Solid halal food. Looks like a random cart on the side, which it is, but that doesn’t make it any less delicious. I’m always skeptical of food carts in this area — no actually, and restaurant in this area, but it’s good. The chicken over rice is solid — the chicken is tender, and it tastes almost like curry chicken over rice with some vegetables. Haven’t had halal chicken that tasted like curry.
I’ll come back here. 53^rd and 6^th is definitely better, but if you’re in the area, this one is also pretty good. And it’s only $ 5. Do it.

Third update! Still the best street meat in Manhattan and the ultimate hangover food.
But now he has a young guy working for him (I hope this means he’s doing well, cuz he deserves it!). This new guy stands outside the truck during rush hour and takes your order, relays it to Adham, bags up your order and then collects your money. The lines move a lot faster now and it’s gotta be a lot more sanitary since the guy making your food isn’t the guy handling your money!

Why would you ever try a random halal cart along a quiet street? For one, because I am a Unilocaler and two, it has received 3 good reviews from fellow Unilocalers. Only three reviews is questionable, but I’m an adventurous guy. With two solid reasons in hand, I knew I had to try Adham’s.
When I walked up to the cart, I was delighted to see the lamb on a doner kebab, something of which I don’t tend to see except for the most famous and frequented carts. Since I was doing an early lunch around 11:30 AM, there was lamb and chicken already thrown on the grill. I was skeptical of the food being overcooked and dry. So I decided to order the Lamb over Rice ($ 5.00). I watched as he prepared my platter. He placed the basic salad consisting of crisp lettuce and 2 fresh slices of tomato on one side. He then put several heaping spoonfuls of rice into my dish. Then topped off with the lamb. I had asked for a piece of chicken to try, and the guy stated I can get the Combo Platter next time, and then he proceeded to put on 2 – 3 large pieces of chicken into my platter. I didn’t want to order the Combo Platter, primarily because it was $ 6.00, a bit pricey, but at least you get to try both the lamb and chicken. So at least now, I had a chance to try the chicken to see if it was worth ordering on my next visit. I also asked for hot sauce and white sauce. Thereafter, he proceeded to close my platter and I noticed he was having difficulty because it was overloaded to the brim with food!
When I finally made my way to eating my Lamb over Rice, I was pleasantly surprised to see the abundant portions of brownish-​yellow Basmati (long-​grain) rice filled to the top. The rice was firm in texture and flavorful, yum! The lamb, mixed with chopped green peppers and onions, was very tasty. The lamb had a nice crispy char on one side while the meat inside was very moist and full of flavor. It’s been a while since I had such good halal, and is probably one of the best in the West Side/Hell’s Kitchen area, especially ever since Omar had left Little Morocco. The chicken was decent though nothing spectacular. It had a subtle char grill, but I found the meat to be slightly dry though luckily not too chewy. The white sauce was a mayo-​based concoction, very thick in consistency and full of all that mayo-​ey goodness. Heck, who doesn’t love mayo. It was a bit overboard so make sure to ask him to go light with the sauce if you are on a diet, but it really made the lamb shine. The hot sauce, in a smoky dark-​red color, was thick and almost gritty as if you could still see the ground particles of chili peppers in it. It packed a noticeable amount of heat though nothing overbearing like 53^rd and 6^th’s hot sauce.
Adham’s is definitely on my list of places to revisit for good Halal food cart eats when in the West Midtown area. For $ 5.00, you get very generous portions, almost to the point where your stomach will burst, leaving me full for the next several hours. Adham, if that is the chef’s name, seemed to have everything dialed in with the exception of the chicken. That may possibly be because I had come so early and there wasn’t as fast a turnover of the meat on the grill. Regardless, I recommend checking out this cart as you’ll more than likely finish off feeling full and satisfied.

Since we like to to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn West 35^th and since I have the patience of a two year old, we get our chicken and rice fix at Adham’s. With all the things to eat, see and do in NY, I can’t stand to wait in line for it at 53^rd and 6^th. I haven’t tried nearly enough halal carts in the city, but I think it’s pretty damn satisfying.
Extra snaps from me because it takes about 10 steps to drunkenly stumble from this cart to the hotel at the end of the night.

I was looking for Royal Halal (
) after reading about them in MLB’s Street Meat Palooza 2 competition (
), but discovered Adham’s instead last Friday.
There was only 1 halal cart on the SW corner of 35^th & Broadway and it read Adham’s, so it clearly wasn’t Royal Halal. It looks like either Adham’s moved down from 40^th & Broadway or this is a new Adham’s. Adham’s is clearly not the same cart as Halal, as you can see from both Street Meat Palooza’s:
I was too full to try the chicken/​lamb over rice (a great deal for $ 5), so I opted for a pita instead. I tried their chicken + lamb combination pita ($ 4) and both meats were pretty good! Their white sauce was also good and their spicy red sauce isn’t nearly as vicious as the guys from 53^rd & 6^th.
I was surprised because I wasn’t expecting much, and was only planning to go to 8^th ranked Royal Halal because of its proximity to the office. Glad that I ended up discovering the 2009 rank 7 (and 2008 rank 3) street meat place instead! Read MLB’s Street Meat Palooza 2 blogpost to know what I’m talking about.
Since I had the combo, it was hard to tell the exact flavorings of the chicken and lamb. Since I haven’t tried both separately, I’ll just assume I like both, for now.