Desi Express

Good Indian good at reasonable prices ($ 8) with a wider selection than most Indian food trucks.
I would say it’s definitely solid food but not phenomenal. Will be back if I’m craving Indian food and I need something close to the office and quick.

Very good Indian food from this street cart. Wish there was some outdoor seating nearby besides the Hanover Park benches.

Quick line. I had the 1 meat and 1 veggie and naan for $ 9. Good chicken curry and Alao Gobi. Rice was OK too. Good portions.

The rice was very litte, the chicken pieces were way too huge and for some reason the chicken tikka masala sauce was sweet. Like noticeably very sweet. The food was filling but not good at all.

Bumped into this food truck today at Hanover Sq downtown. A full order (1 meat + 1 veg) is $ 8. I got the lamb curry ($ 1 extra) and it was pretty tasty and authentic (actually somewhat spicy). There’re decent amount of lamb pieces in the curry too! It’s great to have a good Indian option for lunch downtown!

The chicken tikka masala was flavorful and moist. A lot of food for 8 bucks. Better than Bombay’s closeby

While I would give the woman behind the window 5 stars just for her bright and sunny personality, I have to drop down Desi Express to 3 stars as a whole, which trust me isn’t easy since I always want to support a fellow Desi.
After randomly wandering around in search of a good lunch option, Desi Express’s truck caught my eye as it’s rare to find Indian food in the area especially at affordable prices.
They have great combos available where you can mix and match 2 veggie and meat dishes for around $ 8 – 10 served with your choice of rice or naan and sauce. I opted for lamb curry and palak paneer over rice with an additional naan (only $ 1!) on the side.
Although I was assured restaurant quality by the woman since the food is apparantely actually made at a restaurant, it was really nothing outstanding. I would peg it as run-​of-​the-​mill, decent Indian food. My biggest complaints are probably that I only got 2 small pieces of paneer in my palak and that the lamb was pretty chewy. Tender lamb can really make a difference in curry! The naan too was only okay — I wished it was a bit softer and fluffier but at only $ 1, I can’t complain too much.
On the plus side, the raita sauce is AMAZING and they give you a boatload of food so for that I’ll definitely keep Desi Express in the lunch rotation when I have a hankering for motherland food.
P. S. Desi Express, if you’re reading this, please have an option to get the sauce in a small to-​go container rather than drizzling it on top of the food! That combined with the fact that you use a styrofoam container, makes it impossible to bring the food back to your desk and not have a dripping mess everywhere.

This place is one of my favorite trucks in FiDi. Very satisfied for 8 dollars. The naan is a decent size, so for only a dollar more, it’s definitely a no-​brainer. I had the chicken tikka masala and palak paneer over rice. The paneer had plenty if chunks of cheese, making it very satisfying.
The ONE thing is that it comes in a styrofoam package, which can cause the curry to leak, and combined with the brown paper bag it comes in, you can only imagine the trouble I went through. Carry it back to your office carefully!

The food here is good and even has a pretty nice kick (spice-​wise). The price is also very reasonable.
I had the pakoras (crispy dumplings) in gravy and the daal makhani (black lentils) over rice. Everything was very flavorful and nicely seasoned. The naan was also good.
Desi offers solid food. I’ll return.

The 4^th star is for the friendly demeanor and the lamb curry over rice garnished with raw onion and cilantro. God, I love cilantro.
Otherwise, I’d rate it a 3-​star cart that should flourish in FiDi because of the woeful Indian food in the neighborhood. Maybe I’m the wrong person to be objective about this — I come from people who are largely terrible but can all cook beautifully. So I grew up with picky tastebuds and had to teach myself to cook at least halfway decently so I could leave the terrible relatives estranged.
So we’ve established that I am a horrible person, and a bit of a snob. Now we can move forward! The daily special is $ 7 for: 2 vegetarian dishes over rice, 1 vegetarian and 1 meat dish over rice (add $ 1 for lamb), or 1 vegetarian and 1 fish dish over rice (I think there is only the one fish curry). So far I’ve tried 3 chicken curries, 2 kinds of dal, the fish curry, and the lamb curry. Want a quick-​and-​dirty Indian perspective?
Chicken tikka masala: Passable, but would not eat again. It was a bit sweet. You can salt it a little to try to balance the flavor, but you’re better off getting the methi chicken or chicken nimbu mirch.
Methi chicken/​chicken nimbu mirch: I’ve only tasted the both of these, and opted not to get them — the methi chicken is better than the nimbu mirch, but they’re both thinner curries with homier flavors than typical Indian restaurant food.
Fish curry: Tasty! The fish is first deep-​fried in chickpea flour giving it an interesting texture under a moderately spicy, savory curry sauce. Pair it with a chili pepper for optimal flavor.
Dal makhani: In general, I love dal. Dal makhani ranks up there as one of the richer dal dishes. While this one is certainly not the best I’ve ever had, I’d be hard-​pressed to find eating this out better than eating a home-​cooked version of it. It will do, though. It’s a good alternative than getting one of their vegetable dishes if you’re like me and love vegetable dishes, but only when they’re homemade.
I can’t remember the other dal I’ve had. Will follow-​up if I do.
Oh, and that 4^th star is also for the fact they keep raw green chilies in the truck and give me 2 when I ask. I always ask for 2. I would ask for more but I can’t be greedy :(
MOST IMPORTANTLY, the truck is NOT actually at 53 Nassau St anymore (though the address is still on the truck). It hangs out on Pearl Street between Hanover Square and Coenties Slip, across the street from Financier.