Organic Falafel Street Cart in New York, NY

Who needs variety? The previous post that was published on this blog was about Halal carts in New York where I tried some of their falafel. I'll keep with that theme and write about more falafel from a New York City street vendor. I was wandering around lower Manhattan looking for a place to get some breakfast and came across a street festival. There was a stand selling organic falafel and I decided it would work for filling my breakfast requirements.

The falafel pita was a bit overpriced (I'm assuming because of the organic part) compared to most, but I still went for it. It was filled with falafel, stuffed grape leaves, lettuce, tomato, rice, and the obligatory white and hot sauces. I honestly wasn't a big fan of this particular sandwich. I found the falafel and rice to be very dry and bland tasting, regardless of the sauces. The grape leaf was a nice touch, but it didn't make up for the rest of the sandwich. Towards the end, I found myself sharing some of the rice and pita with the pigeons that were swarming in the park where I sat down to eat rather than finishing the sandwich myself.

Regardless of not being a big fan of the sandwich, eating street food in New York always makes me happy for some reason. There was also a very nice view of this humongous building, which I honestly had no idea was so large already. For some reason, I still thought there was still arguments going on about the final design...

Chicken Satay Stand in Orlando, FL

On July 4th, I watched the fireworks at Lake Eola park in Orlando. Lots of food vendors were set up, most of which I did not partake. As I was leaving though, I did start to get hungry and noticed skewers of Indonesian chicken satay being grilled.

The grilled meat smelled really good and the skewers were very affordable compared to most of the other foods being sold in the park.

I bought my chicken satay, which was immediately drenched in peanut sauce, and I proceeded to eat as I wandered around Downtown Orlando. These tasty chunks of chicken made me think about how Orlando needs more street food that is between a full-fledged food truck and the hot dog carts that show up late at night. We need more skewer carts. We need some halal carts. We need all those fun little carts that show up in other cities like New York and Washington, but have yet to come to Orlando. The ones that fit on a sidewalk corner and provide a nice tasty snack for cheaper than any full restaurant or food truck. Chicken Satay should be around in Orlando all the time, not just on holidays in the park...

Christmas in New York

On the countless lists on the internet concerning the top Christmas destinations around the world, New York seems to always show up. Good thing, because a few days before Christmas, I ended up in New York City and did some Christmastime sightseeing. The adventure started out in Bryant Park with their giant Christmas tree...

It was cold. The fountain in the park was covered in icicles.

They had a huge ice skating rink in the park. Being that I was in New York at Christmastime in below freezing temperatures, I decided I had to rent some skates just for the experience.

Didn't plan on skating for long, but I ended up being on the ice for about two hours!

After skating, I wandered over to Rockefeller Center while looking for food.

Rockefeller Center had a bigger tree, but Bryant Park's ice rink was better!

I finally ended my night by buying a potato knish from a street vendor on the corner in front of Rockefeller Center. Earlier I went looking for the 53rd & 6th Halal Cart that I've read good things about, but they weren't there. So at midnight in the freezing weather, I decided to end my adventures with food for the night and settled on the knish to hold me over.

I've had much better knishes in the past, but I wasn't expecting too much from a street vendor. It was tasty enough. I should have bought some chestnuts too!

Merry Christmas!