NYC Food Truck Lunch: Spicy Pork Platter From El Rey Del Sabor
Perry, the founder of New York Street Food, brings you his latest review on New York City street food.
It's been a number of years since we've been to El Rey Del Sabor, but not nearly as many years as they've been in business. El Rey Del Sabor is a former Vendy Award Finalist (2010) who park their cart on the north side of 43rd Street, just east of 6th Ave. There are standard halal carts right next to El Rey Del Sabor, but you'll be able to tell them by the bright Mexican designs on the cart.
The menu is traditional Mexican, but not overly extensive. Tacos, burritos, quesadillas, enchiladas, tortas and chalupas are the bulk of what's offered, although we got our lunch as a platter. There are half a dozen choices in terms of protein (beef, chicken, pork, chorizo, etc), and we decided to get the spicy pork platter this time, which cost $7.
Opening the container, the spicy pork was certainly fragrant, with a nice amount of marinated meat ladled over rice. The spicy pork was only a little spicy, although they offered to put hot sauce on the meat if we wanted. We declined this time, in order to see what the spicy pork tasted like by itself.
It turned out to be a good idea, as this was the perfect amount of heat for lunch. One thing that did surprise us was the saltiness. The meat was saltier than expected.
Plenty of black beans over rice were served on the side, and they were good. The beans were soft but not mushy, and the rice had a little extra flavor. It tasted like chicken broth might have been used to make the rice instead of water. There were also herbs and spices in the rice, plus whatever flavor came off the black beans.
A better-than-average salad was included on the side. Besides shredded iceberg lettuce, there were tomatoes, onions, corn and fresh cilantro.
Lunch at El Rey Del Sabor was good. We can see how they obtained a local clientele among the businessmen who work around Bryant Park. You won't walk away saying it's the best Mexican food you've ever eaten, but the quality is good, the flavor is bold, and the value is excellent at $7.
El Rey Del Sabor doesn't have a social media presence, but if you're in the Bryant Park area for lunch, they are a solid, reasonably-priced option for lunch. Even if the weather is too cold to sit outside, you can always take lunch from El Rey Del Sabor to the Bank of America plaza on 6th Ave between 42-43 St and grab an indoor chair or table there.
