NYC Food Truck Lunch: Kofta Kebab From Comme Ci Comme Ca
Perry, the founder of New York Street Food, brings you his latest review on New York City street food.
As we've learned in the past year, Twitter can be used for both good and evil. This week it was used for good, when the Comme Ci Comme Ca truck tweeted about new menu items.
They were kind of vague about the details on Twitter, so we headed to the truck to find out more. It wasn't so much there were new menu items. All the basics were the same, but they switched to a mix-and-match ordering system, which gives customers much more flexibility.
In the mix-and-match system (which many food trucks have switched to), you choose a base like rice, couscous, bread or a salad. Add your choice of protein, then your choice of sauce. It's assembly line preparation, but the ingredients are fresh and every lunch is made to order. This cuts down on food getting soggy from sitting in sauce too long.
We chose couscous, kofta kabab and both white and green sauces. Bowls are $11 and pita bread is $9. One of our favorite aspects of Comme Ci Comme Ca is the availability of couscous, which is a nice alternative to rice.
The kofta was cooked on a kebab over flames. This made it less greasy than if it had been grilled. Each piece was about two bites, and was seasoned nicely.
At Comme Ci Comme Ca, there are always get plenty of veggies with your meal. You will usually find at least a few of the following with your meat: potatoes, squash, sweet potatoes, zucchini, chickpeas and carrots.
A side salad is given more attention than just tossing lettuce and tomato into the container. Roasted red peppers top the salad, which is crisp and fresh.
Sauces are not an afterthought here, either. Most street vendors have white and hot sauce. Here they have four sauces to choose from, and they are all good.
Comme Ci Comme Ca is one of the most consistent street food vendors in NYC. They have been around at least 7 or 8 years, and we have had more than a dozen lunches there over the years. The food is always fresh, the meats are cooked over flames, not grilled, and they serve couscous. Comme Ci Comme Ca are a regular part of our lunch diet, and should be part of yours, too.
You can find Comme Ci Comme Ca on Twitter here, on Facebook here, and their website is here. They hit most of the usual food truck spots in midtown and downtown, but also park weekly at 36th & Broadway, a little spot they call their own.
If you're really hungry, we suggest trying the Couscous Royale. It has several meats, lots of veggies, and if it doesn't fill you up, it's not for lack of trying.
