I always rave about the chicken kabobs that you get from the NYC street vendors.  Forget the hot dogs, the pretzels, or the toasted nuts, have a chicken kabob!  They’re about $5 a skewer but they’re the best chicken kabobs I’ve ever had.  When I told my cousin how the streets of NYC ruined all other chicken kabobs for me, he told me that I had to try The Halal Guys at 6th Avenue and 53rd Street.  This specific location is very well known for their chicken and rice dish (photo below).  From what I’ve been told, no other location of this chain compares.  We went there late on a Monday night and there were 10 to 15 people in line ahead of us.  To my surprise, my cousin and his friend told me that we were lucky that the line was so short.  The line up at this location is usually horrendous.  In fact, someone was once stabbed for cutting in line.

First off, I want to say that the portion size is huge.  I was starving when I got this and it was still a struggle to finish it.  For only $6, you get a generous amount of seasoned, diced chicken on a bed of beautiful, orange coloured rice.  Notice how there is so much chicken that you can’t even see the brightly coloured rice beneath it (photo below).  It also comes with some fresh lettuce, two small pieces of pita bread, hot sauce, and a yogurt sauce that’s similar to, but thinner than, tzatziki.  Warning:  The hot sauce is extremely spicy.

I have to admit, I didn’t think that the rice and chicken were anything special.  But the yogurt sauce was absolutely delicious.  It was creamy, but not too rich, and garlicky, but not offensive.  The yogurt sauce totally made the dish.  So be sure to ask for double or triple the sauce.  I couldn’t get enough of it.