Street carts name desires
Four vendors-turned-critics rate their restaurant competition.
Thu Jul 10 2008
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Cheap eats for every occasion
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Follow the eater
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Outside the lines
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Street carts name desires
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Cooking with Lisa Fernandes
Cheap eats 2008
STREET-CART CHEF
Thiru Kumar of NY Dosas (W 4th St at Sullivan St, 917-710-2092). Mon--Sat 11am--5pm.
SPECIALTY
Vegan dosas ($4--$6), stuffed with veggies and curried potatoes, served with sambar (spicy lentil soup), coconut and fiery cilantro chutneys, doled out to value-seeking students
RESTAURANT CHALLENGER
Hampton Chutney Co. (68 Prince St between Crosby and Lafayette Sts, 212-226-9996). The classic masala dosa ($7.95), a rice-and-lentil crpe with curried potatoes, plus curry and cilantro chutneys
VALUE
"For a restaurant, this is not bad pricewise," Kumar says. "It is good according to the market. For $8 it is big and the packaging is good."
TASTE
"The filling is good. The curry chutney is good. [The dosa's] texture is very different." Kumar says it's crispy, but "like restaurant-style, nothing special. Mine is special. I have a grinder from India. I grind my batter according to the weather. It'd be nice if they give you coconut chutney. It goes better with the dosa."
