Astoria Egyptian Sandwich Cart Lands Glowing NYTimes Review

ASTORIA, QUEENS — A cart that serves Egyptian street food on Astoria's Steinway Street won a glowing review from celebrated New York Times food critic Pete Wells on Tuesday.

The colorful cart, located near 38-99 28th Avenue, is emblazoned in a menu of classic Egyptian street food dishes, among which Wells most-recommends the liver sandwich.

"The care that goes into Foda’s liver sandwich would be obvious even if you didn’t know that the cart’s owner and chef, Ahmed Foda, bakes the fino loaves each morning before he tows his cart to its regular sidewalk spot," Wells writes. While people often complain about well-done liver, Wells speculates that they might feel differently after eating an Alexandrian liver sandwich, or kebda Eskandarany, from Foda's.

He says that tahini keeps the sandwich from tasting dry, and fresh green chiles and other seasoning make the livery taste "a profound compliment" (instead of an insult, as "livery" usually is intended to suggest).

He also raves about Foda's hawawshi, a Cairene griddled sandwich that Wells compares to a hamburger when eaten with broiled cheese between sips of "halal whiskey;" a juice of herbs and mixed vegetables that functions "something like the dill pickle on a cheeseburger, but in liquid form," according to Wells.

Foda's specializes in sandwiches, but Wells encourages cart-goers not to overlook other menu options, like ful medames, a fava bean stew with "seemingly unlimited capacity to drink up olive oil" or tameeya, Egyptian-style falafel made from fava beans and speckled with sesame seeds.

He also raves about the cart's koshary, the national dish of Egypt made from pasta, garlicky chickpeas and lentils and golden fried onions. The dish, which Foda prepares fresh, usually requires a 20-minute wait, but Wells "cannot imagine being in such a rush that I did not have time for Foda’s koshary."

Foda's — which Wells priced at the Times one-dollar-sign rate of "inexpensive" — is open for lunch and dinner Thursday through Tuesday. It is closed on Wednesdays.

Read the full NYTimes review here.