The Hungry Cabbie: The Eating Adventures of a NYC Yellow Cabbie

For Every Job, So Many Men

May 12, 2006 at 2:18 am · Filed under Queens, South Asian, All-U-Can-Eat, Long Island City

I finally got a new garage. I’d been going to my old cab stand in Greenpoint, Brooklyn for about four years and never made it off the bottom of the totem pole. Cha Cha (accent on the second Cha) is the dispatcher there. He looks like he is under more stress than most generals who stand on a bank of computers and order men into battle (to quote Colbert).

He is from Bombay and lives on India Street in Greenpoint. So he is, naturally, partial to Indians. Plus, the owners of the garage, in the most Polish neighborhood in New York, are Polish. My first day, the owner’s wife said hi to me and asked, “So, do you live around here?” I didn’t realize that was code for, “Are you Polish?” Stupidly, I told her “nope” and she hasn’t talked to me since. I could pass for Polish. Part of my ancestry come from Poland. But really, her great grandfather probably beat my great grandfather up.

Anyhow, it all adds up to a situation in which I show up at the garage, wait for an hour or hour and a half for a cab, and get sent home. . . Repeatedly. The last straw was today, when I woke up at 5am to go to the garage for the day shift, something that should be no problem as it is the night shift that is over loaded with Indian and Polish drivers, yet I was sent home AGAIN.

Fed up, I crossed the Pulaski Bridge to Long Island City and walked into the biggest garage in town:

Midtown Garage in a no nonsense, strict, by the books operation, so I have high hopes that ethnic divisions won’t enter into the picture with their dispatcher. Within an hour, I had access to the biggest fleet of taxis in New York.

Still, there are a lot of Indian cabbies who drive for Midtown too (I didn’t see any Polish drivers though), and I asked a couple of them where to eat in my new work neighborhood. They enthusiastically informed me that just down the block, Five Star Punjabi serves an all-u-can-eat Indian buffet(s?) lunch inside a retro 60s style diner that I doubt began its life as a Sikh cabbie haunt.

I went back for lunch and the pickings were a bit slim, but $8 for all-u-can-eat of any kind is a deal. I chowed down on a smorgaasbord of Indian food tastier than anything I’ve had on 6th Street in Manhattan’s Little India (save Banjara, although Banjara is about twice as expensive and not twice as good). The chcken tikka masala was to die for (until they ran out and didn’t replace it):

And everything they had with chickpeas was especially delicious, particularly the cholley pishori (chickpeas with tomatoes, ginger, garlic, onions, spices, and herbs):

(chickpeas roasting on an open fire)

All-u-can-eat Indian food sounds like a great idea, but it really fills you up before you feel like you’ve taken advantage. Plus, I don’t know if I’ll be going back before my 12 hour shifts of sitting on my ass in the cab. But they are open all night according to my new cabbie colleagues, so I might stop in for a samosa or two after my day is done, assuming I don’t get sent home before I even start.

(my new work neighborhood)

Five Star Punjabi, 1315 43rd Ave btwn 21st St and 13th St, Long Island City, Queens

Check out http://www.famousfatdave.com for a chuckle or to book eating tours

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8 Comments »

Natalie said,

May 12, 2006 @ 2:24 pm

The chicken looks delicious. I hope the new garage works out for you. At least there is good Indian food nearbye.
Connie said,

May 12, 2006 @ 3:36 pm

Four years!? In what way is a cab company strict? Good luck- I hope you become successful in many ways. (wishful loop: More work=less time eating time = local buffet)
dana said,

May 12, 2006 @ 6:32 pm

I live in LIC, and Five Star Punjabi is one of the most reliably excellent restaurants in the neighborhood. Did you happen to peek into their grandiose reception hall next door? It’s a funny contrast to the diner decor.
Melissa said,

May 12, 2006 @ 7:25 pm

Now that I’m in commenting mode, I need to register my surprise that you didn’t already know about this place. I also want to mention that, in addition to food, Five Star Punjabi offers drivers another service — that being a shot of scotch to get them through the night. Go by late at night and watch the car service drivers stop by for their nightly shot. Then watch them get back in their cars, sometimes with a to-go shot in a coffee cup, and finish their shifts!

I posted about this a while ago. It’s here if you want to read it: http://newyorkhack.blogspot.com/2005/09/car-service.html
Administrator said,

May 12, 2006 @ 8:37 pm

Melissa!

Don’t be surprised, I’m not a Queens driver. I haven’t spent any time in LIC since Master Cabbie Taxi Academy and my first five days that I worked for your garage on Vernon. My garages have been in Brooklyn for more than four years now.

That would be hilarious about the scatch shots if it weren’t for the fact that it’s a life and death matter.

~Dave
verbalchameleon said,

February 3, 2007 @ 7:42 am

I am also in LIC, and the Punjabi 5-star is great. A couple years ago in a party of 5 that ate dinner (sharing dishes, but everyone stuffed) for $25. That’s lower than usual, and the prices went slightly up with the recent remodel, but still.

Best things on the menu are dal makhani (black lentils cooked for 12 hours, or so they say) and vegetable samosas.

Would be best-thing on the menu: chicken tikka masala… but it varies–too often they use dark meat, which is not great. I’m a CTM purist. The CTM sauce is awesome, though, and features in many dishes.
The Hungry Cabbie: The Eating Adventures of a NYC Yellow Cabbie » Hardly Working said,

March 21, 2007 @ 6:17 pm

[…] We arrived at the garage before shift time, so there was time to kill. Neither of us had eaten a thing yet, and I suggested going across the street to Casanova. I’d been LOVING their grandma slices since I started working at Cha Cha’s garage almost five years ago. […]
Rebecca said,

December 17, 2007 @ 5:35 pm

When I went there, the food was competent, but the giant half gallon jug of Dewar’s being poured into “coffee cups” for the cab drivers really pissed me off. I mean, I like the places in New York where I can get a Margarita to go on a nice hot summer day, but drinking behind the wheel is so unconscionable. What kind of place gives an on duty cab driver 12 oz of Scotch for the ditch? WTF!

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The Hungry Cabbie: The Eating Adventures of a NYC Yellow Cabbie

For Every Job, So Many Men

8 Comments »

Natalie said,

Connie said,

dana said,

Melissa said,

Administrator said,

verbalchameleon said,

The Hungry Cabbie: The Eating Adventures of a NYC Yellow Cabbie » Hardly Working said,

Rebecca said,

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