There’s a lot of reasons I could love the Bronx. It’s cheap to live here, it’s close to NYC, it’s got a huge ethnic (and therefore foodie) diversity, oh, and the food is cheap, and it’s all undocumented. Citysearch? Nope. Yelp? Come on, dude. Foursquare? WTF are you smoking – there’s none of that up here. I thought it was going to be this huge benefit to these places that I would add them on Foursquare and tweet about them, it sucks that basically no one that reads this (save for the Baron’s cadre) will bother checking these places out as I write about them. It’s sad that only a few people will bother to venture out to these places for food magnificence.
Manhattanites will often counter this statement with “Why bother? There’s so much diversity in the city. I don’t have to go all the way out there to get awesome food.” Really? You don’t have to leave the island to get the Best Pizza or the Best Steak? Or the Best Jerk Chicken? Uhh … This argument is flawed and I will refute it until the day I die.
Is there a place in NYC that makes Doubles (above) as delectable as Ali’s Roti Shop? I checked and I am guessing that the answer is no. There were two places in Bed-Stuy that could pass for accessible NYC that have doubles (wikipedia) and there are a few people that throw the five star rating down, but if these things tasted anything close to what they tasted like at Ali’s, you’d have vegetarians going ape over the place and there’d be more than fourteen reviews.
And the Bussup Shot with Goat and Oxtail (above, wikipedia)? I completely forgot to take a picture of my plate when I was done; I was basically full and it looked like a dog licked it clean. People always ask me what my favorite place or dish was; I can never answer. Tuna Flight, Duck and Foie Gras Ravioli, Sesame Chicken, White Pizza with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Fried Plantains with Mojito Mayo, Doubles, Goat Marrow …
Yes, I said goat marrow.
Where you gonna get good goat marrow on the island? Hear me now rude boy, the goat marrow at Ali’s was the bomb.
Here we are, behind the scene’s at Ali’s Roti Shop in the Bronx:
As we walked in, The Baron was telling me that I’d get good audio if I just kept it rolling; if I put Saba (pic) in front of a camera, he’d shut up, but he’d be hilarious if I didn’t tell him we were taping. I didn’t get any good video of the antics (I think that one lady thought I was going to full-on interview her), but I’m sure the audio was funny. At one point in time, Saba started gave us white boys a few backhanded compliments about being able to take the spice. Baron reaches into his pocket and pulls out two scotch bonnet peppers. I did everything I could not to pee my pants laughing when I saw this, and as soon as we got out into better light, I cracked up and asked for a pepper pose (pic).
The Oxtail and the Goat at Ali’s Roti Shop bring the total new cuts of meat I’ve tried today to three and new animals I’ve eaten to one. I haven’t had more culinary discovery since 15 East, and you could eat in the Bronx for two months on cash like that.
Anyone got a couple Gs to loan me for a down payment on a studio up here? This place is awesome.
Guest Writer: Baron Ambrosia
The IRL Arts Foundation and The Wandering Foodie thank Ali’s Roti Shop for providing this meal.
Ali’s Roti Shop
4220 White Plains Road
Bronx, NY 10466
(718) 655-2178
