Thai Street Food By Tuk Tuk Boy

Was there on ⁹⁄₁ at 1:45 p.m. Took fully 20 minutes waiting on the sidewalk to get my order of Chicken Basil and dumplings (other customers waiting similar times). The Chicken Basil was almost inedible as too spicy (and I like my thai and other foods spicy). And they included no fork in my bag so when I sat down in a public space to eat I was screwed. Yes, hated it. On the bright side the Thai dumplings were good (when I finally got back to my office and got a fork to eat them with.)

I stopped by here as I was walking for lunch. It’s conviently located on 50^th st across from radio city. It took them about 10 minutes to prep the thai dumplings and shrimp pad thai. The dumplings did not taste fresh and the pad thai has no taste except for soy sauce. Overlooked noodles. I can cook thai out of a box at home better. I will not be ordering thai from this street vendor again. I’d go to a Thai restaurant.

really awful and disappointing — could not even finish my food. got some spicy noodles, which shouldn’t be overly hard to make decently. and the noodles were extremely rubbery and flavor overall was disappointing and bland. there are plenty of other good thai places within walking distance of this cart. dont waste your money.

I really like their pad thai but the Pad See ew I got today was terrible. Very little bok choy and chicken and NO EGG? $ 8 for a plate of oversauced noodles.

I love Thai food so when I came across this food cart I decided to try it. I was hopefully optimistic, but was ultimately disappointed. I ordered the Thai steamed dumplings and the chicken pad Thai.
The dumplings didn’t have very much flavor at all. Chicken pad Thai also lacked flavor and had very little chicken.
On the plus side, the food was served hot and the ingredients were fresh. But even so, it doesn’t make up for flavorless food.
Sorry, but I won’t be back to sample any of your food again.

So bummed.
I was excited to try Tuk Tuk Boy for lunch, and ordered the special chicken Pad Se-​ew. I’m so disappointed. The noodles are overcooked and mushy, the chicken is dry and the whole dish tastes like nothing. It seemed popular and maybe I ordered the wrong dish, but this ruined my lunch :(For $ 8 I could have had Big D’s grub and been happier.

Hit and Miss Thai Food
Food: 3 Stars
The one fault I find in the food is the inconsistency. One day you will get a great dish with perfectly cooked noodles and a great balance of flavor (with and w/​o the hot sauce) and other days you get way over/​undercooked noodles and meat that tastes like it was boiled in water.
The standard Chicken Pad Thai is a good start here. It’s a solid dish most of the time, but sometimes I have to drench it in hot sauce to get any flavor out of the dish.
Occasionally they have specials (my personal favorite is the pad-​se-​ew) which are $ 8 and worth a try.
The dumpling are average when it comes to flavor and taste, nothing special.
Service: 3.25 Stars
When you arrive at their food cart, you have no idea where the line is, or if there even is one (this is the case most of the time). The organization system is a bit haphazard and they rely a lot on the honor system with people ordering (who came first etc), which works most of the time.
The food is usually dished out quickly unless you arrive at a moment they just finished a batch of a popular dish and you have to wait for a fresh one, which is a plus in its own way.
There is nothing particularly wrong with how they do things, but it is a bit antiquated.
Plus, they always are willing to give an extra tub of spicy sauce if you ask.
Speed: 3.5 Stars
From my understanding the food is made in batched, and since chicken pad thai seems to be the most popular dish they are always making it. However, if you arrive at a bad time you may end up with a rushed bash made during the end of the lunch rush. I highly recommend arriving there during the lunch rush.
Overall: 3.25 Stars
For $ 7 you can get a decent chicken pad thai, but the lines that occur in front of this food cart tend to get long, so if you are impatient like me this isn’t the place to go to for lunch.
If you are looking for slightly inexpensive hit and miss Thai food go to Tuk-​Tuk Boy, but you can find better Thai food nearby at a slightly bigger cost.

My first instinct, similar to other reviewers’, was to order the chicken pad thai, but my friend warned me against it for being not very accurate to restaurants’ pad thai. So I ordered the chicken basil for $ 6. It comes on a large amount of rice and a small amount of chicken. It’s not a very large meal and I still felt slightly hungry when I finished. The chicken is coated with this sauce that wasn’t very flavorful. Overall, it was an underwhelming experience and I would rather go to a Thai restaurant nearby (ex: Pongsri on 48^th St & 8^th Ave) and pay $ 2 more for the lunch special.

I went to the one on 50^th street and it was an awful experience. First, I ordered the chicken basil and they said they didn’t have it. So instead, I ordered pad thai and pineapple fried rice. I was waiting on the side for the longest time (10−15mins) and apparently the guy didn’t even remember taking my order. AND they didn’t have the pad thai this time, so i only ended up with the pineapple fried rice. WHAT?!! Its a 2 man operation and I think the guy taking orders seemed a bit overwhelmed & forgetful. AND I was not the only customer having issues with the ordering. IF you have time to waste for your lunch break then I would suggest this food truck. No wonder this cart had a long line… not for a good reason.

This is a lot better than the Muay Thai cart, which serves more rice dishes and seems to be owned by the same people (see my review of the Muay Thai cart). Just my preference. They serve pad thai on a convenient block, whereas all the thai restaurants are usually located on the extremes of midtown (eg, 9^th ave) and hard to get to during lunch. I’ve had the chicken and tofu pad thai’s. The flavor is good but a tad acidic (not sure what is the cause, maybe too much lime as other reviewers have mentioned). I would say it’s worth more on the $ 5 side, but it’s convenient. Thai coffee and tea are decent for $ 2. Overall, a satisfying lunch.

This place is somewhere in between 2 and 3 stars. I was so excited that there was a Thai food cart a block away from my job, and decided to try it one day.
I ordered the Chicken Pad Thai, and usually I would think they would cook the food in front of you, but to my surprise, the pad thai was already pre-​packaged! Basically, you get a small plastic container of noodles, chicken, peanuts, scallions, and firm tofu. Not to mention, the ingredients are not even mixed in together. Oh, and they forgot to give me a fork! How do you forget to give people a fork at a street foodcart? That defeated the whole purpose of me eating lunch outside and not at my desk.
Back to the food: The food wasn’t hot nor remotely warm, which was a total turnoff. The noodles were over cooked and had a sweet flavor to it. The chicken was pretty bland. It wasn’t the worst I’ve had but definitely nothing to rave about. And occasionally here and there I would bite into something that had crunchiness to it (it wasn’t the scallions, so I’m assuming it was the tofu?).
After my pad thai experience, I’m not sure if I’ll be back anytime soon.

I’d like to meet this «Tuk Tuk Boy» they call a Thai masterpiece.
Sure, it wouldn’t be surprising to see a Chinese or Korean food cart but a Thai food cart? So unheard of!
I was so excited to learn that there was a Thai food cart only a block away from where I work and I didn’t have to put on a brave face through the cold and walk to the 8^th Ave. food strip just to get my Pad Thai fix. BUT there are a few catches to it…
First, it’s not restaurant-​styled, so do not expect too much of the tasty flavoring. The noodles are rather cut short and it’s kind plain as you would expect from any noodle cart. It’s kind of irritating how much they cut these noodles because I like slurping on my noodles.
Second, the cheapest is $ 7 and it has everything you want in a pad thai dish: bean sprouts, crushed peanuts, scallions, etc. Skip the shrimp ($ 8) and get the vegetables. There are bamboo shoots in them, which made me wonder why the vegetable pad thai smells like urine in a subway station.
These dishes do not come with soup or salad or anything, just the entrée itself so you’re pretty much paying for convenience if you’re around the area. If you’re foreseeing a lunch deal, your best bet is to go to a Thai restaurant.

All right pad Thai! They are sweeties!

I had the ‘drunken noodles’ today, and strangely their choice of noodles is udon — i thought this is japanese?! I was expecting my broad rice noodles! I was a bit skeptical about how the food will come out as I am the only customer while other food trucks have like a line of 10 people waiting. I asked for more vege which they readily obliged, and I asked for a spicy version too. The flavour didn’t disappoint and the shrimps were fresh and there were at least 4 or 5 of them. But because everything seems to be prepacked, I’m not sure if they were prepared on the same day or leftovers from the day before?

Great lunch spot. They’re just this little cart on the sidewalk. I was a little skeptical. A box of pad thai (which is a good amount — filling for lunch) for $ 7. It was actually very good. I would definitely recommend this place for your fix of a quick thai lunch in Midtown.

Had the chicken Pad Thai today– really wasn’t great, though not awful. The chicken had a strange flavor, like «this chicken isn’t fresh» or «this chicken was cooked in something it shouldn’t have been» flavor. I’ll try to update my review if I don’t make through the afternoon.
Parts of the noodles were tasty, but was inconsistent from bite to bite. The scallion was sliced thin and was really sweet (almost thought it was chive), which is actually important because in most Pad Thais you get a couple of big green onion bites, so this technique was more delicate and collaborative with the dish (sorry, I’m at work, corporate-​speaking in my Unilocal review).
Contrary to concerns about the wait time in other reviews, they had the chicken Pad Thai pre-​portioned and ready to go when I ordered, so no wait. That plus the $ 7 price for a decent (not big, not disappointing) portion were pluses. Not sure I’d go back though…

If you work in Midtown and are craving Thai food, this is a pretty decent quick fix option.
You can even order again online and pick it up from the truck.
Here’s a rundown of the menu:
appetizers
thai dumpling $ 4
fried crab & shrimp roll $ 3
chicken satay $ 5
shrimp tom yum soup $ 4
lunch
chicken basil $ 6
chicken spicy noodle $ 7
shrimp, chicken, veg, tofu, or mock duck massaman curry $ 7-​$ 8
shrimp, chicken, veg, tofu, or mock duck pad thai $ 7-​$ 8

So not all that! As others have stated, I too was excited to see a Thai food truck. This is the first and only I’ve seen so far. I walk by in the morning and already see them set up shop at 9am getting ready for the lunch crowd — is is partially why I was surprised to have to wait so long for the food.
The process:
You place your order and then receive a number. You wait and wait some more… while your order is put together. l I’d say I waited close to 10 minutes for my chicken pad thai order, which is a long time for a food truck! For $ 7 you get a small plastic container (as seen in the photos) of pad thai noodles, chicken, chopped peanuts, scallions, a wedge of lime and some cubes of firm tofu.
The noodles were over cooked and a little mushy. It had bit of a tang, that I haven’t had before and wasn’t a huge fan of. The portion was kind of small but wound up to be filling. I’ve def had better at a restaurant… maybe pad thai was never meant to be served from a food truck?!?
After my pad thai experience, I’m hesitant to try any of his other items (the pad thai was one of the less expensive items). For $ 8 I can get take out at a local Thai restaurant and would be more satisfied.
Sorry tuk tuk boy :-P

Thai food from a food cart in New York? Although Thai from a food cart is prevalent and dominates 15% of the 600+ food carts in Portland, from what I know, this is a first of its kind for New York City. Located on the South-​West corner of 50^th St. and Ave of Americas is a small little cart beside the larger food trucks, Desi Food Truck and Crisp. Lines are small at Tuk Tuk as compared to its competitors. But don’t let that intimidate you. When you walk up to the cart, you’ll notice the cute polaroid style photos of various Thai dishes. And then comes a concept I’ve only noticed frequently used in Portland. The menu is written on a chalkboard. I’ve always liked the chalkboard better because they can easily switch up their dishes and erase items as they sell out. Two Thai gentlemen operate this box cart.
After perusing the menu for a bit, I decided to go for the Chicken Pad Thai ($ 6.99). I was perplexed and curious why a small little food cart would go through the trouble to make Pad Thai, because it requires so many ingredients to prepare. But I was surprised dubious that my meal took roughly 5 minutes to be prepared and bagged. As you pay for your meal, notice the stack of complimentary hot chili sauce containers by the window. Take one if you like to add some spice to your dish.
Luckily, the Chicken Pad Thai was quite enjoyable. It contained the usual ingredients, a mixture of noodles with firm tofu cubes, fried egg bits, sour pickled turnip, and bean sprouts. It is then topped off with crushed peanuts to give the dish some texture and nuttiness, raw scallion strips to give it some additional crunchy texture and a somewhat dried up lime wedge that seemed to shrivel up the instant I squeezed it. If you read carefully, you’ll notice that the bean sprouts were mixed in with the noodles. This is a first that I’ve seen the bean sprouts cooked with the noodles rather than being served uncooked, which I thought was a much better idea. The noodles were soft and ever so slightly wet. It soaked the flavors very well and had s subtle spice from the chili flakes. At first glance, it looks like a healthy serving of chicken is provided, but you’ll then realize that only 6 – 7 pieces of chicken were served with the dish, or shall rephrase by saying on top of the dish. This was probably the least favorite piece of my dish as the white meat chicken was slightly dry and borderline bland. It would have gone a long way if it was cooked with the noodles to absorb some of the complex flavors. Speaking of flavors, besides the chicken, the Pad Thai did entail such complex flavors of sweet, savory, spicy, salty, and sour. I really enjoyed every bit of it that was filled to the brim, in the clear 24 oz. plastic container (Dart C24DE container) that it was served in. And from what I could tell, the chili hot sauce was homemade, as it contained some noticeable heat from the chili flakes, and the minced hot red & green peppers. If you’re not an avid spice eater, go easy at first and ease yourself into the spice, because you don’t want to risk ruining a perfectly good dish by pouring the entire container of hot sauce on your dish.
So was it good? Definitely. But for $ 7? I’ll have to think about that, as I could easily order the same dish plus an appetizer for $ 8 + tax at the many Thai restaurants located on 9^th Ave. But 9^th Ave. could be a hike if you don’t have much time to eat. In that case, Tuk Tuk should do a perfectly good job satisfying your Thai cravings.

The newest addition to the midtown street food scene is a homage to one of the great street food capitals of the world. It’s not quite what you’d find on the streets of Bangkok, but for midtown in NYC it’ll do, especially since there aren’t many Thai restaurants within a few blocks walking distance of my office. The food is made to order, so if it’s cold out I take refuge in the lobby of the Time&Life building that the cart is parked in front of. The few times I’ve been the line hasn’t been more than a few people deep, and once I get my order in, it’s about a 5 – 7 minute wait before it’s ready.
For the food itself, I’ve had better pad thai but for seven bucks it’s not bad. Could just use more cilantro and sauce. It’s faster, cheaper and more convient (to me) than ordering delivery. The green curry is actually pretty good and what I usually get. It’s midly spicy to me, more flavorful than the pad thai, generous with the chicken and has plenty of ginger which I like. I tried their mock duck once and it was pretty tasty if you’re looking for vegetarian options.