Ali's Roti Shop

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 🇹🇹

For many years Ali's Roti Shop has been the kind of place that people head directly from the subway exit on Eastern Parkway before going home. The line is always long but hardly any of the tables are occupied as business is almost exclusively takeout, making it easy to find space and watch the constant ebb and flow of Crown Heights.

If you are a fan of Trini roti shops, you may have come across other purveyors of the same name, but the shops in The Bronx and on Fulton Street in Brooklyn are not affiliated. This location on Utica Avenue has a salesman outside hawking CDs and t-shirts, blasting music for the block and beyond. Opening the door to Ali's lets the music from the interior escape, creating just that cacophony that seems appropriate for the Caribbean, on whose many islands I have never come across one that did not enjoy their music loud and nonstop.

If you read up a bit online about Ali's you will mostly find two accounts: The food is great AND the service is terrible. I usually find comments about service to be vendettas against one-time mishaps, but it is fair to say that some of the ladies behind the counter here are not the friendliest folks. In truth though, I think they just prefer life at a slower pace and the constant eyes on them from hungry patrons is more pressure than desired.

No menu is offered, so this may not be the place to come if you know nothing about southern Caribbean foods, as you might not learn much from asking question. Wait your turn, order what you want, and sit down to enjoy your food. This simple formula makes everyone happy. One man who definitely knew his Trini foods but seemed to ask one too many questions got some serious stink eye.

Tamarind and pepper sauces.

The steam table gives you an idea of what to order, as most everything is uncovered. High turnover means everything is fresh and good, and you are likely to see refills brought in while you are in line.

I went for a plate of curry chicken and white rice (below), which they will also offer red beans with. I have never been able to master the art of eating a filled roti by hand, so I usually ask for an extra piece of bread on the side so that I can tear off pieces and dunk them in the curry to grab hunks of meat and sauce.

The roti here might be the best in the city, stretchy and chewy and not dry at all. There are only a few pieces at a time on the counter and it is always being made fresh. To eat a meal here without some of it would be a crime. If you do not want rice but like your roti on the side, order a buss up shot, which serves the bread already torn up for you.

Also worthy of praise are the fresh doubles (below), a ladle of chickpea curry between two pieces of fried flatbread. Make sure to get those tamarind and pepper sauces from above added in before they wrap it up.

Doubles (always "plural" even when talking about one) are the ultimate Trini street food and almost impossible to eat without making a mess at the same time. Eating one in Brooklyn always brings me back to the doubles crawls on the streets of Port of Spain that were a highlight of my time there.

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CROWN HEIGHTS Brooklyn
337 Utica Avenue

Map of Eat the World NYC:

Trini Breakfast Shed

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 🇹🇹

I hit the jackpot last year when I chose AirBnB for my accommodation needs in Port of Spain, Trinidad. I chose the "Entire Apt" option, but was also given a family and friends, who all immediately took my comfort and happiness in their country as priority #1. When my love of food and cultural experience was mentioned, my host's friend, who also lives on the compound, thought I should know about the Breakfast Shed, apparently the place to grab cheap eats downtown.

I needed no further convincing and we promptly arrived down near the port, an area that has seen obvious recent major development and is very polished. A nice open air building has been built to house many vendors, selling foods mostly for lunch but also open for breakfast. The building opens both ways, onto the busiest street in Port of Spain, and right back to the waters of the Caribbean. All manner of Creole Trinidadian food is available and listing it would be ridiculous, but there is also a lone Jamaican vendor for a bit of variety.

It was only after my visit to Port of Spain that I learned this cleaned up spot was actually a post-oil boom reincarnation of the original breakfast shed that stood for decades and served a rowdy port crowd exclusively made of men. Even this was pre-dated by an original "shed" that was created to feed hungry children around the port.

Back in Brooklyn, home to a large Trini population, Church Avenue in East Flatbush is home to its own Trini Breakfast Shed, an homage to the originals, but just a small restaurant where you order at the counter and most people take their food to go. During the week, men occupy most of the spots at the four tables, not all of them ordering. When the weather is good, the door is open and the spot seems to be a bit of a social gathering place, if not quite a shed.

There are a few different ways to approach things here. The roti here is very well done, and is probably the dish I have seen most ordered on a couple visits. The goat roti ($7, below) was one of many meat options, and like usual had to be opened and emptied rather than eaten like a burrito.

Inside the meat is very well curried and mixed with potatoes, one order is plenty for most.

On both occasions I stopped by I wanted to try the doubles but they are usually unavailable at any Trini place after a certain time of day, and my second visit came on a Sunday, a notoriously bad day to get food in the neighborhood. Most places are open, but you are very likely to find your selections not made on Sundays. I was therefore unable to try the buss up as well, but settled on a plate of stewed pork ($9, below), which I added a $1.50 side of macaroni & cheese.

The pork was extremely fatty, probably less than 50% of what you see was meat. It was tasty however, and the sauce makes a nice mixture with their rice. The macaroni pie is excellent.

The menu also offers an array of bakes for an actual breakfast if you make it here early enough, as well as a heavy lean on Trini-style Chinese food. I have never been much for Caribbean takes on Chinese food, so I have not tried anything here yet. I noticed that their menu also says "Home of the Paco Water" and enquired to a customer about this item, she smiled and turned to another customer not wanting to be the one to answer. Finally she suggested it was "...good for men's... you know." Looking it up at home, it seems to be more commonly referred to as "Pacro water," pacro being the term Trinis use for chitons, a type of mollusk used to make the soup. Bring some mints for after taking this aphrodisiac, please.

A sign in the window says that beer and wine are available, but that may work in reverse of the soup. Good to know for future dinners here though.

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EAST FLATBUSH Brooklyn

3209 Church Avenue

Ali's Roti Shop

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 🇹🇹

Somehow it seems like most Trini rotis in New York are made by men named Ali? Or are they all somehow related? My guess is no, as while very tasty, Bronx's rendition is just not on the same level as Crown Heights and Bedstuy Alis.

The food is good, don't get me wrong. Solid Trini bakery. They were out of fish on my visit, so no bakes for me, but the thing that blew me away was the homemade pepper sauce (below in last picture) that will completely envelope you. It goes well with everything.

The doubles ($1.50 each, above) could have benefitted from a tamarind sauce on the side, but the pepper sauce livened them up enough. The shortbread was on par with the best of them, but the curry sauce was unfortunately weak. The doughy goodness of the aloo pie ($1.50, below) was best with the sauce though, which is perfect for the potato interior.

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WAKEFIELD Bronx

4220 White Plains Road

Map of Eat the World NYC:

Gloria's Caribbean Cuisine

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 🇹🇹

There are other Gloria's up and down Nostrand Avenue, but this might be the friendliest and most charming. Most patrons come in to pick up their food for takeout, but take the opportunity to use their outdoor seating and cute umbrella-shaded tables to eat and enjoy Nostrand Avenue.

Don't be afraid to ask about what you don't know, but for starters, order a nice big roti ($8, above and below). The wheat flour wrap is stuffed with curry stew chicken and potatoes, and completely falls apart the moment you start eating it. No bother though, you have to get the meat off the bone anyhow.

They are not quite the delights churned out by Ali's Trinidad or A&A Bake & Doubles, but the doubles ($1.50 each, below) here are an above average contender. In the evening, as any Trini place, the doubles are not as fresh as they are at lunch. These could use a sharper sauce, but the chickpea curry is very good on its own.

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CROWN HEIGHTS Brooklyn
764 Nostrand Avenue

Ali's Trinidad Roti Shop

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 🇹🇹

When the sun is setting over Bedford Stuyvesent, and the songs from the muezzin in the nearby mosque fill the air calling the faithful to prayer, there is no better time to file into local favorite Ali's. And as the name suggests, you would be a fool to ignore their glorious, heaping mounds called roti.

Ali's is definitely not the place to expect kind and courteous staff. Ali himself (guess?) struggles to run back and forth between order and pickup windows, jotting down orders and trying to make sure the cooks have all the right info. It seems like every order needs to be said at least twice no matter who says it though, a real comical gap in communication exists here for some odd reason. Hope though that he takes your order, as if he's around the corner and you have to scream through the window to the ladies in the back, your order is effectively being broadcast for everyone to hear, and don't even think about asking questions! It's all fun and quaint somehow though, and makes procuring your delicious snacks that much more rewarding.

The major two panels of the menu are split between "rotis" and "dinners," but one of these gigantic rotis, which all range between $4-6 is more than enough to be called dinner. The curry chicken roti ($5.50, below both before and after opening) is filled more with potato than anything else, but does have a couple big chunks. Interestingly enough, the pieces are still on the bone and have to be pulled out and eaten separately with your hands like fried chicken. The curry is up to par with the best Trinidad cuisine in this city has to offer, and it is obvious the chicken has been slow cooking in that stew all day as the meat falls off the bone.

These might not fit in the overhead compartment

The cheapest option on this side is the potato and chana roti ($4, not pictured), which is basically the same thing without the chicken pieces. The beef, oxtail, and other options are all strong and worth the good variety in life if you return for multiple visits.

Meanwhile, the alou pies and doubles are better around the corner at A & A. Unfortunately you will have to wait until tomorrow, as you're stuffed beyond belief by Ali.

The bake and salt fish ($4, above) is both salty and fishy, but satisfying despite its greasiness. It grows on you bite by bite, even if the first is not what you thought.

The doubles here lack pizazz without tamarind sauce, which they charge you an extra 25 cents for.

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BEDFORD-STUYVESANT Brooklyn

1267 Fulton Street

Map of Eat the World NYC:

A & A Bake & Doubles Shop

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 🇹🇹

The brand new home.

[UPDATE: In early 2019, A & A finally got out of the building that seemed to be perpetually hidden by scaffolding despite never being fixed and found a new home right around the corner on Fulton Street. Most of this review is from the previous longtime home on Nostrand Avenue.]

It says "The Doubles King" in a few places on this storefront, and they receive absolutely zero arguments from me in using such a royal moniker.

From Bedford-Stuyvesant through Crown Heights and down to Prospect Lefferts Gardens it is not hard to find yourself a good bake or doubles, but the best places are most easily detected by their lines out the door. On a weekend late morning you might be enjoying a queue of 20-30 minutes with other hungry souls, but at anytime of day these doubles ($1.50 each) are worth the wait.

Really it should not be photographed because without tasting you might be turned off by the look. But these flatbread delicacies are delicious, a flavorful chickpea curry combined with sharp tamarind sauce and spice. Three is most certainly enough for a filling lunch, making this an economic dream. A printed sign describes their urgent and apologetic need to raise the price a full quarter higher from the old $1. [UPDATE: Now two quarters more at the new location]

They also have all the rest of the stuff you normally find in a Trini bakery, aloo pies, bus-up-shuts, and of course bakes, which are actually sandwiches with various choices of ingredients. You cannot go wrong with a bake n' shark, but unfortunately on this day the shark had not arrived and a bake n' saltfish ($4, below) was a decent enough breakfast substitute.

The service here is quick and frank, but don't be put off by this, they just need to keep the line moving. And don't forget that "doubles" is singular AND plural, so even if you just get one, it is still a doubles!

[UPDATE: With their much larger space, things are quite a bit more efficient and a queue may no longer even be necessary on weekday visits.]

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BEDFORD STUYVESANT Brooklyn

1337 Fulton Street

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