- My name is Prez, and I work at Thrillist.
Around these parts, I'm known as the 5 Dollar Lunch Guy.
Every episode, I'm going to put you guys
onto the very finest New York grub for $5 or less.
Yup, yes, let me call you back.
All right, five minutes, bye.
All right, today's mission.
Let's see what we got.
Bengali food.
What do I know about Bengali food?
Well, I mean growing up in Queens,
Indian cuisine is everywhere.
Growing up from an early age, you can have anything,
and that's where I first had a kati roll.
Now, a kati roll is Bengali street food.
It's like if you took the most perfectly seasoned meat,
and then put chutney and egg with it,
and then wrapped it all in paratha bread.
Now if that doesn't sound good to you,
I don't know what does.
And I'm excited to put you guys on.
Let's do it.
Now we could go to Jackson Heights
or Little India here in Manhattan,
but I only have five bucks, and
if you can't tell, it's kinda brick.
So we're going to go to The Kati Roll Company
in the East Village.
Now as the name suggests,
they already know what they're doing,
so let's go.
It's five bucks somewhere.
So these are the rules of "Operation Five Buck Lunch."
It's gotta be good, 'cause nobody wants bad food for lunch.
No big chains, 'cause that's just too easy.
It's gotta be $5 or less.
And whatever I don't use today,
rolls over into the next episode.
(upbeat music)
(camera clicks)
Have you ever had Bengali food before?
- No, have never had Bengali food.
- No, I have not.
- No.
- So have you ever had Bengali food?
- No.
- When you say Bengali food,
most people don't even realize
that it's a type of Indian cuisine,
and then on top of that, most people kind of default
to the, you know, to the regulars,
to the chicken tandooris, the chicken tikkas, naan and curry --
I mean, nothing really that crazy.
So most people haven't really had a kati roll --
but don't worry your boy's about to put you on.
You're welcome in advance.
(upbeat music)
The first ever kati roll can be traced back
to a single restaurant, Nizam's,
who created the dish in British- controlled Kolkata, India.
Now, they created a restaurant by the same name in 1932,
and even after all that time,
they're still considered one of the best places
in the world to get a kati roll.
(upbeat music)
There we are, Kati Roll, Second Ave.
St. Marks is over there, man.
It wasn't too long of a journey, but I'm starving.
Let's go, man.
Is this your first time here?
- My third time here.
- This is your third time here, really?
- Yeah.
- OK, what did you get today?
- I got three vegetarian rolls.
- What would you say is your favorite dish?
- Probably any sort of naan with a spicy dal
is a bomb. - Oh my God.
- Yeah, it's lit.
Thank you so much. - No problem.
- Thank you so much, appreciate it.
Guys, let's go eat.
It smells amazing.
Get straight into it.
(camera clicks)
Wow.
Whoa.
First thing I'm getting are these potatoes.
These potatoes are like, they have a bit of a heat on them.
A little bit of something extra,
a little bit of something to make you pay attention
to the food.
And then of course, it's complemented with the tomatoes.
I see onion and these green peppers.
My favorite part is the paratha bread.
It's something that I'm familiar with.
Coming from Queens, you know, you just make paratha bread.
You make naan, you make all of these different kind of
Indian breads, and you serve them
with your food on the side.
It's just something you do, it's available to you.
(camera clicks)
I mean eating this, being in this place
that's like warm and friendly, and you got like
street art all over the walls.
It's nice, it's not too big, it's intimate.
I mean, you know you can't beat that.
I mean, and it's not only this
if you look on the menu there are
a few things on here that are under five bucks,
and even more that are under $10, so it's like,
come on: Why wouldn't you come here and eat this?
Man, yo.
The only thing about paratha bread,
it's my favorite part, but the butteriness, man.
I'm gonna need some more napkins.
Today's mission was Bengali food,
which led us to the kati roll.
Now while most people weren't too familiar
with a kati roll or Indian food
outside of the most basic dishes,
hopefully this video gives you guys
a bit of insight into this legendary street food --
and legendary in every single way.
I mean, I had only one of those things,
and I am set until tomorrow.
When does it ever happen for like about five bucks?
Come on.
Today's mission was a success.
It's not a big chain, it's in budget,
and say it with me: It was damn good.
Anyways, with that being said,
it's your boy Prez signing off,
and I will see you guys next time.
Dance off.
(camera clicks)
Hey guys what's going on?
It's your boy Prez.
Thank you so much for watching my show.
If you have a suggestion of where we should go next time,
leave it in the comments below.
Also, where's your favorite place to go eat Indian food?
Leave that down there man.
Send us DMs, send us photos, we'll repost them.
Anyways, comment, like, follow, subscribe,
and I'll see you guys later.
Peace.