Trinciti Roti Shop & Restaurant

"There’s always a line inside Trinciti (and sometimes outside too), crowded with people who come to this South Ozone Park spot regularly: for doubles laden with bouncy shrimp and soft, thick channa, or an overstuffed bake and shark sandwich, or infant-sized goat roti, with a heap of goat curry that stains your fingertips yellow for at least three days. The ladies behind the counter work fast, grabbing cafeteria trays, asking you what you want, and stopping only to inquire if you’d like the oxtail doubles spicy, or to alert the kitchen that the buffet tray with chicken curry is running low. Expect to exit in about 20 minutes—currant roll clutched in one hand, and a five-pound bag of the city’s best Trinidadian food in the other. All you’ll need to do next is locate the nearest flat surface, and go to town." - bryan kim, neha talreja, willa moore, will hartman, sonal shah

"Trinciti is open seven days a week from 6am-8pm. If you do the math, this means that the counter-service spot in South Ozone Park is open for more hours of the week than it’s closed. And if you take things a step further, it means that 98 hours of the week, you can get your hands on the best Trinidadian food this city has to offer: pillowy aloo pie, doubles laden with bouncy shrimp and soft, thick channa, or infant-sized goat roti. photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte photo credit: Kate Previte This information does not go unnoticed. There’s always a line inside (and sometimes outside too), and all those double-parked cars in front belong to people who are waiting for their food. Trinciti is an expertly-oiled machine though, with a line controlled so effectively by stanchions that it would make security at nearby JFK jealous. It moves swiftly, but you’ll still have a few moments to mull over your order. And, for someone to insist that you must get the shrimp doubles, you really must. (They’re not wrong.) An army of women behind the counter grab cafeteria trays, ask you what you want, and then get to work, stopping only to inquire if you’d like the oxtail doubles spicy, or to alert someone in the back kitchen that the chicken curry is running low among the sea of buffet trays. About 20 minutes after you've entered, you can expect to exit: currant roll already missing a bite clutched in one hand, and a five pound bag of skillfully swaddled, tamarind-sauce-covered proteins in the other. All that’s left to do is locate the nearest flat surface, and go to town. Food Rundown photo credit: Kate Previte Doubles Palm-sized and $5 or less, it just makes sense to get a few of these. We like the oxtail doubles, which each have one soft oxtail placed in the center of them. But we might like the shrimp doubles even more. It’s not that the shrimp provides a particularly unique flavor—in fact, it's pretty drowned out by the heavily-spiced channa—but it does give the ultra-soft, chickpea-filled bara a little bouncy bite. photo credit: Kate Previte Aloo Pie We like to get at least one of these oval-shaped fried doughs without any toppings, so that you can taste the chewy, pillowy bread stuffed with soft mashed potato all by itself. photo credit: Kate Previte Roti If you ordered this just to observe someone behind the counter swaddling its contents gently and swiftly into the roti, as if the chunks of goat and potato were a baby, we wouldn’t blame you. It’s a beautiful sight. Unwrapping the roti is equally gorgeous. Peel back the layers of soft, stretchy dough to reveal a thick, stewy heap of curry that will stain your fingertips yellow for at least three days. photo credit: Sonal Shah Bake and Shark On Friday through Sunday, there’s a separate line just for this huge, special sandwich, which features fried, herb-marinated shark packed into fry bake—a craggy, puffy bread—along with a generous amount of cabbage, lettuce, tomato, pineapple, and several sweet and tangy sauces. Take one to the beach, and ask for a little extra sauce unless you're planning to eat it much later. Pelau If pelau is available as a special, you’re getting the pelau. The combination of rice, pigeon peas and bone-in chunks of meat (usually chicken) comes in a plastic takeout container so full that when you get home and open it, some rice might tumble out. And it’s so deeply comforting that you might consider using the five-second rule for every fallen grain. photo credit: Kate Previte Currant Roll You’ll find the currant rolls—a dense, crumbly pastry studded with tart dried currants—right next to the cashier. Add a few to your order while you check out, and get crumbs all over yourself on your way home. It’s the only thing that will keep you from eating your doubles standing up. (Which is inadvisable. Channa, shrimp, and your shirt will be harmed in the process.)" - Willa Moore

"“Trinidadian food has to be one of my favorite cuisines. You have to travel deeper into Queens,” to hit Trinciti, says Khan—in Little Guyana—“but trust me, this place is worth it. They have the best doubles in the city. For those who don’t know, doubles are flat fried dough filled with curried chickpeas, tamarind sauce, and more. Make sure you get extra cucumbers and pepper sauce if you like a kick! The "Bake and Shark" sandwich on Sundays is their specialty and is absolutely delicious.”" - chris mohney

"The debate about who makes the best roti in New York City never tires. And with a name like Trinciti, a town in Eastern Trinidad, I had to pull up to see what the hype was about. Not only does the line here wrap around the corner, but you’ll also notice customers filling their vehicles with trays of skins and currys - an indication that this place is the real deal. There were also two separate lines, one for bake and shark with toppings that transport you straight to Maracas Beach and one for everything else like delicious curries, perfect doubles, Caribbean snacks like caramel, red mango and homemade drinks like mauby, peanut punch and sorrel. Turns out, this is one of the best rotis I’ve ever tasted in NYC. The buss up is flaky and moist, and the curry has the right balance of spice. For extra flavor, go with tamarind, extra pepper, and curry mango. The roti is why I will continue to make the trek to Queens for roti." - shelley worrell 31

"Head to Trinciti, Ali’s Trinbago Roti Shop, and Trinidad Golden Place in the Caribbean enclaves of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, and Flatbush in Brooklyn, as well as Richmond Hill and Ozone Park in Queens." - Caroline Shin