Since a leaky roof took out Motor City Sports Bar, the “best burger” conversation in Hamtramck has been wide open. Newcomers at Kelly’s and Smash Box have helped fill the void, but some say there’s a sleeper pick: the Naga burger at Coney Star Halal Kitchen.
It’s not really in Hamtramck; it’s just north of the city in Detroit, at the far end of Banglatown near Davison and Conant. But the neighborhood has far more in common with Hamtramck than Detroit, and we’re claiming it for Hamtramck for the purpose of this debate. Coney islands, of course, are not are not where one typically goes for a burg, and it was chicken tikka egg rolls that a friend told me about around 4 a.m. one night that got me to stop in. After some pulls off of another customer’s tequila bottle as we waited, we got the chicken tikka egg rolls, and, yes – maybe more Indian food should be wrapped in egg roll wrappers and fried.
Coney Star might be the world’s first fusion coney island. The menu is dotted with dishes like the chicken tikka egg roll that combine the flavors of the Indian subcontinent with the tastes of Detroit, Jamaica, and China. There’s also breakfast, coney dogs, chili fries, and everything else you’d find at a coney island — and, folks, it’s an original.
There’s also lots of Naga on the menu — you can get it on the burg, a hot dog, a T-bone steak, wings. But beware, no matter what the vessel, the Naga pepper is among the world’s hottest. It will singe your mouth, but there’s also a piquant quality to it, so it’s part flavor and part heat.
The Naga burger comes with tomato, onion, plenty of pickles, shredded iceberg lettuce, and “Naga seasoned ground beef” with “star sauce,” drenching the patty with what seems to be some kind of Naga mayo. It’s hot. One friend characterized it as “not a burger that you would eat casually,” and another disregarded it as “stunt food.” If the heat is too much, there are five other burgers on the menu. My only complaint was that it was well done and this wasn’t a smashburger patty, it was a fairly thick boy, and though the char around the outside was nice, some bloody meat really would have added to it. Best in Hamtramck? It’s worthy of discussion, especially if I could order it medium rare, but maybe runs that counter to coney island decorum.
The Naga coney dog is arguably tastier — a beef dog that snaps with onions and cilantro and comes drenched in a Naga sauce and set in a steamed bun, but I could only eat half before the heat was too much, and I paid the price the next day. The chicken tikka sandwich was a much chiller fusion option with flavorful breast on a soft bun with tomato, onion, pickles, and iceberg lettuce, though the grilled chicken was a bit rubbery. The Naga chicken sandwich with Naga aioli was probably the least spicy of all the Naga options, but still kicks.
Maybe the best item we tried was the Jamaican beef patty with a flaky, buttery crust holding heavily seasoned ground beef. The coated fries are solid, but the corned beef egg rolls and the chicken tikka egg rolls were a bit on the dry side the second time they were ordered. The coney dog: had better, had worse, but do like the beef. The chicken wings were a mixed bag. Heavy crag, and the buffalo flavor was too salty for my tastes, though several friends enjoyed them. The honey sriracha wings tasted like “Chinese carryout,” a friend noted, and that’s a good way to put it.
The restaurant opened about a year ago and has some tables inside but seems to do more carryout business. Like any good coney, it’s 24-7.
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