Eating In Translation

Burger Joint

In at least one sense, Burger Joint is destination dining. Unless you're standing in just the right spot in Le Parker Meridien's blocklong atrium, you won't spot the only signs of this out-of-place eatery: a neon burger, and, often, a line of customers out the door. At busy times you might wait ten minutes or so to reach the counter — plenty of time to take in the mismatched wood paneling, assorted TV and movie posters, kids' drawings, and miscellaneous scrawled tributes — and another ten minutes before your order is ready.

Waterfront Ale House

Lean, I expected, but even medium rare, my buffalo burger (platter; $13.95) was juiceless; the "homemade" cumin-coriander catsup was too sweet. Waffle fries had a texture closer to waffles than fries.

Waterfront Ale House
540 Second Ave. (at 30th St.)
(one of two locations)
212-696-4104

Pinkberry

The original flavor — that is, plain yogurt, not the "green tea" flavor — topped with diced kiwi (5 oz.; $3.90). Sour (the yogurt), a little tart (the kiwi), mildly amused (me).

Pinkberry
170 Eighth Ave. (18th-19th Sts.)
(one of many locations)
212-488-2510

Paleteria Fernandez

Though it waves in English speakers with the label "ice cream shop," at Paleteria Fernandez, popsicles are the prize. You'll find typical Mexican varieties like tamarind, mango with chili, and "rice pudding" as well as familiar friends like cherry, lemon, and lime, but my instincts sent me looking to the far end of the spectrum. ("I think that's spicier than you'll like it, sir," the counterman said, though not quite in those words.)

The Kneaded Bread

This slab of focaccia ($2.75) was so large and so soft you could use it for a pillow, except that you'd be picking olives, onions, and roasted red peppers out of your hair. Other eat-on-the-spot choices include ready-made sandwiches, salads, and the like, but the main attraction is the bread — perhaps 20 varieties, each hand-labeled with name and pedigree. Sweeter options include macaroons, croissants, and a reverse-engineered "Ring Ding."

The Kneaded Bread
181 North Main St., Port Chester, New York
914-937-9489

Marini's Deli

Waggin' Tail cream soda (12 fl. oz.; $1.50), one of three Freaky Dog flavors, is sweetened with cane sugar rather than corn syrup (and at that price, it had better be); otherwise, just OK.

Marini's Deli
340 Willett Ave., Port Chester
914-939-4201

Panaderia Uruguaya las Gemelas

Bakery-café-minimart with a well-filled display case and lots of room to sit down with your selections, like a flaky slice of spinach-and-egg pie ($3.20).

Panaderia Uruguaya las Gemelas
204 Westchester Ave., Port Chester, New York
914-937-4322

Fera Brasil

Mais brand suco de goiaba (guava juice; 335 ml.; $1).

Fera Brasil
47 North Main St., Port Chester, New York
914-939-3940

Sweet Cream

Frozen-dessert shop that also maintains a small display of hot snacks by the register. The counterman called this a papa rellena ($1), but in contrast to the usual mashed potato, stuffed with ground beef and deep-fried, this version (shown in biteaway view) had an exceptionally thin, crisp skin, and the diced potato inside was paired with chicken.

Sweet Cream
118 North Main St., Port Chester, New York
914-939-0140

Napa & Co.

Although the noise level in the high-ceilinged dining room can reverberate at peak hours, in large part that's a testament to the enthusiasm surrounding Napa's menu. Consider the chicken noodle soup (large mug; $8), bedecked with dill and fennel pollen and crowded with carrots, onion, and celery as well as long shreds of fowl.

The Saltwater Grille

In contrast to this restaurant's expansive dining area — in warmer weather, a large deck affords a view of the waterfront — The Saltwater Grille's menu is somewhat more modest in size but distinctively trimmed top to bottom. Rather than a bread basket, for example, the pastry chef supplies a gruyere bread puff for an airy amuse bouche.

Tan Tin Hung Supermarket

Beat-up Bowery dweller on the outside, well-provisioned Vietnamese grocery on the inside. Not for produce, though; Tan Tin Hung is best for packaged goods and the array of hand-packaged sticky-rice sweets like Banh Tet chuoi dac biet (sweet rice and banana "cake"; $3), resting here on its banana-leaf wrap. Those are red beans studding the outside; the now purplish-brown banana was rolled within.

Also tried the Asian Boy basil seed drink with honey (12 fl. oz.; 75 cents), which happened to hail from Taiwan. It had an unnatural note not known in any beehive; from the label, I later learned, banana flavor had been added here, too.

Tan Tin Hung Supermarket
121 Bowery (Grand-Hester Sts.)
212-274-8811

Tu Quynh Center

(This venue is closed.) Several varieties of the sandwiches called banh mi are on offer at Tu Quynh, but I always get hung up on the elaborate spread of Vietnamese treats. Limiting myself to just one, or perhaps two, is the problem.

Take these cured pork mini-sausages (10 to a half-pound package; $5). The meat is nothing special, but that garlic-and-pepper touch makes a tantalizing impression. Would be a great bar snack.

On another visit, around dessert time, I ultimately settled on a trio of glutinous rice balls filled with mung bean paste (one is shown in cutaway view), swamped in coconut milk, and topped with sesame seeds of varied toastiness ($1.50). Probably very tasty at room temperature, but the lady at the counter obligingly warmed them up before I carried them off to the park.

Tu Quynh Center
230 Grand St. (Elizabeth St.-Bowery)
212-966-6878

Westville

Even if you're not serenaded by Sandinista!, as I was on a recent visit, you'll appreciate this tiny restaurant's devotion to upwardly mobile blue-collar chow. From the specials list, which runs nearly as long as the standing menu, my pork chop ($13) was smothered in mushrooms and grilled onions that were almost caramel-sweet, with just a little pucker; the pork chop itself was solid. Blueberry pie a la mode ($6) was even more simply plated and equally satisfying.

Westville
210 West 10th St. (West 4th-Bleecker Sts.)
212-741-7971

Blue Ribbon Bakery Market

Takeaway outlet for Blue Ribbon's nearby full-service restaurant. Though tempted by the promise of fresh-made toast topped by honey from one of several prominent countertop containers, I settled on this more portable option, a loaf flavored by (though hardly crowded with) bacon and grilled red onions ($2.50).

Blue Ribbon Bakery Market
14 Bedford St. (Downing St.-Sixth Ave.)
212-647-0408

El Palacio de los Cholados

Drink, or dessert? You'll be handed both a straw and a spoon with your cholado, a Colombian concoction that's assembled like a snow cone — shaved ice is drizzled with fruit syrup and soaked with condensed milk — then freighted with a fruit salad that might include berries, banana, cantaloupe, pineapple, and whatever else is on hand. The especial ($5), I gathered, has a little extra of everything.

El Palacio de los Cholados
83-18 Northern Blvd. (83rd-84th Sts.), Jackson Heights, Queens

Singapore Chili Crab Festival

Is this the world's messiest national dish?

Vallecito Bakery

Trays of fresh breads and pastries were still being slid into the self-serve racks when I arrived at dusk at this very friendly Mexican bakery.

Miss Mamie's Spoonbread Too

Attention to detail: You can see it in the color-appropriate neon signage and taste it in the fried chicken.

cAfé

Small and "unconstructed" it may seem, but this restaurant's previous digs (under its former name, A) were even cozier for both customers and staff. The menu remains very trim — just six apps and five entrées, including this sliced chicken breast with lime and jerk spices in a papaya puree ($15). Carefully composed, as you can see, though the flavor did shift abruptly from fruitiness at the front of the mouth to a peppery gnawing at the back; sopping up puree with a little couscous helped maintain the sweet-spicy balance.

cAfé
973 Columbus Ave. (107th-108th Sts.)
212-222-2033
www.marcandblue.com