Eating In Translation

Mei Li Wah Bakery

There's one thing that keeps picking at me.

Eldridge Street Synagogue

Like the cornucopia that accompanies it, the fruit is associated with abundance.

Ka Wah Bakery

Double shot of my red bean's love.

Bilingual workers need not apply

"Part-time employees wanted; must speak Cantonese, Mandarin, and English."

Notice posted at Hong Kong Station
45 Division St. (Market St.-Bowery)
(one of two locations)
212-966-9682

American Fu Zhou Grocery

That popeyed profile and those sturdy pecs could only belong to a mudskipper, an amphibious fish related to the goby that can muscle its way across mud flats using its strong pectoral fins. (Here's a clearer view of a related blue-spotted species; there's even an entire website devoted to the mudskipper.)

I never imagined them on any bill of fare, but American Fu Zhou Grocery (where English is not the first language, and maybe not the second) must be confident of the market: These mudskippers were swimming in a foam box marked with an Air China waybill.

American Fu Zhou Grocery
101 E. Broadway (Market-Pike Sts.)
212-385-0658

Fish out of water

I was tearing at a steamed pork bun on Bayard St. when a seafood broker's truck pulled to the curb; the driver popped out across the street while his passenger caught some quick Zs. Behind the cab of the truck — a drab Mitsubishi Fuso marked with an address on the nether end of the Navy Yard — the open bed carried a large wooden tank hooked up to rubber tubing and tarnished aeration canisters. One poor fish, which must have expired before being handed over to a restaurant, was lying forgotten on the crosspiece of the tank (let's hope forgotten, and not being set aside for some penny-saving stew).

Several minutes later, after walking through the Elizabeth-Bowery arcade, I saw the fish again, gleaming in the distance, as the truck made the sweeping turn onto the Manhattan Bridge ramp, headed home to Brooklyn.

Fish out of water
Bayard St., New York

Young City Fish Balls

Interesting broth.

Hua Du Dumpling Shop

Tasty, but not quite juicy.

"Children cry for Fletcher's Castoria"

You bet, especially when their white-and-yellow laxative ad (with "Fletcher's" in script") is partially painted over by another ad promoting Turkish cigarettes.

Thanks to Frank Jump of the Fading Ad Campaign for peeling apart the layers, figuratively speaking.

Surviving ad for Fletcher's Castoria
Division St. (seen from the Bowery, looking east)

Tasty Hand-Pulled Noodles

Knife-peeled noodles, too.

Bad day for banh mi

One was out of bread, another's out of a lease.

Skyway Malaysian Restaurant

Pork rib tea: It's good for what ails you.

Udom's Thai and Indonesian Grocery

Lagered in Laos, chilling in Chinatown.

Fruit vendor

The outdoor vendors near the southeast corner of Mulberry and Canal offer some of the best-looking exotic fruits in Manhattan; on a recent summer afternoon you could have lingered over mangosteen, guava, dragon fruit, star fruit, sugar apple, rambutan, lychee, and longan. But just around the corner was an even rarer sight.

King's Seafood

Fried silver fish (top photo; $11.95) were clothed in a very light batter; pea leaves with dried scallop (bottom photo; $15.95) were full-flavored, all garlic aside; a fried caramelized chicken (half; $11.95) was OK. The dining room, one floor above a gloomy stretch of East Broadway, is surprisingly ornate; King's might be worth the climb to investigate weekend dim sum.

King's Seafood
39-41 East Broadway (Catherine-Market Sts.), 2nd floor
212-233-3359

Prosperity Dumplings

The sesame pancake (with beef, $1.50) is particularly fluffy; inside is a more-than-ample helping of sliced meat, carrot, and cilantro, wetted down by soy sauce. Perhaps cucumber and some other vegetable, too; I scarfed it down too happily to notice.

Time your visit, if you can, to avoid the after-school rush, though don't expect to find a seat at this tiny joint without other customers looming over your shoulder. It's more enjoyable to cross the street with your booty and catch one of the very competitive handball matches.

Prosperity Dumplings
46 Eldridge St. (Canal-Hester Sts.)
212-343-0683

Dumpling House

The sesame pancake, and this eatery's recent makeover, left me flat.

Mandarin Court

Here's the liveliest-looking dish of a less-than-inspired lot.

New Bo Ky Restaurant

As at nearby New Chao Chow Restaurant, Vietnamese items crowd the menu, but the dishes at Bo Ky that most deserve your attention hail from the southern Chinese city of Chaozhou (also rendered Chao Chow, Chiu Chow, and Teo Chew).

Asia Market

Packaged foods from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines mix freely at Asia Market; the point-of-purchase display might well be a countertop box of kaffir limes.

Bangkok Center Grocery

Chilli paste: It's what's for breakfast.

Teariffic

With the exception of smoothies, you can order most of this café's lineup hot or cold. I've always been tepid about bubble tea, and even though most of this peanut-flavored variety (large; $3.95) awaited out of frame, in a pot, it was no better than tepid, too.

Teariffic
51 Mott St. (Pell-Bayard Sts.)
212-393-9009

XO Kitchen

XO keeps a pot of soy milk (cup; $1) on a two-top warmer, ready for all comers. As for the long, meandering menu, I haven't ventured it in years.

XO Kitchen
148 Hester St. (Elizabeth St.-Bowery)
212-965-8645

Egg Custard King Cafe

The red date honey drink (small; $1) is simply two spoonfuls of fruit concentrate, a drizzle of honey, and a cup of hot water; it's like a thinned-down version of a cough syrup I used to know, back in grade school. Also in ginger, citron, and lemon.

Egg Custard King Café
271 Grand St. (at Forsyth St.)
(one of two locations)
212-226-8882

Happy Time Café

To make my ginger Coke (small; $1.50), the counterman cut slices from a ginger root, added them to a cupful of bottled Coke Classic, and nuked it. It tasted about like you'd think, but at least it had a personal touch.

Happy Time Café
51 Bayard St. (Elizabeth St.-Bowery)
212-732-2395