Eating In Translation

Ippudo

When New York's weather turns warmer, barbecue begins to land in the most unlikely places. This BBQ tonkotsu ramen (special for May and June, $17) retains the Japanese soup's familiar noodles, scallions, and boiled egg but tops them with spicy pulled pork, vinegar slaw, and pickled chilies. In the face of a rich pork-bone broth (in this instance actually a tonkotsu shoyu, employing a soy-sauce-base), the slaw and the chilies stand up better than the pulled pork, which too quickly becomes suffused with unaccustomed flavors. Ippudo offers many great ramens topped with chashu pork loin, of course; can BBQ pork loin be too much of a stretch?

Also shown: a slightly spicy preparation of mentaiko, or cod roe, over rice. The lunch set ($3 extra) adds this, or one of several other starters, and a mini salad.

Ippudo
65 Fourth Ave. (9-10th Sts.), Manhattan
212-388-0088
www.IppudoNY.com

Pommes Frites

These twice-fried fries (regular size, $4.50) wear the "especial" combo of mayo, ketchup, and raw onion (free). They're a good platform for drinking or, as was the case one night, a good chaser. Also shown: the old sign, since replaced by a sleek but less personable placard.

Pommes Frites
123 Second Ave. (7th-8th Sts.), Manhattan
212-674-1234
www.PommesFrites.ws

Rex Cole's General Electric refrigerators

Here and there in the five boroughs, the name Rex Cole still adorns apartment buildings of a certain vintage. In 1927, General Electric introduced its monitor-top refrigerator, designed by the company's chief engineer, Christian Steenstrup, and retained Cole to promote it. Cole not only likened the unit's drumlike compressor to a Jazz Age high hat, he also went on to build at least three spectacular refrigerator showrooms from the designs of the architect Raymond Hood.

This enamel sign likely dates from between 1927 and 1935, when Rex Cole's company filed for bankruptcy. Cole died in 1967.

Rex Cole's General Electric refrigerators
Surviving signage at 239 East 5th St. (at Second Ave.), Manhattan

Women's room repurposed as newsstand

Are the reserves of candy, chips, and soda stowed behind the men's room door to the right? My 6 train was pulling in, and I had no time to ask.

Women's room repurposed as newsstand
Astor Place station, Manhattan

Ukrainian Museum Christmas Bazaar

Cooking at home is a virtue for the ladies — almost always ladies, rarely men — who organize holiday bazaars such as this. When the painstaking work has been carried out in their own kitchens, the bazaar itself can be as much about catching up as it is about raising funds. On this occasion the museum's own small kitchen, on the lower level, across the hall from the meeting room where gift-shop items were put to shame by a crowded display of baked goods, functioned primarily as a conversational nook.

On the baked-goods table I observed one lonely savory item, cross-cut sandwich slices (not shown here) of "Italian bread," ham, gherkins, and pale orange cream cheese. The rest of the display was devoted to sweets (lucky me), most notably these enticing crumbled-nut-topped apricot squares ($2).

Ukrainian Museum Christmas Bazaar
222 East 6th St. (Second-Third Aves.), Manhattan
www.UkrainianMuseum.org/enews/2012/1211/2012_Christmasbazaar_letter.pdf
(The 2012 bazaar was held December 8 and 9)

Empty pizza box

East Village, Manhattan

This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef

Popeye generally eats his spinach a whole can at a time. Though more sparingly supplied, the "Popeye way" (at top, roll, $9.50) has another way to get you juiced: The spinach is sauteed with garlic and olive oil, briefly held in check by melted provolone. Also shown, from two years earlier: the basic "this way" sandwich (roll, $5.50), overloaded with roast beef au jus and cheese wiz.

This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef
149 First Ave. (9th-10th Sts.), Manhattan
212-253-1500

Artichoke Basille's

The namesake artichoke slice ($4.50) is heavy for its size. Though the topping is often compared to a spinach-and-artichoke dip, anything you'd dip into it might very well snap in two, since the creamy base is bolstered by mozzarella and pecorino romano so it won't ooze off the edges.

To manage all that weight, the pizza is framed by a crisp lip — not common, but not unknown, among well-regarded pies — and undergirded by a thick, stiff crust that lacks the chewiness of a classic New York pizza. Even if you enjoy the flavor, one slice is plenty.

Artichoke Basille's
111 MacDougal St. (Minetta Ln.-Bleecker St.), Manhattan
646-278-6100
(one of several locations)
www.ArtichokePizza.com

Men Kui Tei

Mabo, no dofu: Though perhaps best known as a ramen restaurant, Men Kui Tei also serves a handful of Chinese-rooted dishes. Mabo nasu (about $8), for one, begins with the familiar base of well-seasoned minced pork — very likely, the sauce is inflected with miso or other ingredients not traditional in China — and adds mild chunks of Japanese eggplant. It's simple comfort food for a cool evening.

Men Kui Tei
63 Cooper Square (St. Mark's Pl.-7th St.), Manhattan
212-228-4152
Also at 60 West 56th St. (Fifth-Sixth Aves.)
212-757-1642

Prima

Very fresh seafood is the order of the day.

Korzo Haus

Halusky (ha-Loosh-key) — a soft-textured potato-and-flour pasta, typically blended with a mild Slovak sheep's cheese called bryndza and topped with crumbled bacon — had in my experience always been plated as part of a larger spread, perhaps enjoyed with family. But for ballast against the unsteadying effects of too much beer, Korzo's salty, weighty rendition ($6) travels well, thanks to wise use of locally available packaging.

Can you get Chinese takeout in Prague or Bratislava? I can't say.

Korzo Haus
178 East 7th St. (Avenues A-B), Manhattan
212-78-0181
Also at 667 Fifth Ave. (19th-20th Sts.), Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn
718-285-9425
www.KorzoRestaurant.com

Family Gourmet Deli

Shown only for the memorial mural depicting Gil Scott-Heron. Apparently it was painted by the same muralists who decorated the deli's wraparound security shutters, which have been lowered and locked each time I've passed.

Family Gourmet Deli
195 Ave. C (at 12th St.), Manhattan

Spray-painted frozen pop

Newly unwrapped, for a spring going on summer, by the Tats Cru.

Spray-painted frozen pop
East 2nd St. near Ave. A, Manhattan

Japadog

All the Japadogs are served on a warm bun, even the dessert dog called Age Ice.

Bobwhite Lunch & Supper Counter

Even without the chow-chow, the pork was plenty juicy.

Masak

(This venue has closed.) My review of Masak, which combines Singaporean flavors with seasonal domestic ingredients, appears in the February 1, 2012 edition of The New York Times. For photos, see my slideshow.

Puddin'

Sometimes, the pudding stands alone; here, two flavors are employed in the service of rich chocolate cake. The lighter veins are coffee, the darker, more chocolate (slice, $5).

Puddin'
102 St. Marks Place (First Ave.-Ave. A), Manhattan
212-477-3537
www.PuddinNYC.com

Still life on subway bench

Found, and left, as shown.

Still life on subway bench
East Village, Manhattan

Kimchee Taco

Kim-cheesesteak was not an option; late in the afternoon, the truck had run out of bread. Chicken, pork, and beef tacos (left to right, $7 total) were juicy, to a fault: A little liquid pooled at the bottom of the container, though I don't recall any condiments within reach of customers. Some gochujang would have been just the thing.

Kimchee Taco
Truck parked, this day, on Astor Pl. near Lafayette St., Manhattan
www.KimchiTacoTruck.com

The Masala Wala

Good 'n plenty.