Eating In Translation

Ess-a-Bagel

It takes a firm crust to make a creamy sandwich.

I Trulli

Trulli are traditional stone houses from the southern Italian region of Puglia, distinguished by their conical, mortar-free stone roofs. The design of this expansive restaurant, and the Apulian cuisine you'll find there, are likewise free of flourishes.

A Voce

A Voce preferred not to have photos taken of the food, so I can't share with you the chef's roasted beet salad, surmounted by greens; his grandma's ravioli, generously filled with (reportedly) a mixture of beef, veal, and pork and dressed with tomato sauce and parmigian cheese; and choux (under a different name) that would send Beard Papa packing. See for yourself; for the Restaurant Week prix fixe ($24.08 at lunch only, weekdays through February 1), a party of two, or a very lucky party of four, has a decent chance of scoring a walk-in table if they arrive by 12:30 or so.

A Voce
41 Madison Ave. (at 26th St.)
212-545-8555
www.avocerestaurant.com

2nd Ave. Deli

The side street is narrower than the avenue, and this deli's new digs are crowded, too.

Kunjip

This bustling 24-hour Korean has a reputation for turning tables quickly, so I was pleasantly surprised to share my table with no fewer than eight panchan, the little free dishes that precede and accompany your meal. They included kimchi, of course, but also sweet potato, bean sprouts, two varieties of greens, some sort of small dried fish, and what may have been pickled apple. Add a bowl of purple rice, and my lunch special — kam ja tang ($9.95), meaty pork bones, potatoes, and greens piled in a spicy soup — turned into my big meal of the day.

Kunjip
9 West 32nd St. (near Fifth Ave.)
212-216-9487
www.kunjip.net

Shake Shack

If you like the looks of Shake Shack's "custard calendar" but not the lunchtime line, there's a shortcut.

Han Ah Reum

Spacious 24-hour Korean market (though the short-order counter probably isn't open 'round the clock). From the ingredients of this item ($1.50) — flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, butter, and eggs — I expected dessert on a stick. From its shape, I should have identified the one ingredient that was listed much less clearly: a hot dog.

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

Spice Corner

The display case near the door of this small Indian grocery has an uncommon but very welcome feature: Not only does it post names for the many pastel- and putty-colored sweets (most $6.99 per pound; assortments encouraged), it identifies their prime ingredients as well. Of the five that filled my sampler, yellow cham cham (milk and coconut) was quickly cloying; havshi halva (wheat and cashew), a bit too whole-grained; Bengali peda (clarified butter and condensed milk), pedestrian. The legume-based basan barfi (beans, saffron, and honey) and dal pirni (lentils and saffron) were my favorites, even if the saffron was undetectable by me; both were sweet, but even-tempered rather than over the top.

Spice Corner
135 Lexington Ave. (at 29th St.)
212-689-5182

Heartland Brewery

The buttermilk fried chicken sandwich ($11.50), on a seeded roll with Cajun mayo, lettuce, and tomato, was much better than I expected — the mayo makes it — but the fries were no more than an afterthought. Respectable "red rooster" ale (pint; $5); passable pecan pie a la mode ($5.95).

Heartland Brewery
350 Fifth Ave. (at 34th St.)
(one of many locations)
212-563-3433

Anh

Exceptionally tender goi muc (grilled squid; $6); green papaya salad with smoked beef ($7) was good, too. Anh's version of the grilled shrimp wrapped around sugarcane ($7) did little for me; whole crispy red snapper ($17) was smallish. Didn't order the wok-seared swordfish with rice crackers ($8) this evening, though I enjoyed it very much on a previous visit.

Anh
363 Third Ave. (26th-27th Sts.)
212-532-2848

New Naimat Kada

The dense Indian ice cream known as kulfi takes many forms, in many flavors. At New Naimat Kada you can find it accented with cashew or almond; this little treat ($2) is simply called a sugar kulfi.

New Naimat Kada
124 Lexington Ave. (28th-29th Sts.)
212-400-1166

Roomali

Bare-bones place to sit down for a bite. On one visit, the chicken tikka roomali was mildly spicy and very moist; on another, this version loaded with bihari kabob ($5, or two for $9)  was a tad hotter. The roomalis themselves — that is, the rolled breads — are springy and scarcely oily, with nice griddle spotting.

Roomali
97 Lexington Ave. (enter on 27th St.)
212-679-8900

Blue Smoke

The "Rhapsody in 'Cue" ($23.95) — a quartet of meaty St. Louis spare ribs, a pile of pulled pork, propped-up pieces of smoked chicken, and a slim slice of sausage — ably hit the appropriate notes, as did a bowl of creamed spinach ($4.95), but they simply didn't sing for me.

Blue Smoke
116 East 27th St. (Park-Lexington Aves.)
212-447-7733

Les Halles

On the last day of "choucroute month" at Les Halles, I landed the choucroute de poisson (special; $23.50) and spoiled myself for the more typical briny kraut-and-potatoes version. Not that I'd ever send comfort food back to the kitchen, but sauerkraut smells different when it's slow-cooked in Riesling. (My one gripe: just one potato, and undercooked at that.) With seafood sausage, smoked salmon sausage, monkfish medallions, sea scallops, smoked herring, and a garnish of salmon caviar.

Les Halles
411 Park Ave. South (28th-29th Sts.)
(one of several locations)
212-679-4111

Little India Stores

Not as dazzling a display as at the nearby Kalustyan's, but as the name suggests, its focus is almost exclusively groceries, condiments, and snacks (as well as incense and oils) from India. MD brand woodapple nectar (250 ml.; $1.75), from Sri Lanka, has a cherrylike, almost floral aroma and flavor; moderately sweet, not at all tart or acidic.

Little India Stores
128 East 28th St. (near Lexington Ave.)
212-683-1691

Bamiyan

To me, Afghan food has always come across as a paler version of Turkish or Northern Indian, often skimpy on the portions (though I love the charcoal flavor on those kebabs). Asheh keshida ($9.95), homemade noodles with a "tangy" (actually, one-note) yogurt, butter, and garlic sauce, was filling but not satisfying. I did enjoy the sour-tasting, not-too-thick cherry doogh ("natural yogurt drink"; $1.95).

Bamiyan
358 Third Ave. (at 26th St.)
212-481-3232

Kalustyan's

Lemon pistachios were one of the few items Kalustyan's was out of. This shrine to spices, seasonings, sweets, and snacks doesn't discriminate, except on quality; products from six continents and many islands mingle freely. Recently I read "A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush," by Eric Newby, and what caught my eye today was a jar of Artashes mulberry preserves (16 oz.; $3.99), from Armenia. More like fruit in syrup than spreadable preserves; interesting flavor, though I prefer my berries to have a tad more tartness.

Kalustyan's
123 Lexington Ave. (28th-29th Sts.)
212-685-3451

Nader Food Market

Small "Middle East and Oriental grocery." Lemon pistachios ($2.40 per quarter-pound) had a little preserved-lemon flavor, but not enough for me to consider buying them again.

Nader Food Market
1 East 28th St. (Fifth-Madison Aves.)
212-686-5793

Madras Mahal

I'd never had a dosa, and a meeting of the local Yahoo Foodies group seemed as good an occasion as any. This plain-looking restaurant focuses on South Indian food, so little surprise that bhel puri ($4.95) — a Gujarati appetizer of "puffed rice, Indian noodles, and rice flour crisps topped with onion and sweet-and-sour sauce" — paled in comparison with the freshly mixed version from Sukhadia. The samosas ($4.95 for two sizable turnovers) were an oddity; they arrived in a pool of thin yogurt. Good mango lassi ($3.95).

For an entrée, a mysore masala dosai ($7.95) — a "spiced crepe rolled with lightly spiced onion and potato" — shaped up, surprisingly, as a giant triangle, more than 12 inches on each side, and crispy rather than soft. Two of the curved edges, folded underneath, were empty; broken off, they served to sop up coconut chutney and sambar, a lentil sauce. (As for the taste of mysore, the namesake spice of a large South Indian city that flavored the crepe itself, I don't know that I'd recognize it next time.) The onion and potato was pretty much a hash; filling, though.

Madras Mahal
104 Lexington Ave. (27th-28th Sts.)
212-684-4010

Baskin-Robbins

I split a cup between two scoops ($3.79) of Baskin-Robbins' special flavors for summer. "Bumble Buzz" is honey ice cream with pieces of chocolate-coated honeycomb, plus bands of dark fudge. Nice back-and-forth of flavors, and a bumblebee-appropriate color scheme, too. "SPF 31" — coconut ice cream and pieces of coconut macaroon, swirled with banana ice cream — was OK, but macaroons don't hold their texture well enough to be much better than an annoyance.

From a later occasion, the photo shows a scoop of pistachio almond (about $2.50) after dinner in New Canaan, Connecticut.

Baskin-Robbins
First Ave. at 21st St.
(one of many locations)

Grand Sichuan NY

This get-together was a fun if chaotic attempt at experiencing a "Chongqing hot pot." Eight or nine people (at each of two tables) was too many, and it was too hard for people to reach the hot pot and cook a piece at a time, so squid, lamb, pork intestines, clams, fish, bamboo shoots, spinach, mushrooms, tofu, and what-have-you were dumped in wholesale, often lowering the broth below a simmer. Grand Sichuan didn't help, either: Our very good crabmeat and pork soup dumplings (eight for $6.25) arrived halfway through the meal, and most of the vegetables arrived after the meat and seafood had largely disappeared.

This chain does a lot of things right, but this evening our server was working too hard at selling us. I'll try again with a smaller group.

Grand Sichuan NY
227 Lexington Ave. (33rd-34th Sts.)
(one of several locations)
212-679-9770

Bella Napoli

Although a margherita slice (about $2.25) did nothing for me, a "yo-yo" — a palm-sized spiral of baked dough fattened up with slices of sausage and pepperoni — was a cheap, greasy, delicious treat at $1.10.

Bella Napoli
130 Madison Ave. (30th-31st Sts.)
212-683-4510