Eating In Translation

Dukagjini Burek

The terse menu at this Balkan bakery includes three bureks, filled with meat, cheese, or spinach with just a little feta and onion (shown, $4). Each slice is a quarter-pie, routinely cut in two for manageability. Though the dough that encases the burek is layered like phyllo and crisp on top from its time in the oven, inside it's engagingly chewy, like a good strudel.

Dukagjini Burek (also known as Burektorja Dukagjini)
758 Lydig Ave. (Holland-Wallace Aves.), Bronxdale, Bronx
718-822-8955
www.DukagjiniBurek.com

S.R.M. Fabrics & Yarn

Anybody know this joint? In a previous incarnation, and given a movie makeover, it was "a small family place, good food. Everyone minds his business. It's perfect."

S.R.M. Fabrics & Yarn, formerly Luna Restaurant
Made over as Louis Italian-American Restaurant
3531 White Plains Rd. (as it happens, near Gun Hill Rd.), Williamsbridge, Bronx

Eileen's Country Kitchen

The Ulster fry is named for the northernmost of the four Irish provinces.

The Butcher's Fancy

Lots of great things come in a plain brown wrapper.

McLean Bowl-O-Drome

I used to love droopy, ketchup-drenched bowling-alley fries.

McLean Bowl-O-Drome
Faded painted ad on Nereid Ave., Wakefield, Bronx; the alleys were eight blocks east, in Yonkers

Irish Coffee Shop

The "Irish BLT" ($5.25) commands a modest premium compared with the classic American coffee-shop version (also available here). The difference, as you've gathered, is that fat-streaked bacon made from pork belly, the common style in the United States, is swapped out for leaner hamlike slabs made from back meat. Irish bacon makes a bulkier sandwich, with but one notable shortcoming: You can't order yours crispy.

Irish Coffee Shop
948 McLean Ave. (Alexander-Glover Aves.), Yonkers, New York
914-776-3309

Avitabile Brothers

Grilled chicken, mozzarella, and sundried tomatoes on focaccia ($5.50). A variety of hot specials, as well as fresh mozzarella and sausage, appear daily; this sandwich had the added virtue of easy portability.

Avitabile Brothers
1016 McLean Ave. (Woodlawn-Hyatt Aves.), Yonkers, New York
914-237-2389

Anna Artuso's Pastry Shop

Apply cyclonic action to a slice of lemon meringue and you, too, might engineer a tart whose height exceeds its diameter. If you take on Anna Artuso's ($2.95) without a fork, grab an extra napkin, and mind your nose.

Anna Artuso's Pastry Shop
969 McLean Ave. (at Martha Ave.), Yonkers, New York
914-776-1141
www.AnnaArtusoInc.com

Water Tunnel No. 3 Memorial

This modest site notes the human cost of "one of the most complex and intricate engineering projects in the world."

Tri-Edy's Deli

Club rock shandy (330 ml., about $1) is more lemon tart than orange sweet, and, unlike beer-based shandy, alcohol-free. The manufacturer maintains that "rock" alludes to a private swimming club in Dublin, but the term "rock shandy" seems much older. Possibly it name-checks the use of rock sugar, though that's no more than a guess.

Tri-Edy's Deli
4345 Katonah Ave. (East 238th-East 239th Sts.), Woodlawn Heights, Bronx
718-324-4649

Greenland Deli & Grocery

Like Gatorade, it's a product of academic research.

Prime Cuts

"Prime cuts" is intended to refer to the butcher's handiwork but also suits the thickly squared-off spuds, which are gently fried to a pale gold that leaves them soft within. Some customers prefer their chips and curry with cheese, some, without (top and bottom, $5 and $4.50 respectively). But when the counterman asks "salt and vinegar, lad?" the proper response is "please."

Prime Cuts
4338A Katonah Ave. (East 238th-East 239th Sts.), Woodlawn Heights, Bronx
718-324-9262

Sean's Quality Deli

Not the most commendable effort at securing a serving of vegetables, but sometimes I take 'em where I get 'em. Chips, peas, and gravy ($5).

Sean's Quality Deli
4273 Katonah Ave. (at East 235th St.), Woodlawn Heights, Bronx
718-515-8811

Mary's Celtic Kitchen

Trifle, not a trifle.

Neerob

My review of Neerob, a Bangladeshi restaurant in the Parkchester neighborhood of the Bronx, appears in the October 5, 2011 edition of The New York Times. For photos, see my slideshow.

And if you feel the need to walk off some calories afterward, consider this nearby point of interest.

Qebaptore Kalaja

Though this venue is closed — it opened and closed twice, in fact, over the course of a year — I'm freshening this post nonetheless. Almost everything at this qebaptore was shpije, which is to say, the bread was brought in from an Albanian bakery in Connecticut, but the ground beef sausages called qebapa (you may know them as cevapi), the gullash, and the desserts were homemade (shpije).

Havana Cafe

I almost made a meal of these.

Patricia's

On gorgonzola salad, sometimes the cheese is too crumbly; not here.

Slice of Heaven Pizza & Catering

(This venue is closed.) Shown purely for the photo op, such as it is. I never made it back, by evening, to catch the neon logo glowing in the window.

Slice of Heaven Pizza & Catering
Formerly at 1801 Williamsbridge Rd. (Morris Park-Rhinelander Aves.), Morris Park, Bronx

Limber lady

It's not called "limber" for the way it jumps out at you.