Eating In Translation

Shing's Food Shop

This fried chicken leg (yes, that's a leg in there; $1.25) was sloppily but generously hacked into shape.

Shing's Food Shop
Cart on Catherine St. near Madison St.

Sunshine Restaurant & Sweets

(This venue is closed.) I'm not sure just why I walked in, but I'm glad I did.

Perhaps it was a hazy memory of the Chowhound message boards, or perhaps it was the curious disconnect between the 50 cent flatbread and the 70 inch HDTV. Sunshine is less a restaurant than a café, selling inexpensive Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi eats in a setting that's simple, bright, and (apart from the big screen) without frills. My bowl of aloo mutter ("potatoes and peas"), the well-known Punjabi dish that also includes onion, tomato, and various zippy flavorings, was just $2.50.

Sunshine Restaurant & Sweets
185-10 Hillside Ave. (185th-186th Sts.), Jamaica, Queens
718-739-0500

Ferdinando's Focacceria Ristorante

They're wafer-thin.

Margaret Palca Bakes

Even if it's difficult to distinguish between the raspberry and the apricot, Margaret Palca's rugelach ($12 per pound here, $15 at Court St.) are very buttery and nutty. I like the looks of those mini tarts, too.

Margaret Palca Bakes
191 Columbia St. (Sackett-Degraw Sts.), Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
718-802-9771
www.MargaretPalcaBakes.com

Petite Crevette

When visiting a restaurant called "little shrimp," you'd expect the accommodations to be cozy and charming; that's true even after a recent expansion into the former flower shop next door. The menu takes an unpretentious approach to market-fresh seafood; I'm looking forward to perusing the day's catch, once I snag a few friends to join me.

Petite Crevette
144 Union St. (entrance on Hicks St.), Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
718-855-2632

Asian Jewels

The cart ladies are more forward than most, and occasionally that's true of the dim sum, too.

Star Bakery

Scanning the brightly colored banners lined up like a grade-school project, I skipped by the likes of tea with milk, chocolate, green tea, and Ovaltine and settled on the "oats meal" (large; $1.25). The oats were rougher-textured than I'm used to, and the milk soaked up their essence to no good effect.

Star Bakery (formerly Early Bird Bakery)
41-21 Kissena Blvd, Flushing, Queens
718-961-8868

Caputo's Bake Shop

Perhaps I caught this particular loaf of lard bread at the wrong time — it seemed too peppery, and a tad overbaked — but given Caputo's stellar reputation, I'll walk this way again.

Caputo's Bake Shop
329 Court St. (Sackett-Union Sts.), Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
718-875-6871

Provence en Boite

(This venue is closed.) Come brunchtime, this amiable bistro displays a delicate touch.

M&G Diner

(This venue is closed.) The interior of this "soul food diner" was plain, functional, but still bright even on a dreary, drizzly day.