Eating In Translation

Isabela's Family Restaurant

The two ladies working at the very back of the dimly lit, otherwise empty dining room appeared surprised when I walked in for an atol de granillo. Not surprised by my order, I gathered, but surprised by the very fact that I'd stepped inside, though I couldn't figure why. (The restaurant was open for the day; the weather, on a late morning in January, was relatively balmy.) One lady ducked into the glassed-in kiosk at the front of the restaurant; she soon emerged with a small cup of the atol ($1), and I was on my way.

I didn't get far, however, before another customer appeared. She disdained the door, made a beeline for the window, and put her finger to something just above the sliding partition in the center: a bell, or maybe a buzzer. Regular customers know the drill; some of us newcomers need a little time to catch on.

As for my atol de granillo itself, the texture provided by cooked, dried, roughly ground kernels of corn is easy to see. Some renditions of this Mexican beverage are reportedly sweet; this one was less so. You might enjoy it more with breakfast than on its own.

Isabela's Family Restaurant
4412 Fourth Ave. (44th-45th Sts.), Sunset Park, Brooklyn
718-832-6715
www.IsabellasMx.com

Pocket tissues

This untended plastic bin and its honor jar are an uncommon sight for a New York food court, where wads of paper napkins are often up for grabs. Apparently they represent a minor line of business for one particular stall. In certain hawker centers and eat streets of Southeast Asia, by contrast, "bring your own napkins" remains common practice. Some individuals sell packets of sturdy all-purpose tissues simply to help scratch out a living.

Pocket tissues
Fei Long Shopping Center & Food Court
6301 Eighth Ave. (63rd-64th Sts.), Sunset Park, Brooklyn

Petite Soo Chow

Soo Chow is an old romanization for Suzhou, a city in eastern China fabled for its canals and classical gardens, a tourist hotspot as well as a popular destination for weekend getaways from its much more populous neighbor, Shanghai. Cliffside Park, New Jersey, hasn't held a similar appeal for New Yorkers in decades, not since the demise of Palisades Amusement Park in 1971. Petite Soo Chow — heir to a Manhattan restaurant of the 1980s — today might be the tiny borough's most notable attraction. There's much less fanfare but much better food.

Shown, about two-thirds of an early afternoon feast: pork in aspic; jellyfish and celery; sheng jian bao, pan-fried juicy buns; eight-treasure duck; Shanghai lo mein; eel and pork belly; vegetables in tofu skin, complemented by chewy noodle knots; nian gao. This version of the glutinous-rice confection — also called Chinese New Year cake or simply year cake — was apparently sweetened with brown sugar before being steamed, cut into slabs, and pan-fried. Served hot.

Petite Soo Chow
607 Gorge Rd. (at Oakdene Ave.), Cliffside Park, New Jersey
201-313-1666

Vallecito Bakery

The rosquilla (ross-Key-yah, $1.50) is ring-shaped just like the rosca de reyes, the festive bread prepared by Mexican bakeries for Three Kings Day, or Epiphany, but much more modest in bearing. Typically it's the size of a donut, albeit one that might be either baked or fried, and held in similar regard. For this rosquilla the dough was folded back upon itself many times before being formed into a ring; the texture was very flaky and crunchy.

Vallecito Bakery
129 East 110th St. (Park-Lexington Aves.), Manhattan
212-534-8220

H Mart

(This location is closed.) In colder weather, H Mart's roasted sweet potatoes ($3.49 per pound, or $2.49 for "roasted potato normal") can warm your hands as well as your belly.

Best North Dumpling Shop

(This venue is closed.) Shui jiao usually don't look like much. These, filled with mutton (10 for $4.50), are typical; the pale boiled dumplings seem in desperate need of chili oil and vinegar. Only after biting through the thin skins do you discover for yourself how full of juicy flavor they are. Toward the end of your plateful, one of the variously filled steamed buns (about a dollar each) comes in handy; it's a waste not to sop up the spillage.

Also shown, in biteaway view: a more elaborately filled dumpling filled with cabbage, celery, and pork.

Best North Dumpling Shop
Inside the Friendship Shopping Plaza, 41-42A Main St. (41st Rd.-Sanford Ave.), Flushing, Queens

Birdbath

(This venue is closed.) Snow on the roof: The top of the "baker's muffin" ($4) is broad and crusty. The bottom is crammed with springy chunks of dough laced with apple and cinnamon; here and there you'll encounter raisins and bits of crushed walnut, too. It's just aching to be pulled apart, by two hands or more.

Also shown below: the bakery's summertime cart on the High Line (to the right of the walkway), which sold squares of crisp "green pizza" ($4) with leeks, scallions, and a little mint; and an even more ephemeral warm-weather birdbath.

Birdbath
2244 Broadway (80th-81st Sts.), Manhattan
212-277-8268

Silk Cakes

No doubt you can name a pizzeria or two that deals only in whole pies, "no slices." For years this purveyor of bespoke wedding cakes and specialty cakes, many with Asian-inspired flavors, has operated on a similar basis; its Lower East Side shop, as you might imagine, is open by appointment only.

At long last, Silk Cakes has opened up a slice joint, albeit with limitations. Walk-ins are welcome, when you find yourself withing walking distance of Forest Hills; seats are unavailable, so you must take your order to go. And there's no option of a "plain slice," only the likes of black sesame cake, yuzu buttercream, and green tea truffle ($5.50).

Silk Cakes
98-14 Metropolitan Ave. (69th Rd.-70th Ave.), Forest Hills, Queens
718-830-3838
Closed Monday
Also by appointment only at 53 Ludlow St. (Grand-Hester Sts.), Manhattan
917-892-5851
www.SilkCakes.com

Lanka Grocery

Dept. of Unacquired Tastes: However fond I may be of coriander, ginger, and cardamom, my morning brew is off-limits. Time will tell whether Niru brand spicy coffee, manufactured in Canada for the Sri Lankan expat market, will find a spot in my afternoons or early evenings.

For a while Lanka Grocery had two locations, one on either side of the same stretch of Victory Blvd. The older and smaller (now closed), shown below flying the U.S. and Sri Lankan flags, had for years set aside a section of the grocery to serve Spanish-speaking neighbors: A large sign listed various "productos Mexicanos." The newer and larger location carries a wider variety of South Asian groceries and also caters to other local populations: On my first visit, a notice on the door announced the availability of goods from Albania and Macedonia.

Previously: Woodapples have a hard shell with a white, scoopable flesh. MD brand woodapple jam (purchased when the original, smaller shop was known as Grocery Lanka, under different ownership) is closer in color to cranberry jelly and seemingly similar in texture, too, until you realize how easily it can be spread flat. The flavor suggests orange without acidity.

Sometimes I don't know jack. On a jar of Larich brand kos curry, a spelling-challenged list of ingredients that included "kos...cocount milk...plam oil" was less illuminating than the tiny image tucked at the bottom of the label. The featured ingredient is jackfruit, both the seeds — thoroughly cooked, their texture is similar to chestnuts — and the fleshy sheathes that surround them. These are imbued with coconut milk (as I spell it) and mustard.

Lanka Grocery
344 Victory Blvd. (Cebra-Woodstock Aves.), Tompkinsville, Staten Island
718-390-0337

Lak Bojun

(This venue is closed.) Many of the best-known varieties of roti are made from a wheat-based dough that's stretched gossamer thin, then folded and refolded into a bread of many flaky layers. Sometimes it's wrapped around a filling, sometimes it's torn and swiped through a curry. Sri Lankan pol roti are generally stiffer; these three ($3.50) were about the size and shape of air-hockey pucks. Their defining ingredient is grated coconut, or pol, which adds calories enough to make this a light meal in itself. Also shown: katta sambol, the traditional condiment, featuring onion, fish, and chilli pepper.

Lak Bojun
324 Victory Blvd. (near Cebra Ave.), Tompkinsville, Staten Island
347-466-5338