Eating In Translation

Go Africa Carnival

Common on the streets of Dakar, rare on the streets of Harlem: fatayas. On this day the Senegalese patties took an empanada-like form and featured either minced chicken (paler shell, paler filling) or a paste made from fish. Tuna is traditional.

Previously: Even in Manhattan, a neighborhood street festival that celebrates local merchants can serve up uncommon fare, provided you're in the right neighborhood. Cases in point (shown below): hilib ari, the terrific Somali-style roasted goat from Safari; Haitian black rice with legumes from Harlem Karibe; and fried tilapia and plantains from La Savane. The cooks at that last restaurant, who hail from various countries (the owner himself is from the Ivory Coast), excel at preparing the thick sauces that are staples on West African lunchtime menus. The two shown at bottom, I'll bet, would have been delicious if I'd been willing to commit to the calories, and perhaps to a nap.

Go Africa Carnival
West 116th St. between Seventh and Eighth Aves., Manhattan
www.GoAfricaCarnival.org
(The 2019 festival was held on July 13)

L'Fonda

Locrio, very possibly, is a Dominican descendant of paella. Cooked with seasonings that include cilantro, garlic, and chopped sweet pepper, the rice is bolstered by meats such as chicken, pork, chorizo, or Dominican salami, individually or in combination. Locrio de pica pica (shown here) is a particularly homespun variety: It seems to have taken its inspiration, if not its name, from a brand of canned sardines in spicy tomato sauce. (The cans have an eye-catching scarlet label; next time I'll see if I can't peek into the kitchen.) Although red beans are the most common pairing, for contrast I chose gandules verdes, green pigeon peas.

L'Fonda
2023 Amsterdam Ave. (160th-161st Sts.), Manhattan
917-521-1631
www.Facebook.com/pages/L-Fonda-Inc/113864951979046

Williamsburg Bagel

Lox on a bagel — crunchy fried lox, that is, with a little lettuce, tomato, and red onion, on a toasted garlic-sesame bagel. Who knew?

Williamsburg Bagel
343 Roebling St. (at Division Ave.), Williamsburg, Brooklyn
347-678-3928
www.Loc8NearMe.com/new-york/brooklyn/williamsburg-bagel/5285039
Closed after lunch Saturday and all day Sunday

Scoops

Grapenut ice cream features the wheat-and-barley cereal, which contains no grapes or nuts, in a vanilla-flavored (and, in this case, vegan) base. Got another napkin?

Scoops
624 Flatbush Ave. (at Fenimore St.), Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn
718-282-5904
www.Facebook.com/pages /Scoops-Ice-Cream-Parlor/115444518485466
Closed Sunday and Monday

Ralph's Famous Italian Ices

Root beer, extra cold.

Ralph's Famous Italian Ices
501 Port Richmond Ave. (at Catherine St.), Elm Park, Staten Island
(The flagship store, one of many locations)
718-273-3675
www.RalphsIces.com
Open during the warmer months

La Bonbonniere

Wearied laminated menus reclined at one end of the counter; I noticed them only when I was about to settle up. "Since everyone is a regular," said a lady, beside me, who had just paid her tab, "no one really needs a menu." Me neither, not for a simple pleasure like a BLT.

La Bonbonniere
28 Eighth Ave. (Jane-West 12th Sts.), Manhattan
212-741-9266
www.Facebook.com/LaBonbonniereNYC

Dae Sung Korean Noodle

Even at the height of summer, kongguksu — a cold soybean-based noodle soup — was not the most-desired dish at our table, though it might have been the most photogenic. The haemul pajun (below, being scissored before serving) was a superb version of this ubiquitous Korean seafood pancake, thicker and less oily than most. On a return visit, we'll tweak our order — one soup fewer, one pajun more — and attempt to decode the well-seasoned pancake batter.

H/T Roger Gans

Dae Sung Korean Noodle (aka Dae Sung Kalguksu)
4514 162nd St. (45th-46th Aves.), Flushing, Queens
718-460-0088
www.Facebook.com/pages/Dae-Sung-Korean-Noodle/2007748856208690

Mia Buns

(This venue is closed.) Not the moon: a black sesame puff, the last of its batch, whose shell might have been puffier if I'd stopped by for breakfast and not before lunch. The dark side and the well-packed, even darker inside appear below.

At bottom: a handwritten sign, in Chinese and English, overlays a reflection of bus doors. Several routes stop immediately outside. Mia's clientele seem to be commuters who have eyes not only for buns but also for congee, noodles, tea eggs, chive pockets, lotus leaf rice, youtiao and soy milk, and the like. I believe the owners hail from Taiwan.

Mia Buns
3609 Main St. (Northern Blvd.-37th Ave.), Flushing, Queens
929-362-2007

Chengdu Tianfu Xiaochi

(This venue has closed.) Sichuan breakfast: Chengdu cold noodles. This beloved food stall shuttered when the lower level of Flushing's Golden Mall closed for renovations. At least a half-dozen mall vendors now operate elsewhere, but, sad to say, according to Joe DiStefano the proprietors of Chengdu Tianfu have no such plans.

(Correction: Previously I had written that Flushing's Golden Mall, in its entirety, would close at the end of July 2019. Subsequently I learned of good news: The street-level businesses will remain open while the lower level is renovated over the course of three to four months. When the lower level reopens (alas, without Chengdu Tianfu), the street level will be made over. Ultimately, four new floors will be built atop the current structure. The preceding paragraph has been edited to reflect this new reporting.)

Note also the arrangement of the wall menu shown below, the most comprehensive version of several different posted bills of fare. The menu items are arranged top-to-bottom and right-to-left, after the fashion of traditional Chinese text.

H/T (from ages ago) Brian S

Chengdu Tianfu Xiaochi (sometimes translated Chengdu Heavenly Snacks or, simply, Chengdu Heaven)
41-28 Main St. (at 41st Rd., inside the Golden Mall, downstairs), Flushing, Queens

Deli El Bigotes

(This venue is closed.) Prompted by the hand-chalked window menu: a pair of heavily-laden tacos de panza blanca, or goat stomach. You'll find good AC in the dining area, once you duck beneath the stairway to the apartments above.

Deli El Bigotes ("whiskers," in Spanish; all are welcome)
3 East 31st St. (Church-Snyder Aves.), East Flatbush, Brooklyn
718-282-2001