Eating In Translation

Angela's Ice Cream & Desserts

Pale colors from a fading summer: calamansi (Philippine lime) and langka (jackfruit) ice cream.

Angela's Ice Cream & Desserts
151 Allen St. (Stanton-Rivington Sts.), Manhattan
855-212-3017
www.Facebook.com/Angelas-Ice-Cream-Desserts-1274027096080835

Oaxaca Pizzeria Deli & Taqueria

Keep your 'roni cups: pizza estilo Oaxaca, con carnitas y jalapeño (boiled pork and fiery pepper). Even this "grande" pie (the only other size is "extra grande") was an ambitious undertaking for our table — every slice was a two-hander.

Oaxaca Pizzeria Deli & Taqueria
1240 Castleton Ave. (Dongan-Taylor Sts.), Port Richmond, Staten Island
718-556-9416
www.Facebook.com/OaxacaDeliAndTaqueria

200 Gram Noodles: From the Streets of Chongqing

After moving to Flushing three years ago, Tingting Li missed her home city's most famous noodles, "which in the Chinese name of her restaurant are called xiǎo miàn. 'Small noodles' would be an overly literal translation. 'Small as in simple' explains them better, she tells us (in Mandarin; one of her two business partners translates to English). Eating them is a 'very casual thing' back home. 'No big deal … like you brush your teeth.' "

Finding them in New York, however, was another matter. Read more about the "local flavor noodles" that evoke her previous home on Culinary Backstreets.

Cardy's Sugar Bowl

Anyplace that stocks both Wiffle Balls and Atomic Fireballs is OK in my book. I carried off a fistful of red-hot candies and change from my dollar, too.

Cardy's Sugar Bowl
248 Union St. (Woodside-Brookside Aves.), Lodi, New Jersey
973-779-0513
www.CardysSugarBowl.com

Spindler's Bake Shop

A standard portion of Spindler's "heavy" crumb cake, the bake shop's only crumb cake as best as I could gather, is about half the size of the slab shown here. By heft alone, it suggests a building block — except that it's cake, and more crumb than not.

Spindler's Bake Shop
247 Boulevard (Jefferson-Kipp Aves.), Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey
201-288-1345
www.Facebook.com/Spindlers.Shop
Closed Sunday

Dua Kafe

"A sponge cake soaked in three kinds of milk" is a common dessert in New York, hardly unexpected at a cafe so close to Loisaida. But only here, where the walls are hung with dozens of photos of Albanian celebrities, have I ever seen "tri leçe." The moistness of the cake became apparent the moment I cut through the caramel.

Also shown: my previous course, a slice of spinach byrek with yogurt; a portrait of Gjergj Kastrioti (the national hero better known as Skanderbeg) overlooking a video of the Kosovar singer Nora Istrefi.

Dua Kafe
520 East 14th St. (Aves. A-B), Manhattan
212-228-1696
www.DuaKafeNYC.com

Culinary Noodle Kitchen

(This venue is closed.) "Sambal grilled chicken ribbon" was the one item on the chalked wall menu that wore a double-chili-pepper insignia. Evidently I wasn't a strong advocate for my chili tolerance; according to the check, my order was dialed back to "mild spicy." My consolation was a dense patch of minced garlic.

Culinary Noodle Kitchen
4202 30th Ave. (at 42nd St.), Astoria, Queens
718-606-1898

Pig roast to benefit Immigrant Families Together

(Please note: In exchange for my help in promoting what I think is a worthy cause, I've received four tickets to this event.) On the final weekend afternoon of summer, Rodrigo Duarte — the proprietor of Caseiro é Bom ("homemade and good") in the Ironbound District of Newark, New Jersey — will bring a very special taste of Portugal to Long Island City, Queens. Duarte will roast a Portuguese Alentejano hog, the genetic forebear of the pata negra, and serve charcuterie made from this remarkable animal.

The ticket price also includes side dishes and desserts; a cash bar will be provided by the venue, Anable Basin Sailing Bar and Grill. Tickets ($40; free for kids under age 12 with a parent) are available from Dining for Justice. All proceeds benefit Immigrant Families Together.

Fong On

This "family tofu shop" was once best-known, when known at all, as the factory outlet for soy and rice products sold at Fong Inn Too, its Mott St. storefront (now closed). Tofu squares, destined for restaurants, were the chief wholesale product. Many retail customers, however, visited the shop for hot taho, also known as soy custard (despite the lack of egg) or tofu pudding.

After a 2019 makeover and reopening, Fong On once again provides walk-up customers with tofu pudding, now with choices of toppings and syrups. Shown here is one of three house combos, christened with red beans, grass jelly, and taro balls. The most familiar syrup takes its character from brown sugar; at the counterwoman's suggestion, I added a gentle kick with the "more traditional" ginger syrup instead.

From several years back, before the shop's makeover: Hot tofu pudding sits in a tub (in the first photo below, shown uncovered), waiting to be scooped into takeaway containers. It's bland before the addition of a little syrup, much of which quickly filters to the bottom; delving deep with a spoon breaks up the pudding into smaller bits. Perhaps this looser consistency was the genesis of another name, dou hua — in full, dou fu hua, or "bean curd flower."

Fong On
81 Division St. (Eldridge-Pike Sts.), Manhattan
917-261-7222
www.Facebook.com/FongOn1933

Diller

Try as I might, I couldn't manage a biteaway view of these fried pickles. The crisp batter gave way much more quickly and cleanly than the pickle slices themselves, which repeatedly burned my lips. From a roster of nine sauces, the yogurt-based house namesake provided fast, fast relief.

This is what I was going for: http://bit.ly/2lGyaNN

Diller
357 Grand St. (Essex-Norfolk Sts.), Manhattan
646-739-8074
www.Facebook.com /DillerNYC
Closed Saturday