Eating In Translation

Fried Fellowship: Building Community Around Loukoumades in Queens

Some are rings, perhaps lightly kissed by sour cherry syrup. Others are golden orbs, fully loaded in many possible combinations. Both styles are delicious. But at Cafe Boulis and Gold N Honey, two Queens shops whose loukoumades look as different as can be, a sense of community is just as important as any menu item. Read more on Culinary Backstreets.

Sabay

When life gives you mangos ...

Eira

(This venue is closed.) Pão de ló (sponge cake), a bola de Berlim, and — of all the items at the counter of this Portuguese bakery, market, and cafe, what might be the sweetest — a spaghetti squash tart.

Eira
24 Mercer St. (Grove St.-Marin Blvd.), Jersey City
www.EiraCafe.com
Closed Monday

Oh, Dango!

Sweet and savory grilled dango, Japanese rice-flour dumplings.

Oh, Dango!
At the Queens Night Market
Behind the New York Hall of Science, 4701 111th St. (inside Flushing Meadows Corona Park), Queens
www.QueensNightMarket.com
Saturday evenings in warmer weather

Carlito's Barbecue Taqueria

Crispy fish tacos, a special — but, in summer, a recurring special, I'll bet.

Carlito's Barbecue Taqueria
Various locations; on this afternoon, at the Smorgasburg outpost in Jersey City
www.CarlitosTacos.com

Food stand beneath the Manhattan Bridge

One-buck bites: a fried taro cake, and an apparently seafood-free but nevertheless lip-smacking version of a Fujianese "oyster" cake.

Food stand beneath the Manhattan Bridge
East Broadway at the southeast corner with Market St., Manhattan

Paleteria Los Michoacanos

Mango in a plastic bag — sliced, with lime and salt — is a popular street-vendor snack in New York. Swap out the bag for an ice-pop mold, give the contents time to chill, and you can carry off a mango-lime-salt paleta instead. Two bucks, for this and many other flavors; the ones that also include dairy will run you two-and-a-quarter, as I recall.

Paleteria Los Michoacanos
10106 43rd Ave. (at National St.), Corona, Queens
347-813-4002
www.Instagram.com /Paleteria_Queens

Fat Choy

(This venue is closed.) From this "kind of Chinese, also vegan" restaurant: a cold, Sichuan-spiced "fun guy" mushroom salad. Also shown: my school-lunch placemat, without a trace of green.

Fat Choy
250 Broome St. (Orchard-Ludlow Sts.), Manhattan
347-778-5889
www.FatChoyNYC.com
Closed Monday

Dacha 46

Limited-edition strawberry shortcake pampushky, brioche donuts coated with a sour cream glaze and a shortbread cookie crumble and filled with strawberry jam.

Dacha 46
Pop-up at 657 Washington Ave. (Bergen St.-St. Mark's Ave.), Prospect Heights, Brooklyn
www.Instagram.com/Dacha_1946
Closed Monday and Tuesday

Mama's Backyard Cafe

Over morning coffee, planning for the afternoon: a coffee float, Manhattan Special espresso soda over soft-serve vanilla ice cream (at an air-conditioned table indoors).

Mama's Backyard Cafe
4610 104th St. (46th-47th Aves.), Corona, Queens
718-565-9104
www.Facebook.com /pages/Mamas %20Backyard%20Cafe /113928861972120
Closed Monday