Eating In Translation

The Freakin Rican

Chicharrones aren't always pork rinds. They might also be pollo — chicken — cut into chunks, exquisitely spiced, and deep-fried. You can enjoy them in a restaurant setting, with knife and fork, but chicharrones de pollo are even better at outdoor events, where you can carry them off by the bagful. "Free-range" is good for festival-goers, too.

The Freakin Rican
On the afternoon in question, at one of the many events listed on the proprietor's online food festival calendar
Most other days, at 4306 34th Ave. (43rd-44th Sts.), Astoria, Queens
929-349-1080
www.TheFreakinRicanRestaurant.com
Closed Monday and Tuesday

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

Desi BBQ

Pakistani lunch to go: a shami kebab roll, fat with fried patties of minced seasoned chicken, dressed with lettuce, red onion, and white sauce. Substantial enough that, when posing for a photo, its tail end rested on a sturdy surface.

Previously, while dining in, before the shop changed its name and dessert menu: Zarda is a South Asian dish of sweetened rice stained "yellow" (the literal meaning of its name) by some combination of saffron, turmeric, and food coloring. Elaborate versions, conceived for festive occasions, might sport pistachios, almonds, and cashews; raisins, cardamom pods, shredded coconut, and candied fruit; and rice that is painstakingly varicolored. At this Pakistani corner kebab shop, the more modest zarda shown here would be more likely to conclude iftar, the meal that breaks the daily fast during the month of Ramadan.

Desi BBQ (previously known as New York Pulao Kebab)
36-02 Steinway St. (at 36th Ave.), Astoria, Queens
718-650-1750
www.Facebook.com/Desi-BBQ-Halal-560749671102182

Addy's Barbeque: East African Sizzle

"We hear it, and smell it, before we see it. At Addy's Barbeque in Astoria, every mishkaki enters the dining room with a sizzle." You want masala fries with that? Read more on Culinary Backstreets.

Teta's Kitchen

Chicken soup looked great, but the improbably young-looking teta ("grandma," in Lebanon) advised me that I could order a bowl any day. If I had room for just one dish, was the thought, better make it a special: beef-stuffed peppers over rice.

H/T Pao & Cha Cha

Teta's Kitchen
28-02 21st St. (28th-29th Aves.), Astoria, Queens
718-777-0106
www.Instagram.com/TetasKitchenNYC

Taverna Kos

A few customers in the dim clubhouse-like dining area watched a Greek soccer match that proved to be a mismatch. Many more, on a recent afternoon, sat in the bright L-shaped enclosed patio. Most were men, in twos and threes; almost all had ordered one of the specials of the day, beef stew or a lentil soup nearly as hearty. These came with bread, sliced thick.

One man had corraled a grilled octopus, which rested in a shallow pool of olive oil and herbs. At our table, where we surveyed the greater part of the menu, we enjoyed the octopus, too, and secured extra bread to mop up afterward. But by a narrow margin our favorite dish was the loukaniko, pork sausage split lengthwise to brandish a bounty of orange peel, fennel seed, and many other seasonings. Note to self: Return with a dining buddy, order two bowls of stew and a shared plate of loukaniko, and assemble our own lunch specials deluxe.

Also shown: the taverna in springtime.

Taverna Kos (aka Pancoan Society Hippocrates)
4119 23rd Ave. (at 42nd St.), Astoria, Queens
718-728-3325

BZ Grill

Dressed with feta — lots of feta — oregano, and olive oil, but baked rather than bathed in hot oil, these Greek fries are "fries" because they look like fries, and they get treated like fries. (Skip them and start with the seftalia instead, suggests an online commenter who favors those skinless Cypriot sausages. Thanks, Robert!) Also: gyro, the best reason to visit BZ.

BZ Grill
27-02 Astoria Blvd. (27th-28th Sts.), Astoria, Queens
718-932-7858
www.BZGrill.com

Addy's Barbeque

The front window also touted burgers and wings, but a more modest, hand-drawn sign suggested the sizzling East African specialty of the house.

Indonesian bazaar at Masjid al-Hikmah

"Black soup," the fellow called it. He and his friends were digging into bowls of nasi rawon, a beef soup bolstered by rice (nasi). The ingredient that lends this Javanese dish its dark color and richness is kluwak (also called kluwek and buah keluak), the fermented nuts of the kepayang tree. Together with numerous seasonings, the nuts are sauteed to form a thick black gravy (the rawon), which becomes the base for the soup.

Nasi rawon is eaten for breakfast as well as lunch, and typically sells out by early afternoon. (For that matter, many menu items at this periodic bazaar come and go at the discretion of the individual vendors. There's no telling what you might find on any given day.) Your best best of scoring a bowl is to arrive on the early side, say, around 11:00 — which also allows you to beat the heat, since the tented canopies, on the small parking lot behind the mosque, offer only just so much shelter. Look for nasi rawon on the shady side of the bazaar, simmering in an unlabeled pot at the back of a stall or, perhaps, cradled in the hand of one of the local cognoscenti.

Indonesian bazaar at Masjid al-Hikmah
48-01 31st Ave. (at 48th St.), Astoria, Queens
www.Facebook.com/Masjid-Al-Hikmah-New-York-Indonesian-Muslim-Community-inc-584554868585283
Periodically, on a weekend, during the warmer months
(The next bazaar will be held on Sunday, July 22)

Duzan

Deeper than it looks: The pool of mashed fava beans in my Jerusalem hummus extended nearly to the bottom of the bowl.

H/T Dan Pashman (via his podcast, The Sporkful) and Robert Lax

Duzan
2411 Steinway St. (Astoria Blvd.-25th Ave.), Astoria, Queens
718-204-7488
www.Facebook.com/Duzan.NYC