Eating In Translation

Pera Ždera: Burgers (and more) by way of the Balkans

(This venue is closed.) Excellent fries cradle a Karađorđeva (Kah-rah-JEOR-Jeh-vah), a schnitzel-like pork cutlet rolled around kaymak, breaded, deep-fried, and ultimately topped, improbably but compellingly, with tartar sauce. Read about the Serbian specialties served at Pera Ždera (aka Peter Eater) in Glendale, Queens, on Culinary Backstreets.

Queens Lanka: Small Kitchen, Big Flavors

(This venue is closed.) "Staten Island, a ferryboat's ride south of Manhattan, is home to New York's largest community of Sri Lankans and most of the city's Sri Lankan restaurants as well. A smaller Sri Lankan community can be found in the Queens neighborhood of Jamaica. In recent years people might have needed to drive an hour — braving the airport traffic near JFK, swinging down to the Belt Parkway that girds southern Brooklyn and crossing the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge into Staten Island — for a taste of Sri Lanka.

"Lately, however, those cravings can be sated closer to home at Queens Lanka in Jamaica, a specialty grocery that also boasts a small but mighty kitchen and a few seats to accommodate dine-in customers. There’s no room for the weekend buffet that figures prominently in several of Staten Island’s Sri Lankan restaurants, but for curry, kottu roti and banana-leaf-wrapped lamprais, there’s no need to leave the neighborhood.

"Rasika Wetthasinghe is the chef; Suchira Wijayarathne runs the market. A helper assists with preparation in the kitchen a few days a week, and a number of the kitchen’s bespoke spice blends are prepared elsewhere, but by and large this is a two-man operation." Read more on Culinary Backstreets.

Foda Egyptian Sandwiches: Falafel Mavens

(This venue is closed.) Sautéed beef liver — deposited, with its pan juices, onto the absorbent inner surface of homemade fino (Fee-no) bread — is a specialty of Foda Egyptian Sandwiches. Read about this Astoria street cart and its hard-working namesake on Culinary Backstreets.

33 Bah Kut Teh

(This venue is closed.) During my first meal at this new Malaysian food-court stall, I didn't try the namesake herbal pork soup. The owner tells me he comes from Penang (the mainland, not the island), and I couldn't pass up his fully loaded asam laksa. I'm not sure if the plentiful fish was mackerel or some sort of sardine, but it's hard to mistake thin-sliced torch ginger.

33 Bah Kut Teh
13335 Roosevelt Ave. (Prince St.-College Point Blvd., inside the New York Food Court, stall 19), Flushing, Queens
929-204-4651
www.33BahKutTeh.com

Selo Restaurant

(This venue is closed.) Balkan brunch: uštipci (oosh-Teep-see), dense, bready fried dough with prosciutto, Serbian bacon, and kajmak (Kye-mak). Also served, if you prefer, with rose hip jam and Nutella.

H/T @Garsleat

Selo Restaurant
3305 Broadway (33rd-34th Sts.), Astoria, Queens
718-932-0101
www.Facebook.com/SeloNYC

Carvel

Surviving signage, 2472 Webster Ave. (at East 189th St.), Fordham Heights, Bronx
Also shown below in January 2009; this location closed sometime after the summer of 2014
www.Carvel.com

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

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

Park West Cafe & Deli

(This venue is closed.) Vegetable momo, one of the "delicious Nepalese specialties" — an alternative to the soups, salads, burgers, wraps, and all-day breakfast still on offer — just a short trek from the Great Hill of northeastern Central Park.

Park West Cafe & Deli
477 Central Park West (at 108th St.), Manhattan
212-663-5690
www.ParkWCafe.com

Odessa

(This venue is closed.) A bygone meal at this Eastern European diner ("temporarily" closed since last July, now for sale, per EV Grieve): cold borscht, two scrambled, home fries, a half-kielbasa, and rye toast. What looks like a reflection in the borscht was actually more egg, hardboiled.

Odessa
119 Ave. A (St. Marks Pl.-East 7th St.), Manhattan
212-253-1482
www.Facebook.com/pages/Odessa%20Restaurant/111866982178161