Eating In Translation

B&B African American Restaurant

Jamaican-Guinean combo meal: jerk chicken and lafidi. The latter is a West African dish of seasoned rice accompanied by one or more sauces. At B&B — whose owner comes from Guinea, and whose customers this afternoon spoke mostly in French — it was one of the few unlabeled dishes at the steam table. Until I confirmed its identity with an attendant, I wasn't sure I was looking at lafidi, in part because the sauces were largely depleted and the rice, hollowed out. The regulars must have spotted it at a glance.

B&B Restaurant
165 West 26th St. (Sixth-Seventh Aves.), Manhattan
212-627-2914

Korean Day Festival and Parade

When she defected from North Korea nearly 20 years ago, Ma Youngae "wasn't a very good cook," she acknowledges. In the years since — in Seoul, Los Angeles, Northern Virginia, and now Northern New Jersey — Ms. Ma has perfected at least one dish, which she sells to fund her mission to rescue North Korean defectors. Her soondae, blood sausage, is superb.

At a previous year's festival (and shown at bottom): Indian corn — in New England, still the common name for maize with multicolored kernels — often is added to wreaths and other harvest-time decorations. A number of festival-goers assured me, however, that it's common fare in Korea. Though the shimmering kernels suggested more than a dozen Jelly Belly flavors (not all of them shown in my photos), this isn't sweet corn. Served just as it comes from the kettle, except in looks it's bland.

Update: An EIT reader offers that the kernels in question were most likely "waxy corn, also known as glutinous corn or sticky corn," a variety widely eaten in East Asia. Thanks, Steve!

Korean Parade and Koreatown Festival
The parade proceeds about a half-mile down Sixth Ave., near the festival site on 32nd St. between Broadway and Fifth Ave., Manhattan
www.NYKorean.org/en/2019-korean-parade
(The 2019 parade and festival were held on October 5)

Palace Restaurant and Lunchroom

Surviving signage, 3-5 East 28th St. (Fifth-Madison Aves.), Manhattan
H/T Walter Grutchfield for his ever-patient decipherment and research

Her Name Is Han

Across multiple Korean set meals, the banchan, or small plates, are usually much the same even though the main courses differ. Our foursome ordered four mains: garlic chicken (first photo); a hearty beef-broth bowl called budae jjigae; spicy pork; and (not shown) hokke, or grilled mackerel. When my tray was considerably delayed, I borrowed banchan from my buddies with the implicit promise of repayment in short order. (Many of us have done the same, over burgers, when fries are the most common currency.) Freshest surprise: yuzu dressing on the salad. Best of the banchan, in part for the medley of sweet, tart, and a tad spicy: apple.

Her Name Is Han
17 East 31st St. (Fifth-Madison Aves.), Manhattan
212-779-9990
www.HerNameIsHan.com

Keki Modern Cakes

Heavy on purple yam, light on Amish cream cheese: ube "bouncy" cheesecake.

Keki Modern Cakes
315 Fifth Ave. (entrance on East 32nd St.), Manhattan
212-889-0251
Also at 79 Mott St. (Canal-Bayard Sts.)
646-863-2094
www.KekiNYC.com

The Long Hall

Full Irish breakfast, enjoyed during a midday match in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship (Wexford 0-17 Galway 1-23). At full-time, my plate was clear, but hurling was a mystery still.

The Long Hall
58 East 34th St. (Park-Madison Aves.), Manhattan
646-455-0777
www.TheLongHallNYC.com

New York Bakery

This isn't a bakery. And, despite the trio of Korean daily newspapers stacked on the counter and a handful Korean noodle soups advertised only in Hangul, the menu hasn't been devoted to Korean food in ages. But this is a very New York establishment: Years ago, the husband-and-wife owners reportedly hired a Mexican cook, who helped them expand the menu of their home country with popular dishes from her home country.

Today the bill of fare features the likes of burritos, quesadillas, and these fish tacos (three for $8), weighty with breaded whiting and, on request, turbocharged with salsa verde. When I also signed on for onions and cilantro, husband and wife interrupted their Korean conversation to confirm my preference: "con todo."

Alas, this tiny kitchen will close at the end of October; prospects for a new location are unclear. H/T Jeremiah's Vanishing New York regarding the imminent closing.

New York Bakery
51 West 29th St. (Sixth Ave.-Broadway), Manhattan
212-213-2838
Breakfast and lunch only; closed Sunday

The NoMad Bar

The burger ($18) at first seems too precious. Want fries? That's extra. But approach it edgewise and you'll find that the patty has plenty of heft; take a juicy bite and you'll marvel at its richness. Credit a blend of dry-aged chuck and ample portions of suet and bone marrow. Counterpoints: red onion, cheddar, and a trio of housemade pickles (included). The least familiar is fennel.

The NoMad Bar
10 West 28th St. (Broadway-Fifth Ave.), Manhattan
347-472-5660
www.TheNoMadHotel.com/#!/dining /menus/the-nomad-bar

St. Francis of Assisi Korean Bazaar

Ppopgi is an old-fashioned Korean treat that's traditionally served with a challenge: Leave the pressed-in design intact while removing the surrounding candy, and you earn another ppopgi. For the scale modelers among you, however, the task is not so simple as trimming away flash with an X-Acto knife. Your allowable tools — teeth, tongue, and lips— are much less precise, and your subject — a confection made only from caramelized sugar and baking soda — is much more brittle.

A design with few abrupt contours, such as a heart or a star, gives you a fighting chance. But as for this airplane, which presents so many twists and turns, it's an entirely different kind of flying, altogether.

St. Francis of Assisi Korean Bazaar
Broadway between 31st and 32nd Sts., Manhattan
www.StFrancisNYC.org/2015/06/17th-annual-korean-bazaar
(The 2015 bazaar was held on June 21)

The Kunjip

Seven panchan, six of them vegetarian. Can you spot the odd one out?