Eating In Translation

Karu Café

(This venue is closed.) Venezuelan variations on the stuffed griddled corn cake called an arepa (ah-Ray-pah) go by many exuberant names. Some, such as Mattress Breaker and The Hairy One, demand a back story, but this pairing of black beans and white queso fresco should need no explanation: Domino ($6). Your move.

Also shown: two games of dominoes, seen from the elevated Marcy Ave. station in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Karu Café
Weekdays-only kiosk inside The Falchi Building, 31-00 47th Ave. (at 31st Pl.), Long Island City, Queens
917-678-9213
Also at 53-21 Roosevelt Ave. (53rd-54th Sts.), Woodside, Queens
347-396-5996
www.KaruCafe.com

Kabayan

Spring rolls were a tad overfried, and sisig na bangus, made with milkfish, was not so sizzling as the more-common pork. But at this Filipino group lunch, we happily cleaned all our plates; chicken barbecue went fast. For more photos, see the EIT page on Facebook.

Kabayan
69-12 Roosevelt Ave. (69th-70th Sts.), Woodside, Queens
718-205-4010
Also at 49-12 Queens Blvd. (49th-50th Sts.), Sunnyside, Queens
718-639-3113
www.Kabayan.nyc

3 Aunties Thai Market

Like their predecessors in this snug storefront, most recently Inthira, the aunties make room for a delightful variety of goods on the shelves, in the fridge, in the freezer case, and on the countertops, too. The featured ingredients of their freshly steamed toddy palm cakes (four for $3.50) are, I believe, the seeds of the nipa palm, which you might easily mistake for translucent sweet gummies the size of fat almonds.

The gumminess is gone from these cakes, thank goodness; most likely they were made from a palm-seed paste that has been given a golden color. Compare what I identified as palm sugar desserts at a Khmer celebration in the Bronx. The cakes, whose other ingredients include rice flour and coconut milk, have little flavor that can be pinned specifically on toddy palm, but the darker batch beside them taste decisively of banana.

3 Aunties Thai Market
64-04 39th Ave. (64th-65th Sts.), Woodside, Queens
718-606-2523
www.Facebook.com/3AuntiesThaiMarket

The Corner Deli

Sometimes, I find, a small purchase — on this occasion, a commercially packaged sandwich cookie filled with vanilla "creme" that itself bears little further discussion — can be an enabler of small talk.

A century ago this wood-framed residence sat on one corner of a farm, the woman behind the counter told me. The deli, although it's been here as long as she can remember, was probably a much later addition. The Coca-Cola privilege sign, and the lettering of the business name itself, suggest the 1950s. So does the thermometer tucked inside a refrigerator case: It's branded with the Elmhurst 73 postal zone and the HIckory 6 telephone exchange.

The Corner Deli
Laurel Hill Blvd. at 65th Pl., Maspeth, Queens

Dashain celebration of Adhikaar

This Hindu festival, celebrated in Nepal and some of its easterly neighbors, takes place over the 15 days leading up to the October new moon. In Woodside, Queens, the public celebration was limited to a single afternoon within a school cafeteria — more than sufficient for fellowship and dance, often at the same time.

Shown below is an apple, blessed at a nearby temple, and jamara — grass grown for this occasion, knotted into slender bundles, and worn in the hair or around one ear. Also shown: a plate from the buffet, and gulab jamun that smacked of almond.

Dashain celebration of Adhikaar
P.S. 12 (The James B. Colgate School), 42-00 72nd St. (at 43rd Ave.), Woodside, Queens
www.Facebook.com/events/778353058941295
(The 2016 celebration was held on October 15)

Victoria Beer billboard

Beer lovers, as well as beer, are the subjects of this cleverly crafted advertisement. Victoria's well-established tagline embraces both: "orgullosamente Mexicana" ("proudly Mexican") applies not only to the lager but also, by association, to the people who enjoy it, whether in their home country or abroad.

The headline, however, speaks specifically to Mexican expats in the United States. "Perdón," it asks, we know that your next beer run won't be to "tu tienda de la esquina" — you're savvy to the language of the "convenience store."

Victoria Beer billboard
72-46 Roosevelt Ave. (72nd-73rd Sts.), Jackson Heights, Queens

Dawa's

Pancakes and sausage are brunchtime standards; in New York, many diner-style restaurants serve them all day. But only at Dawa's, to my knowledge, does a daylong brunch afford the opportunity to order from twin menus and pair all-American pancakes with Tibetan gyuma ($6 and $7 respectively).

I'd mentioned to my server that one plate would suffice, lumberjack style, but the presentation and the accompaniments — maple syrup and butter for the pancakes, blistering hot sauce and flowering springs of cilantro for the housemade blood sausage — prompted two. My first mixed forkful confirmed that the pancakes and sausage, each lovely on its own, are best eaten that way.

Dawa's
51-18 Skillman Ave. (51st-52nd Sts.), Woodside, Queens
718-899-8629
www.DawasNYC.com
Closed Wednesday

La Dulce Bakery

Yes, you can get a cholado (first photo, about $5). It would be a rare Colombian snack shop, even one as small as this, where you couldn't procure that sugary load of shaved ice drenched in syrup and condensed milk, then freighted with fruit salad.

More basic, and (reportedly) more widely sold on the streets of Bogotá, is mango biche (Bee-chay, second photo, $4). At La Dulce Bakery it's prepared from a softball-size specimen of the unripe fruit, which is skinned, then clamped in a rotary peeler. Several diligent minutes of hand-cranking yield a cupful of what resembles spaghetti squash, but only at first glance — the golden strands are firmer, tart, receptive to salt and squeezes of lime. Mango biche, as a change-up from a cholado, is refreshing in its simplicity.

La Dulce Bakery
6710 Roosevelt Ave. (67th-68th Sts.), Woodside, Queens
718-205-5399

Dhaulagiri Kitchen

(This venue is closed.) Namaste, Manhattan. Dhaulagiri Kitchen — whose original, tiny Jackson Heights location could have accommodated you and, if your timing were good, a handful of your closest friends — now has a dining room in Curry Hill. Shown here is my Sunday afternoon nosh, sandheko Wai Wai, a spicy salad (sandheko) featuring crumbled instant noodles (Wai Wai brand) plus ample onion, garlic, and chile pepper. It's good on cucumber, great on daikon.

Previously, from the original, tiny Jackson Heights kitchen: Samae baji, a Nepali variety plate featuring beaten rice. The baji itself, made by flattening uncooked, soaked rice with a mallet, can be incorporated into cooked dishes or, as at Dhaulagiri, offered as a textural counterpoint to other items. Below, baji is surrounded by spicy chicken, potato curry, crunchy fried soybeans, and pickled daikon. The accompanying sel roti (not shown), a ring-shaped rice flour fritter, has a faint sweetness that plays well against the spicier dishes.

H/T Jeff Orlick

Dhaulagiri Kitchen
124 Lexington Ave. (28th-29th-Sts.), Manhattan
917-675-7679

Weekender Billiard Restaurant & Bar

From the doorway, the view is promising only if you're comfortable with snooker: The room is dominated by three expansive tables devoted to that challenging cue sport. Cross to the far side of the counter, however, and you'll find more action, not at the downsized pool table but in the small dining area, provisioned by a Bhutanese kitchen, beside it.

As at nearby Bhutanese Ema Datsi Restaurant, you'll need to be insistent to score food as spicy as the chef would prepare for himself. White rice is the default, but Bhutan's signature red rice may be available if you call ahead. Some dishes can be bony in a persnickety way. "Bar" is a misnomer unless your idea of a stiff drink is butter tea (the un-buttery variety is on offer, too). And if you overwhelm the kitchen with too large an order, you may find yourself whiling away the time by exposing long-neglected eight-ball shotmaking. That said, there's much good chow — and I still haven't tried the pork ribs, the tripe, and a fistful of chile-cheese datse dishes.

Shown here, three favorites: norsha maro, a sort of thick noodle soup (the owner describes it as a gravy) replete with minced dried beef; kagkur soup, featuring squash; and excellent beef momos. Rack 'em up. For more photos, see the EIT page on Facebook.

H/T Inspector Collector (via private communication)

Weekender Billiard Restaurant & Bar
41-46 54th St. (Roosevelt Ave.-Queens Blvd.), Woodside, Queens
917-832-6903
Closed Wednesday