Josh Stern and his wife, Alissa Levine, show off their wares.

Welcome to The Sweet Spot, a new feature covering—you guessed it—dessert and other confections. I'm sure many of you have asked, "Doth the King of Queens eat sweets?" Yea, verily he doth! Today we take a look at The Teaspoon Bake Shop, a cute bakery that opened in Bayside earlier this month. 

Cupcakes abound at Teaspoon.

I love a good cupake, but I skipped the treat in favor of some of Alissa Levine's more novel creations. The chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting were quite tempting though.

The milk chocolate blonde bombshell is the bomb.

Blondies used to be one of my favorite sweet treats. I hadn't had one in years, so when I saw the milk chocolate blonde bombshell immediately ordered one. And a strong cup of Stumptown coffee, natch. The buttery sweet squares oozed chocolate and really got my sweet tooth going.

A strawberry My Pie.

Josh Stern insisted I try his one of his wife's freshly baked strawberry My Pies. Does anyone else remember Fruit Pie The Magician? Levine is a wizard of the buttery crust. I could see eating this fruit-filled wonder every day for breakfast, deluding myself into thinking it virtuous because of the fruit. I could also see myself growing to epic proportions if I did so.

Bayside is a bit of a trek from World's Fare headquarters in Rego Park. When I find myself in the neighborhood, it's good to know there's a place to go for a sweet treat.

Teaspoon Bake Shop, 36-41 Bell Boulevard, Bayside, 718-224-4626

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Mama Su's, combines a  Teutonic specialty with soup dumplings.

Much as I love all the global cuisines in Queens what really intrigues me is the breed of self-styled fusion restaurants that can only occur in such a diverse population. I'm thinking of such combinations as Indonesian-Latino, which was offered at the short-lived Tropika. And then there's Himalayan Hut, which serves Indian-Chinese favorites like chili chicken alongside American Chinese standards like General Tso's. Add to this growing list Mama Su's in Bayside, which specializes in xiao long bao, or Chinese soup dumplings, and German wursts.

Mama Su's specializes in German sausages and
Chinese soup dumplings, among other things.

When he saw what I had dragged him out to Bayside for my hapless wheelman seemed displeased. What I had read on Chowhound was indeed true. Mama Su's serves soup dumplings along with seven varieties of German sausages. The extensive menu also includes other dumplings like shao mai ($3.75) and several varieties of steamed buns ($1.50 and $2.75), as well as such Chinese dishes as salted pepper shrimp ($10.50). Despite my friend's protest, I ignored the rest of the menu and stuck to the plan.

Mama Su's crab soup dumplings. 

Pretty soon we were presented with an octet of crab soup dumplings in a bamboo steamer. Mama Su proceeded to tell us how to eat them, but I assured her we knew from xiao long bao. Each pouch was filled with a mixture of crab, and pork, along with a bit of broth. I have had better, but these were tasty enough.

Bauernwurst? Is this a hofbrau or a Chinese joint?

We chose bauernwurst, a pork and beef link, from the list of German sausages. The coarse ground sausage was flecked with bits of mustard seed. It was an odd but tasty followup to the dumplings. So why is German sausage being served at an otherwise Chinese establishment? According to the woman behind the counter, who it turns out is not Mama Su, the owner has a friend from Taiwan who now works for Schaller & Weber. Actually German style sausage isn't such a stretch for a Chinese spot. The kielbasa-like link da hong cha is fairly common at places in Flushing specializing in the food of Tianjin.

"There was supposed to be a Mama Su, but she left because the construction took too long," the gal behind the counter told me. "We are all Filipino-Chinese here," she added. Only in Queens can one find a German-Chinese spot run by Filipinos. Now if I can just get them to start serving their home country's porktastic dishes like crispy pata, they'd really be on to something.

Mama Su's, 212-22 48 Avenue, Bayside, 718-229-6262

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Doesn’t look much like chop suey, does it? 

Normally, I would never order something entitled “noodles with chop suey soup” at a Chinese restaurant, but that’s precisely what I did last week at the Korean-Chinese spot Samwongahk. That’s because the dish whose English name screams American-style Chinese food bears no resemblance to greasy wok takeout. Clearly, something was lost in the translation of the Korean-Chinese specialty jjam ppong. It’s not a stir-fry at all, but a spicy seafood noodle soup packed with shrimp, scallops and squid, and it's brimming with veggies, including bok choy. There’s also a healthy helping of homemade noodles. It makes for a sinus-clearing, body-warming lunch on a cold winter’s day. At $7.49 a bowl, it’s easy on the wallet, too.

Jim demonstrates how to mix and enjoy jjajangmyeon. 

Even though I ordered jjam ppong, the real draw at Samwongahk and other Korean-Chinese restaurants is jjajangmyeon ($5.99). Look around at lunchtime and you’ll see that almost every table has a big bowl of wheat noodles with a sidecar of pitch black sauce made with chunjang, a salty black soybean paste, onions and bits of pork. Mix the sauce in with your noodles and start slurping. My friend Jim J.H. Kim, who accompanied me, along with Jeff Orlick, founder of the Jackson Heights Food Group, told me that Korean-Chinese joints are as common in Korea as pizzerias are in New York City. Queens isn’t far behind Jim’s homeland. Last time I checked there were nine such eateries, including two locations of Samwongahk.

Keep on eating,

Joe DiStefano

Sam Won Gahk, 144-20 Northern Blvd., Flushing, 718-445-8500; 219-01 Northern Blvd., Bayside, 718-352-5600

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