New York

While foodies have finally discovered the diverse cuisine of Queens, Mundo cuts the guesswork and train hopping by cramming a world (or borough) of food into a tiny, side street cafe. The massive Mundo menu reads like a FIFA playoff bracket: Portuguese, Argentinean, Greek, Spanish, Turkish, Brazilian, Italian. We warmed up with the much-lauded Red Sonjas, red lentil and bulgur blobbets wrapped in lettuce leaves which we agreed were correctly advertised as a must-try. Turkish meatballs, unlike their sullen, sodden Italian brethren, were akin to light and crispy beef falafels. The crabmeat burger is forgiven for lacking distinct ethnicity as it clearly hails from the nation of delicious: its rich crabby goodness will likely paralyze me from ordering crabcakes anywhere else. While I've heard some entrees are odd (Ottoman dumplings reminiscent of beef cereal and milk), everything on our table was flavorful and perfectly presented. By the end of the meal, the initially empty restaurant was filled to capacity with every sort sipping wine and slurping Sonjas. Among the drapes and tin lanterns, we wayward Westerners could have been in a cafe anywhere on the Mediterranean rim. Who'da thunk we were in Queens.

Photo:  Molly Riordan