Shauna Eats Sunnyside

Hello, Halo-Halo

On Saturday night, B and I found ourselves wandering the streets of Woodside after hours, looking for the next big SCORE. B recalled a bustling, yet unassuming, corner diner a few blocks from the 61st St. subway station that may or may not have served Filipino cuisine… we eagerly tromped over, hoping for something new.

As usual, B’s hunch was correct - Engeline’s Restaurant & Bakeshop (on Roosevelt Ave. at 58th St.), open til midnight on Fridays and Saturdays (and til 10pm every other day of the week), was workin the Filipino angle with purple glutenous rice balls, pasteled meringue poofs, and orange chunks of leche flan visible in the baked goods display case opposite a simple wood dining area where several small parties chatted over noodle bowls and grilled meats. Some Southeast Asian variety show with “little people” and a singing homeless man captured the attention of bemused kitchen staff, who looked away from the overhead flat-screens only to address our inquiries about the sweets. Delightfully, menu items are all under $10, but we were already stuffed to the seams and had our hearts set on the popular Filipino dessert halo-halo.

B and I had read about this hodgepodge layered shaved ice dessert and categorize it as the ethnic equivalent to Korean paht bing soo (ahem, luvz it). We ordered this particular $5.50 halo-halo to share, and it was brought out promptly with a long-handled tea spoon.

Colors melded together beneath the frosted glass, with swirls of purple yam being the most visible contender. A considerable hock of creamy leche flan sat alongside a satisfying scoop of (B says flan-flavored) ice cream atop a thick bed of ice shavings, but digging deep quickly yielded a bevy of flavors, textures, and bizarre new palate pleasers…

To be perfectly honest, it all melts together, so ID’ing precise ingredients is a bit futile. We get the feeling they just throw a buncha shit in there anyway. And as an adrenaline eater, you kinda just submit to the meal at-hand and hope for the best. In cases like this, at a random diner on the outskirts of Woodside in the wee hours of night, it pays off.

We detected red beans, coconut milk, strips of ripe coconut pulp, zesty chunks of (could it be jackfruit?), and that mellow purple yammage amidst the crunchy ice goo. The dessert was light on our guts and went down with the quickness. Variety is the spice, and DAMN was it good.

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Engeline’s Restaurant & Bakeshop
58-28 Roosevelt Avenue (at 58th St.)
Woodside, NY 11377
718-898-7878