Explored a new-to-me stretch of Queens recently — the Bangladeshi enclave in Jamaica. Very reminiscent of Jackson heights a couple of decades ago.
Lots of similarities in the offerings from place to place, but some things looked better / fresher to me at one place vs others, so I backtracked a few times after doing a quick survey. In that time, the stores and restaurants went from being scantly occupied to full with lines as people came in to pick up dinner or sit down to dinner.
Some smaller spots were at the end of their stock for the day, others were restocking snacks and hot tables for the dinner crowd.
I’ll be back (especially as I figured out that this is a slightly quicker way home for me from Flushing thanks to an express train).
One bakery / cafe — Mannan — had professionally packaged pitha and other snacks, plus familiar breads, plus a hot table in the back.
Another place —Panshi — had a full separate buffet of desi chinese dishes, but there was someone there to package what you want — not self-service despite the appearance.
One of the oldest spots in the enclave — Ghoroa — has renovated and also expanded to Brooklyn — this looked very fancy on the inside, even though it’s still a hot table place (though prices seem to include the cost of their reno 
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There are several puchka / fushka carts scattered about, plus a tiny storefront that sells the Bangladeshi version of chaat and haleem with a scant few drinks — I’ll go back here another time. (There’s also a brick and mortar version of the Tong cart somewhere there, though I didn’t look for it.)
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I find grocery stores in internationally specific enclaves fascinating, and the ones here were no less so. Fresh halal goat, chicken, and beef, a crazy range of frozen Bengali fish, and similarly of sweets and savories. I saw signs for fresh and frozen and dried Bombay duck, which I might explore at some future point (dried can also be weaponized 
).
My favorite was this place that penalizes customers for messing with the ginger (or for being psychologically damaged, but either way, organic and broken is cheaper):
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I was forcibly minimalist in my actual purchases because I was about to travel for the weekend.
Possibly the best version of curry beef in puff pastry I’ve had — flaky and light puff, well-filled with delicious Kheema. When I backtracked here, they replenished the hot table for the dinner crowd, but I’d already done my dinner buying by then.
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Kalabhuna / Kalobhuna Gosht seemed to be a specialty at several places (apparently it is a special prep that hails from Chittagong), so I picked up some to try along with a naan and some chicken seekh kabab which are always hard to resist.
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Fantastic, intense flavors that I clearly recognized as Bhuna Gosht, but further browned to a dark shade. I ate this at home with dal and a vegetable to offset the intensity. Another day, it made a fantastic filling for a Frankie / Kathi roll (with a flour tortilla standing in for the paratha that I was too lazy to defrost).
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