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Mott Street’s Egg Custard King Two Café feels like a tiny Hong Kong student cafeteria in the middle of Chinatown. Fluorescent-colored vertical flags taped along two walls announce dishes in handwritten Chinese. Young patrons file in and out of the basement shoebox, occasionally perching on spindly metal chairs with candy-colored seats to slurp down rice and noodle dishes. The house specializes in cheap if slightly odd East-West fusion dishes made with budget ingredients, like baked spaghetti tossed in a sweet ketchup glaze and served with a fried pork chop. Buttercream sponge rolls are sprinkled with Chinese pork sung, a sort of desiccated bacon lint. Less adventurous diners can fall back on the familiar, like General Tso’s chicken or Shanghai-style steamed tiny buns. The namesake egg tarts make excellent three-bite snacks or desserts, especially the spotty brown Portuguese egg tart with cream-enriched custard and a flaky shell. Wash them down with icy fruit shakes made of purple taro root or Hong Kong–style pick-me-ups like hot malted-chocolate Milo. — Ganda Suthivarakom

Sparerib rice casserole, $4.95