Fancy doesn’t necessarily mean good. It can also mean distraction, disorientation, incongruence, and bad deals. So what a wonderful treat it was to recently discover Maya Cafe in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Maya focuses on congee– the southern Chinese porridge typically eaten in the morning and best when studded with delectable fish bits, freshly fermented vegetables, maybe a fried egg.

This is a direct gut-punch of good health and, what Maya lacks in ambiance (think wire shelves boasting a motley crew of various Asian sauces that span the soys of northern China to the sweet Kaya spreads of Malaysia) it more than makes up for in inspired renditions of congee– all the better when paired with a strong Vietnamese coffee because, why not? Too strict a notion of “Asia” feels more limiting than expansive, and Maya takes that idea on every day.

Regrettably, I wolfed down my own congee and coffee, feeling truly sated and ready to take on honestly anything the world had to throw at me, but I didn’t take a photo. A grand Hoppie slip-up not to be repeated. Even this windbag writer knows when an image is worth more than any number of words!

So here’s to the slurp of a good congee, the rushing wind of early summer, the music from the barbershop shop next door, the Doppler Shift of a passing B52. For just a few minutes, for just a few dollars and a seat on the sunny bench, all was right with the world.