Grub Street

A Chinatown eatery has put something on the sidewalk that’s much more exciting than the usual bag of fish: the cream-cake machine! Unveiled for a test run yesterday outside of Quickly, a trendy bubble-tea and shabu shabu spot, the Korean contraption is just one of three in the city, said manager Patrick Chu. (The other two are at Quickly's Flushing and Sunset Park locations.) The thumb-size cream cakes cost $2 for eight and $5 for 24. Considering the machine churns out two dozen cakes every five minutes, we wonder if this means the end for the humble griddle man.

Quickly, 237 Grand St., nr. Bowery; 212-431-0998; 41-40 Kissena Blvd., nr. Barclay Ave., Flushing; 718-358-1835; 5924 Eighth Ave., nr. 59th St., Sunset Park, Brooklyn; 718-567-8189.