Food for Thought

I was recently asked by a guest what was the weirdest food I’ve ever eaten. After a moment I realized that over the years I have experienced so many interesting foods and ethnic cuisine that I can’t really come to one conclusion. Often times I order blindly or ask the server to pick my dish and don’t ask what it is until I’ve eaten it – a rule I received early on in my life from a cousin of mine. Instead of making my own decision, I thought it best to describe some of the weird and unusual things that have come across my plate over the years and let you be the judge.

My first taste of the unusual came from Suntory Restaurant, which unfortunately has been closed for a few years now. My cousin, as mentioned above, ordered all the necessary Japanese dishes that one needs to eat for their first taste of the food. As we worked through the meal, we came to one particular dish which was slimy and to me very unappetizing. After I choked it down she laughed and told me it was a sea slug.

Next would have to be dim sum in Chinatown at the Phoenix Restaurant. I’ve gone several times for dim sum on Sunday and each time there has been a language barrier between the staff and I which always results in me pointing at particular dishes and not really knowing what I’ve eaten. It creates an aura of mystery and danger along with your meal. At the end you can make up whatever unusual food you like and say you ate it because no one could prove you wrong.

Japonais restaurant in River North also makes the list with their deep fried crab heads stuffed with rice and uni rolls. It still has the eyes and everything, and no it doesn’t taste like chicken – it tastes like a potato chip. As for the uni (sea urchin) it has the texture, taste and consistency of pureed liver.

Hot Doug’s Sausage Emporium and Tepaltuco Mexican restaurant are next on my list. This past holiday season I was fortunate enough to taste the reindeer dog and duck fat fries at Hot Doug’s. I had a wonderful appetizer at Tepaltuco called Grasshopper – and yes it is just as it sounds, fried grasshoppers.

The Taste of Chicago is the largest celebration of food in the city – it is a two week festival in Grant Park that goes from June 26th to July 5th. With so over 50 food vendors there are bound to be unusual items. At this festival I’ve indulged upon alligator on a stick, Irish egg rolls, banana and chocolate egg rolls, fried chicken and waffles, crawfish (both live and fried), and cheesecake on a stick (not that unusual but I wanted to include it because it is on a stick).

More recently I’ve headed to the trio of inventive/scientific restaurants: Moto, Schwa, and Alinea. These are by far the most interesting places I’ve very been to. At Moto I have eaten the menu, carbonated grapes that “pop” in your mouth, packing peanuts made from corn syrup that instantly dissolve leaving a little tingle, and a shot of donut soup which tasted like a warm Krispie Crème donut. Schwa is a very impressive BOYB restaurant that forever changed my perception of the meaning “bite your tongue” with their pickled beef tongue dish. I had to eat at Alinea because of their notoriety and also to taste their Pigeonneau a la Saint-Clair. This is their most controversial dish made of squab legs – a young domestic pigeon. Up until that point I had chased, yelled at, and even imitated pigeons but never eaten them – it was surprisingly tasty.

I’ve tasted some unusual things while in Chicago, some good some bad some I’m still not sure about. Hopefully this will help in deciding where to dine and what foods are available for the venturous. If you have any comments or questions regarding any of the above, please let me know.