Wildest thing you have eaten lately....

I wanted to post this in the best things you have eaten lately thread, but I was in too much pain afterward to call this meal one of the best lately. I also considered posting in the worst thing lately thread, but this dish was so unqiue, and genuinely new and even exhilirating to me, that it didn't seem right either.

So I thought a new thread might be appropriate - for those things that aren't quite the best or worst, but are so memorable, exciting or one-of-a-kind that you just need to post about them.

So the wildest thing I have eaten lately (actually the spiciest, but it doesn't seem to deserve it's own thread) was catfish pad pad at Pam Real Thai on 9th Ave. and 49th St. in Hells Kitchen, Manhattan.

I went to this place after a long night of document review at work, at my girl's recommendation. I was a little skeptical - authentic, delicious food in Manhattan anywhere above Canal and below 125th? Impossible! (I am being a bit hyperbolic, I know).

Anyway, one look at the menu let me know this place was the real deal, at least in presentation. It was basically like Spoon or TAC with all the "secret" items on the same menu as the Ameri-Thai. Wanting a change from my usual papaya salad and some kind of noodle soup combo, I went with the dish that had the greatest number of hot peppers next to its English description. While som tum, khao soy, and pad kee mao each carried 1 little pepper, the catfish pad pad had 5! I mean, there wasn't even anything on the menu with 2 or 3. It was like you could only choose between mildly spicy, and wildly spicy. I went with the latter.

Basically, it was deep fried catfish (w/ skin and bone) chunks in a thick, oily paste of crushed red chiles, red curry, and basil with a few scatterings of halved thai eggplant. The server tried to talk me out of ordering it, but in doing so he may have said too much - I had no choice not too after that.

It was a good dish. I couldn't finish more than half of it (it was, however, a big plate). By the end I was sweating, sneezing and tearing, and trying my best not to let anyone else, especially the suspicious servers and good looking girls notice. It was mind-numbingly hot. It was like getting maced. And I should know, because in a random incident two weeks ago, I accidentally got maced while waiting for some fried chicken at 4am.

Would I eat it again? Definitely not on its own. This dish is probably meant to be consumed family-style with a number of offerings to cool, soothe, offer contrast. Did I regret it? Maybe a little last night at 4am when I woke up hallucinating that a demonic, lava-spitting catfish was swimming through my intestines. But today as I write this doing the same boring thing at work, shit, it was awesome. Definitely the wildest thing I've eaten in a long time.

Sahtayn!

M

A Violet.

Not the flower but a nasty looking sea creature that taste of iodine.

Took the bride to France for a trip and made friends with a few locals. Once they found out we were in the food industry they insisted on taking us out for a lunch in the local town market.

We ended up not only trying the Violet, which if anyone has any info on I would love to know. We tried googling it with no suscess but also a fine plate of Horse tartare made one stand over at the horse meat butcher.

Hard to describe the violet as the raw, sliced presentation dosen't help but the horse was fine. Needed some more capers or salt.

Cheers,

Bourbon

Sea anemone with rabbit brains and oyster sauce.

El Bulli
Roses, Spain

A few months ago, I was also in Manhattan at a place called Kenka in East Village.

It was a crowded Japanese yakitori restaurant that had a large picture menu with all sorts of interesting items. Among them was bulls penis. Well, after a few 8 dollar pitchers of Kirin and Sapporo (a steal in this city), I figured why not...

Well, it was like eating a big muscle. It didn't have a lot of flavor, and I suspect it is on the menu more for its novelty than being something tasty one would like to frequently eat. Nevertheless, this was the wildest thing I've eatened in a while.

If you guys are ever here, the best part about this place is they give you a small container of cotton candy mix, and you can make your own cotton candy in their machine in front of the restaurant as you leave.

I had the Chapulines at Fonda del Mar a couple weeks ago which are described on their menu as "two fresh made tortillas filled with crunchy oaxacan grasshoppers and guacamole". The tortillas were impeccably soft and guacamole full of great lime flavor, but the notable part of the dish was the grasshoppers. They were salty and smokey which matched their light and crunchy texture. Though I couldn't really taste much from the grasshoppers themselves, their texture worked perfectly as a complement to the creamy guacamole and the soft tortillas.

Habibi wrote:So the wildest thing I have eaten lately (actually the spiciest, but it doesn't seem to deserve it's own thread) was catfish pad pad at Pam Real Thai on 9th Ave. and 49th St. in Hells Kitchen, Manhattan.

In the words of the great Inspector Gadget "Wowsers!" Makes me want to get on a plane.

Crispy catfish in red curry is available around town, best version is Rosded's Pla Dook Tod Krob.

Rosded's Pla Dook Tod Krob



The wildest, and also the best thing, I have eaten lately was Blackbirds blood sausage corn dog at The Green City Market BBQ.

Enjoy,
Gary

Chicken heart kabobs at a bbq spot in Sao Paulo.I guess I'm not as adventurous as some of our posters here. They were quite good.

jesteinf wrote:
Sea anemone with rabbit brains and oyster sauce.

No offense, and I'm aware of El Bulli's rep, but that looks and sounds like something a zombie seagull threw up.

Well, notice that I didn't post it in the Best Thing You've Eaten Lately thread