Unusual, exotic, strange eats? Or uncommon authentic dishes.
Looking for a resturant to go to tomorrow. I'll be in the cleveland clinic main campus area and also checking out the West Side Market but I'm willing to go anywhere nearby. Trying to find some new things to try! Doesnt need to be fancy, just needs to be tasty. In a less bizarre foods kind of way, any recs that are super authentic are also welcome. Meaning, not just a really good taco at your favorite mexican place but somewhere that has a dish few other places even serve or an uncommon cuisine.
Dishes I've had recently to give you an idea of what I mean: beef stomach/pork intestine tacos, durian pastries, escargot terrine, steamed chicken feet, fried whole prawn heads, sea urchin, blood sausage. Still looking to try sweetbreads, rabbit, beef tartare, rocky mountain oysters, regular oysters, bone marrow.
Desserts too!
Thanks in advanced đ
Edit: Thank you for all the suggestions! I finally got to cross off eating brains on my bucket list at LJ Shanghai! Cant wait to try out the other places the next couple times I'm back. Really excited to try Ethiopian - I'll probably go there next when I'll be able to break my caffiene fast with a nice ceremony.
Posted Jan 25, 2022, 5:37 PM UTC ¡ edited
Szechuan Gourmet has a bunch of dishes with intestines and tendons and stuff. There's a bunch of Asian grocery stores in the area too.
No exotic meats but Zoma Ethiopian is pretty good.
Can usually get frog legs or escargot at Edwin's. Maybe rabbit too.
Szechaun Gourmet is hands down the best Chinese restaurant in the whole city.
Kind of an odd claim considering how many different cuisines China has. Cantonese food is totally different cuisine than Sichuan and Cleveland has a couple of really good spots for it - Emperor's Palace and Gourmet Wonton.
Also most Chinese immigrants I've met consider Sichuan Hot Pot better Sichuan food. Szechuan Gourmet is good but many dishes can taste too similar, they clearly have a delicious spicy base that they use for for everything. Fine if you're just ordering a dish or two but when you order 3-4 dishes and they all taste nearly the same it's a little disappointing.
I always get 4-5 dishes and havenât had an issue with variety of flavor! Just depends on what you order. Emperorâs Palace is def my fav Cantonese style food but EP offers dishes from other regions (for example they have Ma Po tofu, a Sichuan dish) and Szechuan Gourmet has non Sichuan dishes so I thought it was most appropriate to be general and say Chinese instead of specifying a region. There are other restaurants with more Sichuan-forward menus than Szechuan Gourmet.
Ah, we always ordered their spicy Sichuan dishes at Szechuan Gourmet - usually we'll order the type of dishes a restaurant specializes in. Got any recommendations to check out? Looks like they have some new stuff since we last went.
In general we stick to the best dishes from each restaurant rather than a one-stop shop - it's not uncommon I'll be sent to three different restaurants to grab different takeout dishes by my Chinese wife, so definitely down to grab something different at Szechuan Gourmet next round.
Chinese restaurants in general have a problem with scope - they try to please everyone and have tons of options when they really only specialize in a portion of their menu.
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