Alligator Tail from Crazy Cajun - $9.95

125 Inverness Plaza, Birmingham, AL - (205) 408-0630

This is just as its name implies - fried alligator tail. You know that phrase, "tastes like chicken?" Well, that applies here, HOWEVER, it chewed like calamari... weeeeiiird.

Spicy Sour Calamari from Lao Sze Chuan - $5.95

1331 West Ogden Avenue, Downers Grove, IL - 630.663.0303

I ate this back in December so I kind of took a stab at the name of the dish. I also don't clearly remember the taste. I know, I know, this is a really useful post.

However, I think my sister and I thought it was the best dish we ordered that day. Hope that counts for something.

Pinang Satay Beef from Pinang Asian Cuisine - $8.00

218 Louviers Drive, Newark, DE - 302.368.2298

The online description is "Marinated chicken or beef skewers, jicama and bean sprouts with shrimp pancake, sliced tofu, hardboiled eggs and chef's special sauce."

Obviously, that description doesn't match up with the picture because it's missing a lot of items (basically, everything listed between the beef skewers and the chef's special sauce). I ordered this dish about six months ago, so either they changed the item since then, or they completely messed up my order. I really hope I didn't pay $8.00 for this measly appetizer, even if it did taste very good, but I WOULD reconsider paying that much if I received everything on that list.

Anyway, the beef has a peanut-buttery taste to it, of which I am very fond, hence, my love for Thai food. So if I were taking only the food quality into account, I would rate this as a very good appetizer.

Shrimp Toast from Lao Sze Chuan - $5.95

1331 West Ogden Avenue, Downers Grove, IL - 630.663.0303

Here's a yummy little Chinese appetizer. It's essentially a fried dumpling with shrimp inside. I liken it to a Chinese shrimp-flavored version of Burger King's French toast sticks - probably because of the texture. Nothing particularly fancy about this item.

Prosciutto-Wrapped Shrimp from Riva - ???

2020 Calamos Court, Naperville, IL - (630)718-1010

I ate this a long time ago so I don't quite remember its exact name or its price. I DO recall that it was tasty, but bordering the I'm-not-sure-it's-worth-the-price mark. Riva is a classier joint though, so I'm a bit more forgiving.

Aussie Trio from Matilda's Pub & Barbie - $12.99

801 South College Avenue, Newark, DE - 302.737.4800

"An awesome trio of Emu, coconut prawns, and Roo, served with three sauces: sesame ginger, teriyaki sauce, and manga salsa."

Okay, first look at the food. Then look at the price. Now look at the food again. If you're anything like me, then your brain just went, "Really? Is that all I get for $13?"

This appetizer was disappointing in almost about every way thinkable. I say "almost" because the coconut prawns' flavor wasn't bad. However, you'd think an animal the size of a kangaroo or an emu would be able to produce more meat than this. Give me some pouch or thigh for crying out loud!

Even if you put the size factor aside and judge the quality only, you'll still be let down. Had one of the skewers tasted okay, I might have cared to find out which skewer was which animal. But no, the meat was tough, dry and flavorless, so now I know to avoid them both.

Beef Patty from D&H Jamaican Cuisine - $1.75

748 East Chestnut Hill Road, Newark, DE - 302.896.8826

There are just three words you need to know about this appetizer: ox tail gravy. This is just a beef patty deep-fried in batter, but then you drown that sucker in some ox tail gravy and you've got yourself a winner. I don't believe there is such a thing as "too much ox tail gravy" so go nuts. And if you have leftovers after you finish the patty, dump it on your entree. My coworker and I go so far as to get another bowl of oxtail gravy on the side to make sure our food is submerged.

How would I describe it? Meaty, oily, and yummy. I honestly can't explain it better than that. Just give it a try if you run across it and you'll see what I mean.

Roti Telur from Pinang Asian Cuisine - $5.00

218 Louviers Drive, Newark, DE - 302.368.2298

Roti Telur is a traditional Indian pancake filled with egg, onion, served with curry chicken and potato dipping sauce.

I like the eggy bread, but there's too much onion for my tastes. The dip is good too, but with the flimsy eggy bread, it's hard to grab any dip without it falling off. This was an interesting venture, but I don't believe I'll be ordering this one again.

Flaming Saganaki Cheese from Greek Island - $5.50

200 South Halsted Street, Chicago, IL - (312) 782-9855

Even if you don't have a taste for cheese, this appetizer might still be worth an order for the little show. After deep frying this imported Greek cheese in the kitchen, the server will come out and flambé the cheese tableside and shout "OPAA!" Apparently, that practice originated at the restaurant next door to Greek Island so it's more of a Chicago touch than it is a Greek custom.

As for the cheese itself, instead of consuming it while it's soft and gooey, I liked it better when it cooled to a slight firmness which also made it easier for cutting too. To give you an idea of what it was like, I'd say it's similar to a very lightly battered & fried mozzarella.

Fish Tacos from Ping Pong - $8

3322 North Broadway Street, Chicago, IL - (773)281-7575

These fish tacos are made with tuna tempura, lime-avocado, and guacamole. This is one of those chic restaurants that puts more weight into the appearance of the dish than its quality. That isn't to say the food is bad, but for one thing, these places tend to serve smaller portions. Boo.

That said, these tacos were probably the messiest tacos I've ever eaten. The sauce could've used more kick, because that was the main reason for the mess and I don't
recall any taste to it to make that fiasco worthwhile.

The overall taste was bland especially considering its fancy appearance, and although there was nothing terribly wrong about the dish, I would probably never opt to order it again.

Mega Fries from Amore - $5.99

430 Old Baltimore Pike, Jenmar Plaza, Newark, DE - (302)369-1600

This may sound pricey for some fries, but these things could be a meal in itself. It's fries covered in a blend of cheddar and mozzarella cheese and mixed with bacon bits.

My one complaint is that the fries stick together so much that even eating them with a fork doesn't help much. Also, as with all fries, be sure to eat them before they get soggy.

Crab Rangoons from Taste Of China - $3.95

1228 Capitol Trail, Newark, DE - (302)368-2100

On the face of it, there's nothing too unique about these crab rangoons. It's just fried fake crab and cream cheese.

Although, I've noticed that around these parts, instead of crab rangoons, a lot of places sell fried cheese instead, which is crab rangoons minus the crab. So when you take that into consideration, these become just a little more special.

Mien Kam

Ingredients.

While the name bears strong similarity to Adolf Hitler's book (just a character flip and 2 letters short), this here is not a German dish. It's a Thai appetizer.



The ingredients, clockwise from the top, spiraling into the center, are: dried shrimp, mint leaves, diced lime, cili padi (a very very spicy chili), chopped lemongrass, diced onion, toasted dried coconut and finally, roasted peanuts. The 2 missing ingredients from the photo is the sauce and the leaves that you use to wrap all this with, both of which I do not know the name.

Before the fold.

What you do is grab one of the heart-shaped leaves, fold it into a cone (if you cannot imagine how then you suck at origami) and drop a bit of each of these ingredients in, along with a dollop of the unknown sauce. For the purpose of this shot I did not roll the leaf into a cone (this is now sounding like a drug blog), but what happens after that is you just roll the cone up and eat it whole.

Apparently the original dish does not include mint leaves. That's something my mom added in, and it works well too, considering that this is a very raw and uhm... "sharp" tasting appetizer. It's difficult to explain the taste, it's a combination of... zesty, sour, sweet, nutty and very green. You try finding one word to sum all that up.

Parmesan-Crusted Sicilian Quesadillas from TGI Friday's - $8.99

650 South College Avenue, Newark, DE - (302)737-3700

These quesadillas are filled with sautéed chicken, sausage, bruschetta marinara, bacon and Monterey Jack, then pan–fried for crispiness.

Even though this is listed as an appetizer, it tastes so good that my sister often substitutes this as her entrée order. But now that I know about them too, I make her order a different entrée so I can split these with her as an appetizer. Good stuff.

I'll try to take note of the price next time I go and then update this post.

No Fire Peppers from Red Robin - $7.79

101 W Main St, Christiana, DE 19702 - (302)455-9000

No Fire Peppers are jalapeños that have been stuffed with cream cheese and then rolled in a cracker crumb coating. It comes with a side of jalapeño jelly & sour cream for dipping as well.

As the name implies, I couldn't detect any spiciness to the jalapeños both in the peppers themselves and the jelly. The peppers are crunchy on the outside and chewy and creamy on the inside, and tasted mostly like cream cheese. The main attraction is the jalapeño jelly which gives it a light sweetness.

I'd like to note that when I ordered these, our waitress forgot to bring them out. We had to remind her about them once we received our entrées and she said she had forgotten to put in the order. She asked if we still wanted them, and we declined, so she said she would remove it from our bill. HOWEVER, toward the end of the meal, she brought out a box with no fire peppers in it and did not charge us for them because it was their fault, so that was very generous of them. So, I'll be sure to visit there again in the near future because any place willing to own up to their mistakes is worth another visit in my book.