The Strangest Food in RI

We pondered what makes food that is welcomed, food that is strange and food that just seems revolting. Where is the line? Asking friends and readers didn’t reveal any simple answers. The thought of eating doggies disgusts most locals – but pigs, which are arguably at least as smart – bring on the bbq sauce!

So when we tried to find the most exotic, interesting and unusual menu items in the Ocean State, we ruffled a few quail feathers. And, we’re sure, some of these items won’t seem that odd to our more adventurous readers. But we cracked open the edible crickets, tossed back some sasparilla, and built this list of local tastebud ticklers from the far side. Note – eateries do sometimes change their menu items without clearing it with Motif first (I know, can you believe it?!), so not all of these may still be at the stated locations. Certainly, the placenta is not kept in stock at Women & Infants – you have to bring your own.

Among things our readers and food writing staff have tried:

The aforementioned placenta after the birth of a child. It’s a thing. Reportedly, kinda salty.

If that didn’t freak you out, how about some of the flavors available at Newport Jerky (see separate story). Or try a fusion of … Mexican and German, with a Reuben Quesadilla from Blackie’s Bulldog Tavern in Smithfield. Pick up a deep fried pickle while you’re there.

You could go on the sweet side of the weird side – The English Cellar Alehouse has deep fried Oreos that will positively pucker the sweetest sweet tooth. Or try a bee pollen cocktail at The Grange in PVD. Along Narragansett Beach you can find deep fried Twinkies and goodies with nicknames like “the heart attack.” Or try Bing Soo at the Teriyaki and Korean House in downtown PVD. It’s weird, but reportedly amazing: green tea ice cream, red beans, cheesecake bites, topped with shaved almonds and milk.

Peanut butter and jelly hot dogs are sometimes served at the Red Fez, PB & J Wings at PJ’s Pub in Cranston and Julians’ ever-shifting menu of specials has included the classic, people-even-thought-Elvis-was-weird-for-eating-it fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Julians’ specials alone could probably have filled this space. When we asked them what the weirdest thing they ever featured was, they told us, “chicken.”

Alligator tail, served at Tortilla Flats in PVD, tastes a lot like chicken. Order it and inspire debate at your table about whether it’s actually chicken (it’s not).

You’ll never find the same thing twice in the weekly samples offered at the Olive Tap in PVD – but they’re always creative. It’s probably the only place you’re likely to have seen gorgonzola-stuffed donuts rolled in bacon salt (awesome sauce). And speaking of salts …

In sauce form, there are 53 flavors of weirdness at Bonehead Wings in West Warwick, where you can go from “Just a Girl” sauce (mild) to “Hot for Teacher” to “Hell’s Bells,” which won’t “take no prisoners and won’t spare no lives.” Yep, music-themed sauces that aim to make your taste buds dance.

For more meat, look for seared beef heart at North in PVD (at its geographically counter-intuitive location on the West Side). Or try Garibaldi Mexico in PVD for goat tacos. That’s not a euphemism for anything – it’s a taco. They, along with Chilangos in PVD and the California Taco Shop, in both PVD and Pawtucket, also have beef tongue (and sometimes goat tongue) available. So maybe that’s not so weird, although the idea of eating tongue seems mildly incestuous.

You can find chicken feet and other authentically Chinese specialties that seem odd here – along with some of the best vegetable origami/sculpture this side of anywhere – at Phoenix Dragon in PVD (one of Broadway’s best kept secrets). And along similar podiatric lines, frogs’ legs are a hopping item at Los Andes in PVD. Grilled bone marrow sometimes appears at Bacaro in PVD. And if you’re really out for blood, try the blood pudding at Patrick’s Pub in PVD or the blood sausage at Circe’s in PVD.

Foie gras is rare, both because it’s pricey and because it’s controversial, usually involving the force-feeding of geese or ducks to fatten their livers before those livers are served. You can find it at Gracie’s in PVD along with duck liver mousse – or further the animal controversy with crispy veal sweetbreads (sweetbreads can refer to the throat, pancreas or stomach).

Even mobile food can be unexpected – like the quail eggs sometimes found on the Mijos food truck (Check them out on Food Truck Fridays at the carousel in Roger Williams Park).

And, as one out-of-towner reminded your intrepid author, let’s not forget the many things people in RI consider normal that the rest of the world would find … eccentric, from coffee-milk to stuffies, from quahogs to calamari with jalapenos. It’s possible that “weird” may just lie on the tongue of the beholder.

Chase (small):

Thanks to Corey Plante, Jenny Currier, Bre Goldsmith, Eric Weiner, Pete Larrivee, Lisa Coelho Watson, Cait Ardito, Brendan McCaughey, Jennifer Packard, Brett Davey, Sarah Slater Bennett, Rosemary Pacheco, Dale Appel, Erin Balsa, TJ Curran, Dana Goodman, Laura Benjamin, Marilyn Busch, Jeff Folker, Cristina DiChiera and Miranda Nero.