Tempted to step outside your culinary comfort zone and put a little thrill on your plate?
For some, ingredients like insects and offal are irresistible delicacies; for others, they are strictly off-limits.
From fried alligator bites to blood stew, these eight gastronomic rarities are edible adventures waiting to be discovered.
Civet Coffee
(Akkharat Jarusilawong/ CanvaGetty Images)
Kopi luwak, or civet coffee, is one of the world’s most expensive brews. When civets—small, catlike mammals native to Asia—eat ripe coffee cherries, the beans inside them pass through their digestive system. When they make it back out through the rear door, the beans are collected, cleaned, roasted, and brewed. Connoisseurs prize the finished coffee for the exceptionally smooth, mildly bitter cup it brews.Take the caffeine-fueled adventure at Kopi Kita in the Marina or pick up a bag of kopi luwak beans for home brewing from the Castro Coffee Company.
// Kopi Kita, 1443 Lombard St. (Marina), beanekacoffee.com; Castro Coffee Company, 427 Castro St. (Castro), shop.castro-coffee.com
Alligator
(Courtesy of Sharky's Chicken & Fish)
Getting a taste of unfamiliar food doesn’t always require a journey to a far-flung destination. The bayous of the American South have long offered their own wild pantry of bold flavors—and few are more thrilling than alligator. Putting an apex predator on your plate may sound like a dare, but the meat is mild, lean, and often compared to chicken with a faintly fishy edge. At Cajun House, it arrives fried and crisp. In Vacaville, Sharky’s Chicken & Fish offers alligator plates and po’boys.
// Cajun House, 308 5th Ave. (Inner Richmond), cajunhouseca.com; Sharky’s Chicken & Fish, 1490 Alamo Dr. (Vacaville), vacaville.sharkyschickenandfish.com
Duck Embryo (Balut)
Balut at Abacá
(Angelo Santa Cruz)
In the Philippines, balut is classic late-night street food: a warm fertilized duck egg cooked in its shell, first sipped for its savory broth, then eaten with salt, vinegar, or chile. The yolk is creamy, the broth deeply savory, and the texture is part of the appeal. At Abacá, chef Francis Ang gives balut a stylish secret-menu treatment with fried balut, duck broth, and crisp duck skin. For the at-home version, find ready-to-heat balut at Seafood City in Daly City.
// Abacá, 2700 Jones St. (Fisherman’s Wharf), restaurantabaca.com; Seafood City, 1420 Southgate Ave. (Daly City), seafoodcity.com
Grasshoppers
(Marcos Elihu Castillo Ramirez/Canva Getty Images)
Chapulines—toasted, seasoned grasshoppers—are a Oaxacan specialty with an earthy, nutty flavor and a satisfyingly crisp bite, usually brightened with chile, lime, and salt. Start in San Francisco at La Oaxaqueña, where they are tucked into tacos. In downtown San Jose, Mezcal serves sautéed chapulines with garlic, lime, salt, guacamole purée, and corn tortillas.
// La Oaxaqueña, 2128 Mission St. (Mission), laoaxaquenaca.com; Mezcal, 25 W. San Fernando St. (San Jose), mezcalsj.com
Frog Legs
Fried frog legs at Angler
(Courtesy of Angler)
Frog legs are a French classic, not a French dare—but many Americans may beg to differ. The Bay Area offers a couple of different ways to try them. At Angler, frog legs are fried and paired with cardamom crème fraîche, while La Gare in Santa Rosa serves traditional cuisses de grenouilles. The meat is tender and delicate, with a mild flavor often compared to chicken.
// Angler, 132 The Embarcadero (Embarcadero), anglerrestaurants.com; La Gare, 208 Wilson St. (Santa Rosa), lagarerestaurant.com
Blood
Asado mixto with morcilla at Lolinda
(Courtesy of Lolinda)
Blood takes deliciously different forms. French boudin noir is a richly spiced, deeply savory blood sausage; at Lolinda, the food Argentinians call morcilla is house-made and cooked over wood fire. Filipino dinuguan—sometimes called “chocolate meat” though it contains no chocolate—is a dark, tangy pork-blood stew enriched with vinegar, garlic, and chiles, and traditionally eaten with rice. Find it at Chibog in Daly City.
// Lolinda, 2518 Mission St. (Mission), lolindasf.com; Chibog, 2055 Gellert Blvd. (Daly City), chibogrestaurant.com.
Durian
Durian custard bao at Palette Tea House
(Courtesy of Palette Tea House)
Meet the fruit infamous enough for its odor to be banned from public transportation in Singapore. Durian, Southeast Asia’s “king of fruits,” has sweet, custard-like flesh beneath a formidable spiky shell—and an aroma so powerful that people describe it as anything from ripe cheese and caramelized onions to a gym bag that has had a difficult week. Its devoted fans, however, taste notes of vanilla, almond, banana, and rich cream. The gentlest introduction to it is through dessert. Try it at Palette Tea House, where durian is used in a pillowy custard bao, or at Penang Garden, which serves durian pancakes.
// Palette Tea House, 900 North Point St. (Ghirardelli Square), paletteteahouse.com; Penang Garden, 728 Washington St. (Chinatown), penanggardenrestaurant.gotoeat.net
Chicken Hearts
Coração de frango at Espetus
(Courtesy of @espetus)
In Brazil, chicken hearts—coração de frango—are a churrascaria classic: small, smoky, gently chewy, and far more flavorful than their size suggests. Sabor Gaúcho Prime brings the Brazilian-steakhouse experience to Broadway near Polk, while Espetus serves traditional chicken hearts tableside at its San Francisco and San Mateo locations.
// Sabor Gaúcho Prime, 1500 Broadway (Russian Hill), saborgauchousa.com; Espetus, 1686 Market St. (Hayes Valley) and 710 S. B St. (San Mateo), espetus.com
