‘Offbeat’ Archives

Flushing Mall’s Improbable Statue

There are some things in life that can only be elegantly described as "WTF?" This statue (with me hamming it up on the left to convey scale) was found in Queens' Flushing Mall en route to the Flushing Mall Food Court. Photographer Robyn Lee was equally perplexed. Yes. WTF indeed.

Crowdsourcing my blog entries

Hi denizens of the Internet, Asian women, unseemly lovers of Asian women, Harvard students, and their ilk: I want to try something out. Actually, I want you to figure out what I should try out. After all, you know better than me what to do with stale cake, why Chinese food is so damn cheap, why I'm wrong for eating innocent whale flesh, and where to grocery shop in Boston. So I want [...]

Small Asian Girl vs. Pasta From Hell — East Coast Grill’s 100th Hell Night

There are nine circles in Hell, and I am determined to make it to the last, torturous one. I wade through the murk of the river Styx, then step over the cold, bloated bodies that populate the circle of Gluttony. Finally, I make it to the Ninth Circle. The red finger paint on the window reads, "BEWARE: Eat at your own RISK." Sinning souls jockey for space at the bar while yellow strips [...]

Alligator, yak, and ostrich, oh my: Student Prince in Springfield, MA

You will never go to the Student Prince . First off, it's a 90 minute drive away in western Massachusetts - so far off, you might as well be teetering on a fiery lip overlooking the nothingness of the end of the world. Who knows what spiny, lantern-jawed fish are fit to survive so far from Bostonian civilization. But I braved it anyway. I hoped to do the foodie equivalent of resume padding. [...]

Eating Toro’s beef hearts; Ken Oringer

Thinly sliced beef heart at Ken Oringer's Toro. My dining partner was a little apprehensive at first, but pronounced the finished product akin to roast beef - I'd say it's more fine grained. I love how offal can look so innocuous but surprise you with a certain intensity of flavor or texture. Like their sweetbreads - my first, actually. I'll post pictures of those later. I got into an [...]

Tony Maws’ Fried Pigs’ Tails at Craigie on Main, Cambridge

Despite ordering very, very little at Craigie on Main (a cocktail and splitting an appetizer), my dining companion and I were treated like long lost family. I probably have not been so coddled and swathed in love since I wore Mao-printed onesies as an infant. Despite explicitly only ordering drinks, we sat at a table, had a full bread basket brought to us, and finished off with two [...]

International food porn – Quails on sticks, donkey meat, prawns.

Some underwhelming prawns at Private Kitchen 44 in Beijing. Donkey meat in Beijing at Noodle Loft... like beef, but with a gamier, greasier mouthfeel. (more...)

The Harvard Final Club punch bowl

Sometimes these all-male organizations have parties that serve some kind of mysterious jungle juice that should never be imbibed. Actually, it looks like someone mistook the sink for the toilet... FML. Ok, now back to blogging about chocolate and braised bunny rabbits.

Capsule Review: Yak Butter Tea

Based on a tip by the City Weekend dining editor, I sought out something really exotic for a quick cafe break: yak butter tea. I already had warm and fuzzy feelings attached to yaks since a good friend from high school interned at Shokay, a social entrepreneurship startup that sells luxury goods made from yak down. I wondered if the strangely adorable creatures produced tasty beverages as [...]

Weird Eats: Bull penis and live scorpions. Also, Starbucks coffee.

My sojourn to Beijing was marked mostly by my daily (nay, twice daily) visits to the altar of that is holy in the Middle Kingdom: Starbucks, charmingly translated/transliterated as "星巴克" (xing ba ke). There, I soothed my cultureshock embattled soul with endless tall iced coffees; occasionally, I'd spring for a muffin or biscotti, which tasted excruciatingly American. It was like imbibing a [...]

Lingbo eats bull balls: THE VIDEO.

So in celebration of my homecoming to the magical, wonderful country that is the United States of America (sing it, sister!), I post this video. I edited it while sitting next to a smelly, discontented woman on a 12 hour flight. This flight also involved me being convinced I had boarded the wrong plane, since I got on and woke up in Shanghai rather than Los Angeles. Oh no, I cried, then went [...]

Balls!

I got an email from my waiter at KO Prime which began, "hey! the eagle as landed." I have only tomorrow night to eat the dish that I suggested (artfully prepared bull testicles), and I'd love, nay, require some adventurous company. Harvard and Bostonian friends, let me know if you're up for it: lingboli fas.harvard.edu

I eat brains; there is a video.

Your tentacles do not impress me

I don't understand why guys who try to impress me with strange they've eaten will often say they've tried squid/calamari. That is a little like saying they've had bone in chicken for the first time. Just because it has tentacles, honey, doesn't make you an adventurous eater. (Also, don't ever google image "tentacles." I warned you. Don't do it!)

Testicles.

So after my food column debut in the Crimson (a day in Chinatown), I have a few other columns in the works. I think one of my favorite kinds of food adventures is the complete gross-out. Which is why I need to know if you know where to get testicles. Not frozen ones from the supermarket. Because I can't really cook, and I'd like to give testicular-induced culinary joy its best shot. So pray [...]