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Is this your first planned visit to the city of Phoenix? Are you maybe a long time resident wishing to refresh your romance with your town? What better way than to take yourself out on a dinner date with the place?

Well, if you were hoping for meticulous reviews of the finest diners, sorry to disappoint you, pal. Where is the adventure in that? Nope, we are just going to tickle your palate! If you find yourself drawn to any of these whack ideas, use your 21st century powers and map your own cuisine safari.

So sit tight, as today we are exploring the best selection of the weirdest, most outlandishly creative, and potentially scary dishes that you can find in this fine town. How about some rattlesnake as your afternoon snack? Dare to try it?

What you get: exactly what you just read. This dish is made from pig cheeks (smoked and braised) with Sriracha, kimchi (salted and fermented vegetables with seasoning), and pickled peppers. Of course, if you are going to buy something called “pig face” you would expect to get something special for your money, right?

Right! The pig cheeks are actually prepared very attentively. First they get cured, then smoked, then braised for a whole night, so they end up quite tender. Somewhat surprisingly, the texture of the filling is a lot like a pâté, which you can read some more about in this article. Also, the accompanying items tend to be purely in-house made, so you can definitely expect a unique treat.

Do not be fooled by the name “calf fries” here, folks. In fact, do not be fooled by any of the other fluffy names either: swinging beef, beef tendergroin, cowboy caviar... and the most obvious hint of them all, “bovine family jewels”! Yup, these are calf testicles we are talking about.

What you get is bite-sized pieces of a calf’s testicles. They are breaded with seasoned flour and Panko and then deep-fried. Fresh lemon and some cocktail sauce complete the serving.

Believe it or not, testicles of various animals are a common dish worldwide, including those of lambs, turkeys, bulls, sheep, goats, roosters, and many others.

Hot dogs are the single most iconic baseball food that you can ever find, but what do you get when you take the traditional hot dog and hurl it completely over the top? Well, in a word, epicness.

What you get: a bomb mixture. Hamburgers are char-grilled, then ground up and mixed with other ingredients. These include smoked bacon, Cheddar cheese, dill pickles, and green onion. Milk and some seasoned flour are used as breading for the deep fry. This awesome dog is served on the classic hot dog bun, along with a generous serving of diced tomato, shredded iceberg lettuce, house-made sauce, and more smoked bacon.

What makes this dish so special is that each single dog takes three days to make. The initial mix sits in the fridge for 34h, then it is shaped into dogs on day 2. Then they chill in a freezer for another 24h before the breading is done.

So, here is a larger dish that more than one of you can enjoy. It brings together the time-true American pot pie concept, the luxurious lobster, and a tingling presentation – all packed in a nice and simple preparation process.

What you get: you get a Maine lobster, two whole pounds of it. It is accompanied by lobster cream (truffle brandied), and a tasty assortment of springtime vegetables. This mix is then baked under a bread crust in a proper copper pot, and the whole covered deliciousness is brought to the table to be unraveled before your eager eyes.

Now, you might be wondering why a copper pot is a point here, why not a regular stainless steel one. There is actually science behind it, so here is a handy starting point for learning about reactive and non-reactive cookware: https://whatscookingamerica.net/Q-A/ReactivePan.htm

 

What you get: well, rattlesnake. More precisely, the loin meat of the rattlesnake, lightly breaded and deep-fried. It comes with croquettes made from cheddar potato and jalapeño, pickled jalapeños that have also been deep-fried, and a creamy ranch dressing based on buttermilk.

This dish is served as an appetizer. You might think that snake meat is not something a lot of people would gladly start their meal with, but the truth is that it behaves much like other game meat. The taste is actually described as fairly similar to chicken.

After all of this, though, your appetite for adventure may have dropped just a little. In that case, a finer downtown restaurant might be a better choice. If so, fear not! Even with its impressive selection of excessively creative and downright weird dishes, Phoenix is still a place of awesome “regular” food, and also a haven for wine lovers and beer enthusiasts of all preferences.

So, why not wrap up your visit to this land of odd gourmet with a nice visit to a standard eatery with a more classical menu? It can be a perfect way to go back to your less outlandish meal habits. No need to freak out your family by bringing rattlesnakes home, right? After all, it is an acquire