Jason and I were on a mission. We embarked on a trip to try several of the foods we are missing from the food list. It proved to be a very successful journey, and we both were able to check off a lot of the foods we needed to try.

We began by going to Asia Bay in Fort Lauderdale. Our goal was to try some Tom Yum, which turned out to be a great tasting spicy soup. While we were here, Jason also got some sea urchin (uni) since he had yet to try it.

Sea Urchin Sashimi

Coconuts was our next stop, a restaurant on the intracoastal waters. The only reason to go here was to get a couple Bellinis. They were good, but nothing too special. It basically tasted like champagne, with a hint of peach juice. I think this is something we could have easily made ourselves.

Nate Finishing Off A Bellini

The most successful stop was the International Market and Wine Depot. We knew that they had the bacon jam we desired, but we also thought they might have some other fine foods. We ended up getting some black truffle pate, some helix snails, and some dulce de leche. Black truffle was new for both of us, and the snails and dulce de leche were new for me.

International Market Finds

We left Fort Lauderdale and headed towards Hollywood to hit up the Royal India Restaurant. Here we ordered some butter paneer, which was paneer sauteed in a spicy butter sauce. We also picked up some sweet lassi. The lassi really just tasted like yoghurt, but it was good to drink.

Butter Paneer

Also in Hollywood we visited Dragon City, an excellent Chinese restaurant with a magnificent selection of food. We ordered three things, two of which were off our list and one that was a recommendation by the owner. Looking over the menu, there are several other foods that would be great to try at a later date: squab, abalone, shark fin, duck tongues, giant clam, etc.

Marinated Jellyfish

What we did order was pretty good. We got some marinated jellyfish which was cut into strips and was almost like a chewy pasta, and we got some sea cucumber meat with yellow chives. The sea cucumbers were great, and I would definitely order these again given the chance. The third dish we got was a seafood pot, which contained scallops, shrimp, crab, calamari, tofu, and vegetables.

Sea Cucumber With Yellow Chives

We headed back to Jason’s place to take a bit of a break. The journey will continue later this afternoon. To be continued…