Where to Eat Brains: Five Places for Zombies

By Melissa McCart Thu., Oct. 27 2011 at 9:58 AM

Categories: The List

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Maybe I'm part zombie, but I don't think that eating brains is that big of a deal. My father used to make me eat it as a kid every time we went to a Greek restaurant.

And while living in DC, during Greek Orthodox Easter, Top Cheffer Mike Isabella used to serve lamb brain canapes when he helmed Jose Andres' restaurant, Zaytinya. They were delicious, though not my go-to first course. (During his lambfeast, that was perhaps heart carpaccio.)

Want to try? For Halloween, I've round up five places to eat brains.

5. Transylvania Romanian Restaurant. Three piece veal brains served with country potatoes and garlic, the dish is part of an all you can eat buffet. If you're lucky, these spartan digs are livened up with a show akin to belly dancing.

4. Usmania. As former critic John Linn chronicled, goat brain masala is one of the delicacies at this Pakistani restaurant in Plantation.

3. Taverna Kyma. You'd have to off-menu or ask when the restaurant would have it as a special at this well-regarded Greek restaurant.

2. Michael's Genuine. Pig head pot pie has graced the menu on occasion here. However, anywhere you can get headcheese -- which is ubiquitous when it comes to places that make their own charcuterie (like a Daniel Boulud joint)--you're feasting on brain. Just don't ask to watch the process of boiling a pig's head and picking the meat apart. It is less than delectable.

1. Sea.The delicious soups here are perhaps the most palatable way of eating heads (brains may be a stretch), since the less than desirable parts of a fish are used in making stock.

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