Dishes worth effort of finding

Sea cucumber, sesame cocktails, frog legs—yum

I’ve tried some not-so-common foods in my lifetime, especially when writing about food. There’s not much I won’t at least try (I have eaten things like chicken hearts, cow tongue, duck feet, crickets, among others). If you can get past what the dish originally was, you’ll find the dishes, often considered delicacies in other cultures, are tasty. The Capital Region is full of different menu items that seem unusual at first glance or not-so-traditional dishes that you never thought to try, but they ’re certainly worth pointing out.

Ala Shanghai Chinese Cuisine

468 Troy- Schenectady Road, Latham

Known for their amazing dumpling selection, Ala Shanghai has a delicious menu full of different options, including savory homemade ice cream. But what brought me here was the sea cucumber, a marine animal classified as a echinoderm like a starfish or sea urchin. The restaurant gets them shipped from South America and Africa dried, so it’s important to give them three days notice for the dish, so it’s plump enough to cook. The texture is somewhat like gelatin and the taste of the sea cucumber is basically a plain canvas, acting as a flavor sponge for whatever you cook it with. Ala Shanghai cooks it with real, not canned, bamboo along with mushrooms to soak up their brown sauce, which was salty and savory. I was expecting the dish to have more of a texture like squid — slightly rubbery and maybe even a little tough — so I was shocked to see how soft it was.

Hamlet & Ghost

24 Caroline St., Saratoga Springs

Not quite as out there as some things like duck feet, but sesame in cocktails isn’t something you see everyday. They have a nice selection of regular cocktails and even offer a $2 discount on hot toddies when it’s raining, but they often incorporate new seasonings, spices and ingredients into their cocktail menu to make drinks that are colorful and flavorful, a hit above the average bar. The sesame Old Fashioned starts with Nikka From The Barrel whisky. It’s then brought to life with some nutty, mildly sweet sesame and yuzu, an Asian citrus fruit.

Chez Pierre

979 Saratoga Road (Route 9), Gansevoort

During a stay at The Gideon Putnam, we explored Saratoga Springs for the day and then stopped for a dinner at Chez Pierre. Chez Pierre is the perfect place to find authentic French dishes, including frog legs cooked in a delicate garlic butter with translucent shallots and white wine. If you can get past what they are and give them a try, you’ll find that frog legs’ texture and taste slightly resemble chicken, specifically chicken wings.