rant · moment 4 of 13
Eating Brains at Ali's Kabab Cafe in Astoria
from Day Drinking At Borders · #5
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
4 minTim tells the story of finally visiting the Astoria restaurant featured on Bourdain's show, ordering brain, sweetbreads, liver and kidney, and being disgusted by all of it despite the show's mystique.
- 9:14Tim recalls watching a Bourdain episode featuring Andrew Zimmer at Ali's Kabab Cafe in Astoria, where they ate brains, sweetbreads, and kidneys.
- 10:07He'd wanted to visit the restaurant for years but no one would go with him until he finally went alone between open mics.
- 10:44Bourdain explains to Zimmer that eating organ meats represents thousands of years of culinary knowledge.
- 11:11Tim orders brain, sweetbread, liver, and kidneys, approaching the meal as an open-minded, worldly person rather than being squeamish.
- 11:41The brain tasted like death—he couldn't explain it but felt awful after eating it.
- 11:54Of all the organs, the sweetbreads (intestines) were the best; the liver was mushy and the kidneys tasted like solid piss.
- 12:10He spent sixty dollars on a plate of food he barely ate before realizing each plate cost only fifteen dollars.
Ali's Kabab CafeAnthony BourdainAndrew ZimmernDiners, Drive-Ins and DivesAstoria