Go for escargot

Escargot

IT’S not chicken. It’s not seafood, and it’s not anything you eat regularly. Escargot, a dish of cooked land snails, is served by very few establishments on island.

If you are daring and would eat almost anything, you should enjoy this French delicacy which 360 Revolving Restaurant at the Marianas Business Plaza in Susupe serves as appetizer for $10.

I was hesitant to order escargot because with an imagination as wild as mine, I had already envisioned uniformed chefs on their hands and knees in a swampy area hunting for these slimy creatures but my companion Hapi said we should try the dish.

I thought we would be served a plate of cooked snails with their horns sticking out toward me. I was surprised when an artfully arranged dish on a wooden sizzling tray was set on our table — an appetizing concoction of lightly breaded and fried escargot served with rich garlic butter sauce topped with onion slices and bits of fresh tomatoes, and two slices of garlic toast.

I called my buddy Erwin from the third floor of the building to come up and help me out with the photos, and to try out the dish too. I learned that most restaurants serve escargot in their shells, and provide little pins for the diners to poke the meat out.

Luckily, they don’t do it at  360 Restaurant. At first, we passed the dish around, challenging each other to try it first, until two of the restaurant’s staffers who stopped by our table spooned the escargot and spread it over the garlic toast like any regular sandwich spread, and told us: “We could eat that every single day!”

They said they buy escargot from Australia on a regular basis.

View from the 360 Restaurant. Photo by Erwin Suguitan

“This has become very popular among a lot of diners here,” she said.

Reluctantly, Hapi tried a bite, then two, then three and finally finished the sandwich with escargot filling.

I tried just a tiny bite, chewing ever so slowly while thinking of what to compare the taste with. The dominant flavor of garlic, herb and butter  will take away any apprehensions you may have about escargot.

Try it!

For inquiries,  call 234-3600 or email reservations@360Saipan.com. All major credit cards are accepted at 360 Restaurant.

This article is originally published at Go for escargot | out-to-eat.