This is one of those places

Let me begin with a public service announcement - when someone asks for suggestions on which appetizers to order, you might want to suggest a few ideas and not leave it up to others with more adventurous palets and iron-clad stomachs to decide.

That said, some of the best parts of traveling are skipping past the fast food joints and national chains and discovering where the locals dine, where you get totally unique tastes and flavors in only that particular restaurant and nowhere else. There's a little Basque restaurant in Fresno that's exactly one of those wonderful local places.

After hearing mention from several people about "the little Basque place" we knew we had to find it and see if the food was really as amazing as the mouth-watering stories we'd been told. Deciding on an entree wasn't easy. There were so many really yummy options. Finding the perfect sides and appetizers, however, proved interesting. Someone spied the pickled tongue and the rest was history.

This same someone ordered not one, not two, but three plates of pickled cow's tongue! Oh my. I knew I'd have to try it. No one would let me live it down if I didn't. The plates came out and were passed with much anticipation and trepidation down and around the table. No one seemed to want to take very much and it seemed everyone rather hoped the others would take more but didn't want to say anything.

Oh yeah. That's my plate. And yes, that's pickled tongue sitting there on my plate next to my fork, staring back at me, daring me to take the first bold bite. *gulp* The night stood still right then and there as each one of us went around the table and sampled the tongue, cheering on the others one by one. I didn't really know what to expect, however I didn't think it would be that cold or that slimy. I think I might have involuntarily shuddered when I swallowed and discovered the faded gray color of the tongue directly correlated with a texture I can't even begin to adequately describe. Now that I've eaten it fair and square once, I definitely know this was my first, last and only time to sample that particular specialty.

So now that I've regaled you with the one tiny detail of the meal I didn't like as well as the rest, let me tell you a bit about the real delicacy of Basque dining. The rest of the evening was a lot of fun and the main courses filled the table one after another. The many side dishes flowed 'round while we ate and laughed, sampled a lot of this, some of that, and definitely agreed this little Basque restaurant was a great pick. The crowd favorites of the night were the beef stew and calamari steak. I'd go back in a heartbeat anytime. Just don't order any tongue appetizers for me. I'll save room for the real good stuff I know's coming with the main course a little later.