Kat and Steven Page try brain quesadillas on The Illegal Eater

Today I met Steven Page, former singer of The Barenaked Ladies, to shoot an episode for his new reality TV show "The Illegal Eater", which premiers this fall on the Canadian Network Travel+Escape. 

Steven Page and Kat of Weird Food Club

We met at La Superior, a Mexican restaurant in Williamsburg, to try some pork brain quesadillas (sesadillas), beef tongue tacos (tacos de lengua), and a Mexican corn dish called esquites. Since March Steven has been traveling throughout the US and Canada to try unusual and illegal foods, some cooked in speakeatery style restaurants.  In this episode of Illegal Eater, Steven and I chat about indulgence in food, and how extreme and bizarre foods, like balut or live octopus, can be a form of indulgence.

La Superior's taco de lengua, sesadilla, and esquites (photo by Nacxitl)

As we ate our brain quesadillas, our conversation took us to the fact that all parts of the animals could be eaten, including bull penis and testicles. When I asked him if he’s ever had Rocky Mountain oysters, Steven joked that he’s never eaten testicles, at least not ones detached from the shaft.

I had a really great time with Steven. He’s a down to earth, fun and adventurous guy with a great sense of humor. I was seriously impressed by his ability to improvise, one of his signature traits that made Barenaked Ladies famous.

To follow Steven Page on his adventure, like the The Illegal Eater on facebook.

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Bull Penis (Kenka, 22 St. Marks Pl)

Kenka in the middle of St. Marks Pl is probably the best of the tourist-friendly yet quintessentially New York places for the adventurous eater. You'll know you're in the right place when you see the gigantic statue of a Japanese raccoon dog (Tanuki) with huge testicles and blinking light-bulb eyes outside the restaurant. The giant testicles definitely set the course of the night down a certain theme, for we came to the place to sample their most famous dish -- Bull Penis.



Alcohol tends to help with the touching of penises of any species, so we started off with huge mugs of Sapporo and sake. We had quite a large group at Kenka. Believe me, when you eat Penis, you want witnesses - so I recommend going here with a group of good-hearted friends, rather than a date... unless you want it to become more awkward than it probably already is. :-P

Our own Kenka expert Kai (former Kenka employee) recommended specifying that you want bull penis "with the head" when you order. I assume that the bull penis is so big, that you could potentially get a piece that doesn't have it??!

In terms of taste, my fellow adventurous eater Alex said: "It tastes like a blow job covered in sauce." So think of that next time you try bull penis. The restaurant also has a cotton candy making machine outside, so if bull penis is not your idea of dessert, you can always have pure sugar.

The best part about bull penis and Kenka in general, is that it is very affordable: $5 beers, $5.50 penis.



Rating (1-10)
Presentation: 7 (Decent. If they presented the penis on a silver plate with shavings of gold, I'd give it a 10)
Taste: 6 (mostly tastes like sauce)
Texture: 8 (cartilage)
Price: $5.50
Will I eat it again? Yes, but not for nutritional purposes. Continue...