    |
||
      |
||
    |
||
 |
||
|
||
|
|
||
|
|
|||||||||||||||
| Friday May 09, 2008 |
Email This Page To A Friend! |
Flynn Of The Orient Meets The Cobra
|
|
JAKARTA, INDONESIA - One of the specialty restaurants in Jakarta is named "King Cobra." Its main menu attraction is, you guessed it, King Cobra. I had heard about this place (actually there's a chain of five of them in Jakarta) for months and was anxious to give it a try. This is partly due to a policy of mine in ordering from any restaurant menu: if I see something on the menu that would have tried to take a bite out of me if it had had the chance, I immediately order it to aid in my species' survival.
Anyway, my friend Raif, who is first secretary at the Turkish Embassy, was already acquainted with the restaurant and agreed to serve as my guide and consultant. The menu is fairly broad offering a variety of snakes as well as lizards, bats, monkeys and who knows what else. (This is where the good part starts.) Cobra blood has long been recognized as a general stimulant and health aid. There was a recent newspaper report that men in Thailand regularly drink it to prevent contracting AIDS. It is also claimed to be a powerful aphrodisiac. Whatever.
So we enter the restaurant, which consists of exactly four tables, each of which can seat four people. Except for the staff working there, the place was empty. (I later learned that we had actually come after closing time, 9 P.M., but we must have had that lean and hungry look that cannot be denied, so they let us in.) Upon Raif's request we were escorted back to the snake cages where there were at least three types of cobras: Black Cobra, White Cobras and King Cobras (you know, the ones with the hoods). We were told that a drink of Black Cobra costs the equivalent of US$5.00, White Cobra is US$7.50, and King Cobra is US$125.00. The last seemed a little steep for a single small drink, so I settled for a shot of White Cobra. That's when the action started.
With my aperitif behind me, I could concentrate on the food items that were now brought to the table. We shared plates of deep-fried cobra and python satay (like a shishkabob with a spicy peanut sauce). These were pretty tasty.
The cobra blood cocktail definitely had a mildly stimulating effect, although I probably dampened it a bit with the several beers I drank both before and after. I personally don't think there's any connection, but that night I had a constant and irresistible urge to stick out my tongue about every 15 seconds, and I had a dreadful nightmare about being made into a pair of shoes.
Fabulous Travel Book Recommendations
For
tips on adventurous eating the world over, plus information on unique customs
and dining etiquette, be sure to check out Richard Sterling's fabulous book
The Fearless Diner. Click
for more information or to order through Amazon.com.