The Princess and the Frog Legs

As a young romantic, I always dreamed of kissing my very own frog prince, but eating one is a whole other story. The thought of ingesting a fly-trapping, slimy, marsh-living amphibian was disgusting to me until I discovered the lightly fried frog legs at The Delachaise. This wine bar serves up more than just simple late night bar food.

Delachaise Restaurant Frog Legs. Photo by Jenny Sklar.

Delachaise's frog legs. By Jenny Sklar

This dish is Head Chef RJ Tsarov’s twist on the traditional Buffalo chicken wing. These china-born, buttermilk-battered legs are brined for hours in an herb and citrus mixture that tenderizes the meat. The frog legs receive a deep fried preparation and use an emulsion sauce, exchanging the butter-based Buffalo sauce, for a mayonnaise-based sweet and spicy remoulade. But let me assure you, these are no chicken wings; the whole “it tastes like chicken” saying is deceiving. For some reason, the frog legs taste more like fish when you squeeze on the fresh lemon, which garnishes the plate along with green onion and mixed greens.

I very much enjoy this $10 rare find, but there are some obvious downsides, even for the most adventurous eater. Like their swimming neighbors, frogs have very tiny, sharp bones that can be hard to find until it’s already mid-chew – not attractive for a date setting. Also, frogs have unappealing black veins lining the inside of their tiny bodies. That said, if you are not turned off by these visual features, you will likely enjoy unique meat. The texture is much closer to chicken than fish, each leg filled with tiny morsels of tender meat, practically begging to be ripped off the bone.

I would recommend pairing it with another dish or a glass of wine, as the frog legs can get a little salty after a while if not broken up by some sort of palette cleanser. The Delachaise is a wine bar after all, so you might as well have a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay or any full-bodied white wine, recommended by the sommelier as a pairing for this dish.