STEPH DEROSA: SLOW BURN >>>

Grilled Tiger Prawns with Spicy Cucumber Salsa
Maxwell’s Speakeasy +Lounge
Price: $11
Burn Factor: Three out of four Molotov cocktails

Usually I feel nothing but intense delight when cute men tease me. Add cute men teasing me with delicious food, and I want to go berserk. Add to that the effects of mass wine consumption and what you have here, people, is nothing but a disastrous conglomeration of my female hormones. Last time this happened: Broadway Center’s annual fund-raiser Star Chefs on Broadway last Sunday.

Maxwell’s Speakeasy + Lounge represented with delicious and unlimited samples of what fine menu items one could normally find on their regular menu. In this specific instance, I took a keen liking to what Maxwell’s cute men were dishing out in the form of roasted duck leg atop baby endive alongside the big burn this week: Grilled Tiger Prawns with Spicy Cucumber Salsa.

I know what you’re thinking. You see the word “cucumber” and assume the flavor to be calm, cool, and collected. FALSE. This dish is quite deceptive with its hidden unmentionable spice. I asked the cute male servers, and no, it’s not jalapeno. The flavorful fire is different, scrumptious, and a sneaky slow burn.  This is now my new favorite dish, one that I plan on ordering in its traditional form â€" as an appetizer plate of skewered prawns at Maxwell’s Speakeasy +Lounge.

Here’s to hoping those cute servers will be just as spicy as the grilled prawns they serve.

[Maxwell’s Speakeasy + Lounge, 454 St. Helens Ave., Tacoma, 253.683.4115