Mark’s Score 9.3
Given its small size, Bethany has an impressive number of very good restaurants, 14 Global is one of the best. Not just in Bethany but in all of the Delmarva. I don’t rate it as the best restaurant on the peninsula but it does have, by far, the most interesting menu. In an area where it seems every restaurant serves, pizza, BBQ, crab, burgers, and or tacos. It is refreshing to walk into a restaurant and read an interesting menu serving innovative dishes. This restaurant should be on everyone’s short list for that reason alone.
Tia Sexton, the owner, wanted to create a restaurant that served food with “bold flavors, tantalizing textures, and ingredients from around the world,” while creating interesting beverages that complemented the “eclectic” menu. This is one restaurant that more than accomplishes its goal.
This restaurant is foremost a tapas restaurant, so I always order from the “shared plates” menu. This is where you will find the most interesting plates, dishes such as duck sliders, octopus charsiu, and speck wrapped rabbit. When was the last time you saw rabbit on the menu, let alone speck wrapped rabbit? I would provide a list of my favorite dishes, but then I would just be replicating the menu. In my view, one of the reasons you go out to eat is to try dishes you would never make yourself. If you go to restaurants to try something different, you cannot make a better choice than 14 Global.
When we visited Bethany at Thanksgiving last year, this was the restaurant at the top of my list. I ordered from the “shared plates” menu, but in my enthusiasm, I ordered seven dishes. I took us the remainder of our stay to get through all the food. But I have no regrets, seven dishes and every single one was exceptional. I am especially fond of their crispy cauliflower. On that occasion it was the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving, and given that we had our dog with us I ordered take away.
It was a cold damp November evening, though I rarely drink spirits I decided that I would order a cocktail. The very helpful bartender suggested that I order “The Dragon” to warm me up. The drink is aptly named, as it is garnished with a habanero pepper, and you most certainly can taste the pepper in the drink itself. I don’t know if I would order that drink again, but there were only four other people in the restaurant that night and it became a topic of conversation. So, it made for an occasion, here were five strangers away from home on a cold November evening during a traditional family holiday, discussing a cocktail. That is the thing about bars, they are a place to escape the elements and share a story or two with complete strangers. I walked in cold and alone and walked out warm and happy. Can you ask anymore of life or a restaurant, for that matter?
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