Some of us are addicted to Angry Birds, while others enjoy a more cerebral weeklong Words With Friends match, or the lowbrow kick of instantly making our buddies morbidly obese with the FatBooth app. Like the multitude iPhone/Pod/Pad options, there are culinary equivalents to suit every proclivity, situation or need. Apps can be gastronomic teasers, cocktail snacks, a means to impress or a full-on meal. Which app is the "best"? That all depends on what your hungry heart desires.

Beets 2.0

If you identify as a new-school (2.0) foodie, you already know about the reopened Heidi's. Aesthetes will be rendered breathless by this Gustav Klimt painting of an appetizer that presents you with a sweeping magenta puree and perfectly seasoned mini-red and golden beet sandwiches, filled with billowy feta, "24K" carrot buttons, and a glassine parmesan tuille. A pickled shallot sauce adds luscious depth and plays with the flavors of the beets and feta to make one dazzling app masterpiece.

Chile en nogada from Cafe Ena

A roasted Poblano pepper stuffed with grass-fed ground beef, raisins, red onion and braised apples in an apple walnut sauce, drizzled with a pomegranate glaze. It is unexpectedly light and nuanced: sweet, nutty, sumptuous and perfect for feeding to your lover for an intimate Latin American flavor vacation. If Enrique had to try harder, this is precisely the kind of place he'd bring Anna Kournikova.

Japanese television and instrumentals set the stage for this shameless pleasure: a fancy maki roll with salmon tempura, spicy crab meat, eel sauce and spicy mayo. Mount Fuji specializes in fanciful, "French-style" rolls that make girly-girls go ga-ga. It is so sweet and naughty that you don't even need a partner to partake in this titillating reward.

If spring conjures fantasies of bushels of pert produce, then this heaping pile of tender, garlic- and soy-glazed stir-fried green beans will make your dreams come true. They don't appear on their menu, so you'll need to ask for them. This is one of the top authentic Szechuan spots in the area, so consider adding some sweet, lushly chili-oiled Szechuan dumplings ($5.95) or buttery, pork-flecked dan-dan noodles ($4.95) and you have an app sampler built for a Szechuan-loving spring king.

Chaat is an Indian or Pakistani street snack involving rice crisps or chips, garbanzo beans and additional toppings including yogurt, tamarind, coconut and mint chutneys, and mustard seeds. This cornucopia is simultaneously bright, sweet, crunchy, creamy, tart and herbal, generously adorned with cilantro and a mini-corsage of mint. Bring a friend, and welcome yourselves to flavor country.

Come together for a heaping plate of vibrant orange fries, seasoned with kosher salt and accompanied by a silky garlic aioli. They are lovingly executed and dangerously addictive. Duplex offers the perfect patio perch for dining and imbibing while people-watching and being-watched in Uptown.

Prepare to be surprised by this plate of flash-fried tofu cubes, potently seasoned and lounging on a bed of fiery-hot chili peppers and onions. This dish not only does tofu right -- crispy-fried with a custardy interior -- but it will also endow you with a newfound respect for that original tag-team of sassy seasonings: Salt-n-Pepa.

Seared scallops from the Sample Room

The Sample Room is the perfect place to bring a group and order lots of small plates and wine flights, mix-and-match, and discuss. These scallops are tender and adorable, nestled into a squash puree and interspersed with pickled peppers, a delightful violet mustard with pureed raisins, and a sweet plum for good measure. Elk bacon completes this Aesop's fable, and if you close your eyes, I guarantee you will envision a stately elk proudly emerging from the mist, as in a Thomas Kinkade painting. The servers are very nice and helpful in creating your own culinary narrative, but pay no mind to Sir Walter Raleigh's smug visage from behind the bar, because he is really in no position to judge.

Order a pitcher of Spaten and a round of these dense, piquant balls. Smear them with the Forest's lip-smacking, Bavarian-style, coarsely ground mustard. Whatever you do, make sure there are enough balls for all. You definitely don't want to leave anyone hangin'.

When the existential stirrings strike, grab your tattered Nabokov paperback, and head to this Cathedral Hill institution for a hearty bowl of beet, potato, cabbage and dill-laden borscht. Add a snort of horseradish-infused vodka and ruminate. Na zdorovie!

The Devil's Eggs from the Strip Club

These are not the Holly Homemaker variety of deviled egg -- the renegades at the Strip Club are the kind of guys who love Jameson with their brunch. These devils are piped with a pretty but potent curry/chili oil/scallion mixture, and some are rebelliously dyed Manic Panic pink with pickled beet juice. Ask Ryan to mix you a libation (try "The Deceiver") and prepare to be thrilled.

Impress Granny with a Jonathan Swift quote ("He was a bold man that first ate an oyster!") while hoping that the bivalves' purported aphrodisiac effects and Sea Change's sustainable seafood philosophy will work their magic on your date. Allow Danny, the nicest barman in the oyster biz, to school you on the nuances of brine and the East vs. West coast mollusk rivalry while you sit enveloped by sea-foam greens and glimmering grays. Did you know there is a serious 2Pac vs. Biggie rivalry over which coast produces the tastiest mollusks? My fave, the Big Rock, an East Coast gangsta, is lightly briny and ends with a comforting warm-bread flavor and aroma, deliciously complemented with a jalapeño sauce.

This fantasy toast is laden with bison sausage, currants, pecans and black coffee, and will make you feel like you're sitting on a crocheted afghan next to a fireplace in a maple- and cinnamon-scented log cabin. Bonus: dense homemade peanut butter, blackberry-ginger jam and blood orange marmalade condiments.

Members of the foodie undead can be placated here. And it's not the whole brain, just a perfectly spiced, crispy-crusted lobe, exactingly complemented by cherry tomato confit and garlic, with a taste that is creamy and vaguely reminiscent of seafood. Chef Sameh Wadi's understanding of spice is enchanting and rare, and the bar will transport your palate to even more far-flung Mediterranean locales with unique, spice- and herb-infused cocktails. Come for the brains, stay for everything else.

Lyle's has a long list of shockingly cheap but perfectly respectable apps, including tacos, myriad "bytes" and everything in between. The crispy, salty, deep-fried green beans with ranch ($1) provide an ironic juxtaposition of green vegetable and deep-fried solace. My fantasy shotgun-wedding reception would be held at Lyle's, and I would order the entire happy-hour app menu for $19.75, monopolize the juke and go completely buck-wild. Sigh.

Vege-Sampler from Fasika

Dazzle yourself with a platter of Ethiopian delights cradled on injera-fermented, pleasingly sour spongy bread. Use your finger-utensils to mop up bitter greens, curried vegetable stew, and tangy lentil and split-pea dishes laced with smoky berebere.