no, seriously. i did.





i was on opentable looking for lunch possibilities for friday, and i happened to see that oyamel (a mexican restaurant serving fancified antojitos and authentic tacos) had open reservations for later in the evening. oh really?

cavin and i have a intimate relationship with oyamel's menu. well, at least we did, before they closed back in september. we were confused when at minibar when chef andres mentioned something about how "the crystal city location wasn't working out." we didn't quite understand what he was talking about (it might have had something to do with the amount of wine we were drinking), but a week or so later, i had heard the news that oyamel did indeed close. and, unfortunately, cavin and i did not have the chance to go there one last time before they did.

the good news, though, was that they were to re-open downtown, and even better news was that on thursday we found out about the soft opening (that night) in time to attend.

the space is much smaller than the cc location, but it still had the charming hanging butterflies from the ceiling. it was early, maybe 6pm, and no one was really there yet, though, there were many oyamel employees standing around waiting for a big surge later in the evening. so we opted to sit at the 8-10 seater bar. there is also a 4 seat ceviche bar in the opposite corner of the normal bar, and from the outside (7th & D Streets NW) you can see little plates of ceviche being made.

they are still working out the kinks. an individual order of margarita puts you back $9, yet if you order the pitcher, it's only $30. so if you at least have a partner to drink with and you plan to drink at least 3 drinks between the two of you, you're already getting a steal: the pitcher served around 5-7 drinks for us. and, since cavin and i are both boozers, you can probably guess what we ordered.

we ate things that were on the previous menu like the tuna ceviche, papas al mole (potatoes in mole with creme and sesame seeds), and the carnitas tacos (baby pork tacos topped with crushed chicharron).

they also had things that weren't on the previous menu (well, at least the not the last time we were there): chapulines tacos. oh, and chapulines=grasshoppers.

i was really curious about it, so we decided to order one and split it. i've heard that chapulines are a normal part of the oaxacan cuisine, eating them like pulutan with beer and drinks. i was completely anxious about the entire thing. while the idea of eating it sounded exotic and fun, realistically i knew frightening and strange would be a better way to describe it.

when i was first living on my own after college, crickets (which are in the same major insect group as grasshoppers) invaded the bedroom walls of my apartment. they somehow got into the walls (especially the wall behind my bed) and chirped all night. some of them eventually made their way into the apartment where young pippi and crosby would pounce on them but then easily grew tired of their playmates.

ever since then, i've grown to really dislike them, and most times am frightened by them (all insects in the grasshoppers & relatives group).

in grad school to use up some credits, i took an entomology class to try to get over my fear and learn a little bit more about insects. i even had to keep a cricket for a week at home and write up a small report about my experience (that's where the pictures in this post come from). while i got an A, it really didn't change my feelings for the cricket.

which brings me to thursday night, and the chapulines taco. the bartender told us that we might not be able to recognize that we were eating grasshoppers, because they were sauteed in shallots and garlic. uh, wrong! when the taco was set down before us, i looked and a grasshopper happened to fall out onto the bar, and i could tell exactly what it was.

so i took my first bite, feeling a little bit like being on fear factor. it was crunchy, but not like a potato chip. i could taste that the particular grasshopper i was eating had some 'meat' in it. the flavor was described to us as 'earthy', which i suppose is true, but honestly i think it had more texture to it than flavor.

i was doing fine until i realized that most of the food i was chewing was in the right side of my mouth, yet somehow a sole leg had made its way to the other side of my mouth. once i realized what was going on, i had to quick get a grip and push the leg back over to the chewed up mass on the other side of my mouth. that was the most unnerving part about the experience.

i had two bites (though, i have to admit my second bite was a bit smaller than my first bite) and cavin finished the rest. it's exciting to say that i ate grasshoppers, though i wouldn't call the experience quite that. i probably won't order it again, but hey. at least i tried it and can say that i don't really care for it.

oyamel
401 7th street nw
washington, dc 20004
202.628.1005

Labels: chaos, restaurant