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Review content:
The man across the table from me was staring into my eyes with the steely resolve that only an abundance of hard years in a hard life can bring. I returned his gaze, trying to instill as much determination into my own. I knew he meant business, but so did I. My jaw clenched, I loaded up; praying to all the gods I knew that he would back down, the clatter of steel against ceramic let me know that I would not be so lucky. The tension and testosterone, so thick in the atmosphere, could almost be seen. The dame in the low cut dress next to us started blabbering incoherent sentences, dames usually are.
""Oh my god! you can see the legs!""
""The faces! Look at the faces! How can you do this?!?!?""
I reached for one of the two guns that I keep on me at all times; one, a .45, I keep it loaded. The other, vodka, it keeps me loaded. The shot of liquid courage hit the back of my throat with the fine caress of a sledgehammer but did nothing to calm my shaking hands. I knew it was now or never. My honor had been called to question, and in my line of work, your honor is all you have. I raised my hands, full with the instrument of death, never taking my eyes off the man mirroring my motion. I brought it my mouth, and for the first time, closed my eyes; it would all be over soon.
I expected the crunchiness, but the nut-like flavour took me by surprise. Across from me I saw my father carefully bring his napkin to his mouth and spit out the crickets, declaring, ""I can't do this, I can't get over the texture!"". Victory was mine! It was quickly followed by copious amounts of vodka in an unsuccessful attempt to erase the memory from my brain.
The rest of the meal followed in a much less dramatic fashion, my parents and I enjoyed the haute Mexican cuisine that Hugo's offers, but we came away with the impression that the food did not quite command the steep prices they demanded. The drinks were pretty good though, and I thoroughly recommend trying some of the delicious tequilas that are stocked. The Don Eduardo Blanco is amazing in that velvety burn kinda way that only good tequila can deliver. If you're ever tempted to go way outside your comfort zone and try something different, the fried crickets are certainly different.
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