Hugo’s Frog Bar; but I think the frog was genetically modified
My all time favorite, go-to, most amazing restaurant is Hugo's Frog Bar. Located downtown in the center of all things lively and delicious, the spot is seriously the place to be. Usually knowing what I’ll be eating, I was surprised by what I saw.
It was a nice night, hotter than usual, so the fam and I went for dinner. Of course, we chose to start off the summer with a staple restaurant, Hugos. I was expecting the same old meal, crab-meat-avocado, raising bread, fish and steak. But, I was pleasantly surprised. The menu had changed drastically, removing almost all the steak, and bringing in a ton of fish. Knowing that Hugos and Gibsons are owned by the same company (and practically share doors), I was a little confused. But, I’m all for new things!
The most exciting, yet strangest thing I saw was Sushi. No, it wasn’t a cut roll, but it was nigiri. But it wasn’t any nigiri, it was a rectangle, clean-cut edges. It was a salmon nigiri with roe and some sort of microgreens. Hugos, I love you, seriously, I do, but this wasn’t it. Eating a square piece of rice with fish felt wrong. It didn’t give off that same smooth and fresh flavor that you get when you go to sushi restaurants. And knowing me, being a sushi fanatic, I probably wouldn’t get it again. ‘A’ for effort, ‘C’ for execution.
For some reason the crab-meat-avocado wasn’t on the menu. My sister absolutely loves this dish, it's probably in her top three. So, the server came by and we asked if they could make it, and lucky for us, they could. I personally don’t love this dish, but I see why someone could. It’s so refreshing and the avocado is always ripe no matter what.
For dinner, instead of splitting a filet mignon with Phoebe as we usually do, I decided to try something else new. There’s always a first for everything! I got a tuna dish, thinking it would be the same as the old tuna dish, but boy I was wrong. It was delicious, but not what I was expecting. It was covered in this kinda heavy sauce, so I tried to stay away from it and let the tuna do its thing.
Phoebe tried these insane looking lobster rolls (all mini) that stacked on top of themselves. They looked really good but I couldn't get a bite. But just admire this picture!!
And last, for dessert, we got the soufflé. The server said it was chocolate, but when I saw it I knew something was up. Instead, it was a cherry soufflé. The soufflé part was delicious, it tasted like a fancy yellow cake. But the cherry sauce had some sort of all-spice flavor, and it was 80 degrees out. It tasted good, but maybe save it for the winter.
Hugos has seriously changed in the last few months. I don’t know if I can say it was for the better. The old Hugos were rustic, old-fashioned. This was modern and fresh. I still love Hugos, I will still go to Hugos, but I’m hoping that they get the memo that the old was better than the new. Just like I said, there’s a first for everything, but only some go well.
