When I woke up Wednesday morning, I read my daily morning news and I came across an article about, Pestaurant, a loving name given to a lunch event hosted by Occidental grill in DC.

The event was a fundraiser to support DC Central Kitchen, sponsored by Rentokil. The company donated $5 for anyone who tried an insect.

I was so excited to go that, without hesitation, I posted online asking friends to join me. Many friends wanted to go, but since it was such a short notice, I was only able to get 4 friends to join me.

We were the first group to get there and to try everything on their menu.

We also participated in their cricket eating contest.  The grasshopper, was our first bite and it was my favorite! I topped my burger with as many locusts as I could, accompanied with “fries” which were buffalo worms. There were Mexican spiced meal worms,  roasted crickets, and for dessert we had white chocolate ant rounds and scorpion lollipops.

My friends and I ate with no fear because it didn’t “bug” us at all. Especially me, growing up I was eating many different kinds of insects in Laos.

One of us, (I won’t say who!) actually enjoyed it so much that they went for a second burger. The chef at the Occidental Grill did a great job, creating such a very tasty menu.

When we got to the contestant table for the cricket eating contest, I was so confident that I would make it through to first or second place, but I was wrong. I lost! All in all I had fun.

Consuming insects is already a part of the daily diet in South East Asia, as well as other parts of the world.  As matter of fact a few years ago, Laos and the UN launched an edible inserts project to boost farming and harvesting for consumption to fight poverty, malnutrition, hungers and environmental benefit.

Will I do it again? Off course! You’ll see me hopping out of my kitchen for any event, like this one for any good cause!