Despite the fact that I love seafood, enjoying eating sushi, and live on the west coast, I didn’t eat my first raw oyster until Friday night. At least to me, this is surprising since if you counted up the number of cooked oysters, clams, mussels, and scallops I’ve eaten it would probably number in the hundreds. Yet my first raw oyster was consumed at Rodney’s at the beginning of the weekend.
A friend suggested that I start off with a small oyster as a large, slimey one would be a tough first choice. I grabbed one of the smaller ones. It looked like the oyster had melted in the shell as it appeared more liquid than solid. A grabbed a lemon wedge and squeezed some juice on it. Then I chose one of the milder condiments that were available and put it on the oyster as well.
With my oyster all ready to go, I managed to just about swallow the whole thing in one go, except one last tiny chewy part that required some effort. It tasted pretty good but I mainly just detected lemon juice, the condiment, and a mild hint of ocean water. I think people eat raw oysters chiefly for the texture more than anything else. I had been warned by my friend that it wouldn’t really taste like anything other than the “ocean”.
After consuming my first raw oyster, I began to think it wasn’t that bad after all. Not two minutes later, the after taste hit me. As I described it to my companions, it now tasted like “the ocean had died in my mouth”. Fortunately, it wasn’t anything that a swig of beer couldn’t solve. Soon after, I was chasing the raw oyster with about eight pan-fried ones. By the way, the cooked oysters I had were probably the best ones I’ve tasted.
Since I wanted to continue my seafood delights, I then finished the evening off with their Manhattan clam chowder. It was alright but I have to admit, I think White Spot makes a better clam chowder. It did make me want to try their New England clam chowder though.
Next week, I’m thinking about trying haggis for the first time.