As I ate the oysters with their strong taste of the sea and their faint metallic taste that the cold white wine washed away, leaving only the sea taste and the succulent texture, and as I drank their cold liquid from each shell and washed it down with the crisp taste of the wine, I lost the empty feeling and began to be happy and to make plans.― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
I met up with Edgar, (my first official Katie Eats Boston dining companion), two weeks ago to catch up on life and enjoy some good drinks and eats. We’d selected B&G Oysters, another Barbara Lynch restaurant I’ve been dying to try. I know, cool it with the Barbara streak.
We sat outside in the cozy niche just behind the restaurant off of Waltham Street. Swept up in the glory that is B&G Oysters, I boldly placed an order for a dozen oysters, one of each of the daily specials. That’s right, a dozen. Did I stutter?
What arrived a lifetime later was a platter of 12 delectable morsels on the half shell:
Fire River Oysters
Richibucto, New Brunswick
Very crisp, intense saltiness
Conway Royale
Malpeques, PEI
Plump and meaty, mild salt, very sweet with a nice clean finish
Brewster
Cape Cod Bay, MA
Briny, less salty, crisp clean & sweet finish
Great Point
Nantucket, MA
VERY briny and a subtle sweet finish
Katama Bay
Martha’s Vineyard, MA
Salty, smooth sweet finish
Thatch Island
Barnstable Harbor, RI
Extremely plump, very smooth, salty, slight seaweed, sweeter finish
Wellfleet
Cape Cod Bay, MA
Plump meat, mild sweet flavor with a crisp finish
Watch Hill
Winnapaug Pond, RI
Deep cups, high salinity, and a full-bodied flavor with a buttery sweet finish
Pine Island
Oyster Bay, NY (what up North Shore!)
Jesus Christ, these were crazy meaty, minerally “Bluepoint” flavor, medium salt, sweet robust finish
Deer Creek
Puget Sound, WA
Extremely creamy, briny, earthy, buttery with a slap of mineral at the finish
Hammersley Inlet
Puget Sound, WA
Fat, sweet, full flavored. I definitely tasted something slightly metallic at the finish, in a strangely good way.
Salt Nugget
Hood Canal, WA
Very briny with a clean light finish.
Gone in the flashiest of flashes
I’m fairly confident that the time it took me to write out all of the oysters, origins, and flavor profiles, is roughly 100 times longer than my oyster consumption time. Try as I might to appreciate and savor oysters, they tend to be one of those things I shovel. Picture the Tootsie Roll Pop owl. Edgar did not share the same sentiments for my half shell friends. I’m always flabbergasted by people who don’t like raw bicuspids, but like I always say, more for me!
My mother recently pointed out that B&G Oysters has the best lobster roll. I’m not sure who her source is, but I’m willing to taste test. Guess that means I’ll be back soon to devour another dozen… in addition to that lobster roll with my name on it.
B&G Oyster
550 Tremont St
Boston, MA 02116
(617) 423-0550
