Oysters on Ocean

It was a Sunday night at 5 pm and already dark. After hanging around my house for several hours, doing nothing in particular, I decided enough was enough! I needed to get out of the house. So I made a couple of phone calls and Voila! Dinner plans with a couple of girlfriends.

We decided to try out the recently opened Blue Plate Oysterette on Ocean Ave.   The original Blue Plate on Montana is a staple in my weekend breakfast repertoire, so I figured any place related would be a good bet. The Oysterette is also on my route to and from work, so I had been curious about this new, bustling restaurant for some time.

We got to the restaurant around 6 pm, and the bright and cheery space was practically full. (Yes, I am aware that eating dinner at 6 pm warrants serious senior status. But the Suns v. Lakers game was starting at 6:30 and I wanted to watch it!) We were seated at the last empty table at the very back of the restaurant, but it was still a comfortable booth and a great spot from which to check out the scene.

After our very energetic waitress came to greet us and explain the extensive selection of daily specials and types of oysters, we decided to start with a nice bottle of Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc. As you may suspect, the wine list is dominated by whites, but there are also a few carefully selected reds to complement the mostly seafood menu. Since we were at the Oysterette after all, we decided to kick off the meal with a couple of Hog Island Sweetwater oysters. These were described to us by our peppy (and knowledgeable) waitress as a smaller and sweeter variety.  Upon ordering these, an elderly gentleman sitting at the table next to us commended our choice and proceeded to share that he had just returned from Hog Island. Turns out he was the father of the restaurant’s owner. Although my friends and I are fairly new to the world of oysters, the Hog Islands were great! The waitress’s description of the sweetness was spot on, and the small size of the oysters eliminated any brininess that might have been too ‘oceany’ for us novices.

After our oyster adventure, we went with the family style approach. We ordered two of the daily specials- an ahi tuna crudo and fried clams – and a lobster macaroni and cheese off of the regular menu. If there is macaroni and cheese on a menu, I order it. Period. The ahi came out first, and was served with thinly sliced avocado.  A faint hint of what seemed to be truffle oil at the beginning of each bite made the dish much more interesting and complex than I expected. I have eaten a lot of raw ahi dishes in my life, and I would definitely say this one was better than average.  The fried clams were up next and served with a lemony aioli. I was pleasantly surprised by my first tender bite. In the past, I have really only ordered fried clams from ‘seafood shack’ type places, so this gourmet version of the dish was an eye opener. The breading was light and coated the clams just enough to be perfectly crisp. The clams themselves had a brilliant, tender texture, not chewy as clams can sometimes be. I suspect this was due to more TLC and a shorter cooking time from a seasoned chef, rather than the usual extended hot oil bath on a greasy line.  The aioli accompaniment was tasty, but nothing I couldn’t live without.  The lobster macaroni and cheese was great. The amount of lobster in the bubbling cauldron was generous to say the least. The cheese sauce was just the right consistency to cling to each noodle. And the flavor of the cheeses was sharp enough to grab your attention but not to mask the taste of the fresh lobster.

‘Seafood and raw bar, and a few other American favorites,’ reads the tagline on the website. After my first experience at Blue Plate Oysterette, I definitely plan on returning (with Jean!) to try more items in all three of these categories. I wonder which kind of oyster I will try next…

http://blueplatesantamonica.com/bpo/home/

-Katrina