First Oysters of the Season

Crystal and I celebrated September as the official start of oyster season by going to Shaw's at 21 E Hubbard. Shaw's has a daily happy hour Monday through Friday between 4 and 6pm where they serve 1/2 priced oysters.

Shaw's was serving 12 different brands of oysters. Six from the Crassostrea gigas and six from the Crassostrea virginica species. Unforunately, no Kumomotos (Crassostrea sikamea). The Oysters were all delicious and after 3 dozen we could have kept going had we not hit the 6 o'clock hour.

Below are the Oysters that I remember:
Wianno (C. virginica), Cape Cod Bay,
Quonset Point (C. virginica), Narragansett Bay,
Barron Point (C. gigas), Skookum Inlet, WA
Eld Inlet (C. gigas), Eld Inlet, WA
Salt Aire (C. virginica), Prince Edward Island
Coromandel (C. gigas), Coromandel, NZ

We ordered the Chef's Choice sampler (twice) so we could both taste one of each oyster. We followed that up by ordering six of the Wianno and six of the Barron Point. Though they were all good, we decided the winner of the day was the C. gigas, specifically Barron Point.

The Barron Point oysters were extremely creamy with just the right amount of mineral and salt flavor.

To accompany our oyster dinner we started with the Allagash White Ale which was good. After our beer we went with a white wine flight that was meant to pair with the oysters. The flight consisted of three wines. I don't remember the vineyards but we had a Muscadet and Fume Blanc. The third escapes me. After reviewing their online menu, I noticed they serve L. Mawby's Blanc de Blanc. Had I seen that I would have choosen that wine. Great Sparkling Winery in Northern Michigan.

I would recommend those who love oysters and those who want to be a little more adventurous to try Shaw's. I only had two complaints with Shaw's: the uncut foot of the oyster and the slow service. The first dozen and the last dozen were perfectly shucked but the middle dozen were pretty much all still connected to the half shell. The service was a little slow as it took 20-30 minutes between orders but watching the amount of Oysters those two guys were shucking I can see why and I was willing to forgive. I think to make up time they weren't finishing off the shuck. We were in no rush so during our wait we were able to sit back, talk, and enjoy our food, wine, beer, and love.