Oyster House
“EAT OYSTERS… LOVE LONGER…” said the front window sign of Oyster House. I’ve always loved eating raw oysters ever since way back and after a few meat heavy meals I’ve decided to look for some oysters here around Rittenhouse.
I just switched hotels and relocated to this part of the city as I was told that it was quite a vibrant area. Started my day walking around the neighborhood and visited the Saturday Brunch Farmers Market and saw the various local farms selling their produce, spirits, wines, ales, pickles and different products. The musicians performing also gave the square a bit of a nice vibe as other performers were scattered around while a lot of people did their morning workouts.
I wasn’t quite ready yet to head out for lunch as it was still quite early, around 11:30 am so I decided to take a stroll and visit my friend at the Attico rooftop in the Cambria hotel. It was a good 10-minute walk from the square but was a welcome escape from all the tourists that were kind of occupying the whole area. As I got to the hotel and made my way to the rooftop bar and lounge it was nice to see an old familiar face in this strange city. We chatted over a cocktail and caught up a bit with our life stories and I briefly looked around the place to see the potential of this bar and know that it will soon get very busy once everyone is back from summer holiday. I said goodbye to my friend and to my new acquaintances. As I now head back to the square and go straight for my first meal of the day.
As I mentioned earlier at this point, I was craving for some seafood and what better way than to start your meal with some raw oysters. Oyster Bar located at 1516 Sansom Street around Rittenhouse Square is the next venue for our afternoon degustation.
I started with a ½ dozen oysters consisting of Sweet Amalia from Cape May, Sugar Shack from Barnegat Bay and my favorite Well Fleet from Cape Cod. The oysters were nice and fresh and meaty just the way I like it.
After the oysters I put my order in for the next 2 courses and as the rain slowly poured, I was glad to be under shelter having a nice meal.
The scallop crudo arrived next and the dish looked bright and vibrant with the spring pea puree and chili oil. The scallops were sliced nice and thin and blended well with the peas and chili.
My last dish was the grilled octopus with grilled corn, pickled onion and poblano crema. The octopus was cooked properly and the corn and the onion accompanied the protein quite well and the poblano crema gave the dish that extra kick.
Overall this was a nice simple meal perfectly cooked and just what the doctor ordered…
#KULINARYATRAVELS is off to Friday/Saturday/Sunday next for a Philly styled tasting menu…