On the Half Shell

Last night I hit a pub on Front Street with my buddy Michael.

This pub specializes in raw oysters, but only on Thursdays. I guess that is the one day of the week that they come in from Prince Edward Island.

I gotta admit that I was a little apprehensive, but I wanted to go and try raw oysters.

Now I've had them a couple of times in the past and was thoroughly revolted. Chewing on those oysters filled your mouth with this horrible funk that could only be described as fish poo.

Since then, I've read and heard of people's devotion to the raw oyster. That is was an unequaled treat that is simply sublime. So I gave them another shot last night.

So at the pub we got a dozen oysters and steadied myself with a few pints of Rickards Red. I picked up an oyster, breathed a curse on myself for being in this predicament, and swallowed.

On the advice of friends I didn't chew the first oyster. Iwas told that swallowing the oyster whole is the trick to enjoying the shellfish. And so I did.

The verdict: Interesting, but boring. All I could taste was the briny water and felt the sensation of a giant booger going down my throat. But it didn't taste foul. So I escalated the assault.

I took another oyster, and dabbed it with lemon, before slurping it into my mouth.

I chewed.

Not bad! It didn't suck! A very subtle sweetness. Quite tasty. It seemed that the secret to enjoying the oyster is to be sure it is damn fresh. Otherwise it is horrible and "fish pooey".

Happy in my discovery that raw oysters are tasty and kick ass with a pint, we ordered another dozen and jumped into a few more pints.
It was great, and I might do it again next week.

The only draw back was that I still had to work the next day, and Friday is great, but not with a hangover. A small one that is...