Pearl Oyster Bar - Dreams Really Do Come True
Thursday 23 October 2008 by Dr Maytel
This blog post is a purely self gratuitous exhibit designed to elicit jealousy and desire on the part of you, dear reader.
I ate a nova scotia oysters, New England clam chowder, a bucket of "steamers" and a lobster roll at Pearl Oyster Bar, New York. It's a NYC take on a Maine-style seafood restaurant, specialising in Maine lobster rolls.
It's not quite the same as eating it in Maine, but it is as close as I am likely to get this side of the decade.
Ever since I had heard that such a thing as a lobster roll existed I have wanted to eat one. Finally my dream came true. Plus due to the melt down of the global finance system, there were no queues, so we didn't have to wait for a table at peak lunch hour.
Steamers and chowder
I was a little bit perplexed by how to eat the bucket of clams. They came accompanied by a cup of hot water with lemon, what I assumed was olive oil and lemon. Each clam had a weird little penis like appendage on the side covered by a sandy little foreskin....yes, true. I started to fluff around with the objects on the plate when the waitress came over and explained.
you remove the foreskin
hold the penis-thingy and dip in the warm water to clean
then dip in the clarified butter
Then you eat. It's up to you whether you eat the little penis-thingy too. I tried a couple. I guess its not really a penis but it felt weird. I once knew a women who refused to eat anything that had eyes. A weird form of semi-vegetarianism which I believe she may have had to rethink had she been with me on this day and been confronted with tiny clam penises.
Lobster roll
and oysters as dessert
The lobster roll wasn't actually the highlight of the meal, the clams and oysters were. I think I prefer my lobsters plain, steamed and with lemon and not smothered in mayo and couched between soft pillowy bread. Nonetheless I'm happy to have fulfilled another goal in life - eat Maine lobster roll.....tick. The oysters were wonderful, with a much cleaner fresh sea taste than oysters I've eaten down under. Although they erred on the side of salty not sweet oysters, which I generally prefer the overwhelming fresh ocean flavour was as refreshing as a big gulp of icy water. The clams were also great, weird tiny penis aside, they were plump and flavourful. Although I hesitated at first about the idea of dipping them in clarified butter, I rolled with it and can attest to deliciousness. Whoever said that dairy has no place in seafood dishes should go to Pearl Oyster Bar.
I ate a nova scotia oysters, New England clam chowder, a bucket of "steamers" and a lobster roll at Pearl Oyster Bar, New York. It's a NYC take on a Maine-style seafood restaurant, specialising in Maine lobster rolls.
It's not quite the same as eating it in Maine, but it is as close as I am likely to get this side of the decade.
Ever since I had heard that such a thing as a lobster roll existed I have wanted to eat one. Finally my dream came true. Plus due to the melt down of the global finance system, there were no queues, so we didn't have to wait for a table at peak lunch hour.
Steamers and chowder
I was a little bit perplexed by how to eat the bucket of clams. They came accompanied by a cup of hot water with lemon, what I assumed was olive oil and lemon. Each clam had a weird little penis like appendage on the side covered by a sandy little foreskin....yes, true. I started to fluff around with the objects on the plate when the waitress came over and explained.
you remove the foreskin
hold the penis-thingy and dip in the warm water to clean
then dip in the clarified butter
Then you eat. It's up to you whether you eat the little penis-thingy too. I tried a couple. I guess its not really a penis but it felt weird. I once knew a women who refused to eat anything that had eyes. A weird form of semi-vegetarianism which I believe she may have had to rethink had she been with me on this day and been confronted with tiny clam penises.
Lobster roll
and oysters as dessert
The lobster roll wasn't actually the highlight of the meal, the clams and oysters were. I think I prefer my lobsters plain, steamed and with lemon and not smothered in mayo and couched between soft pillowy bread. Nonetheless I'm happy to have fulfilled another goal in life - eat Maine lobster roll.....tick. The oysters were wonderful, with a much cleaner fresh sea taste than oysters I've eaten down under. Although they erred on the side of salty not sweet oysters, which I generally prefer the overwhelming fresh ocean flavour was as refreshing as a big gulp of icy water. The clams were also great, weird tiny penis aside, they were plump and flavourful. Although I hesitated at first about the idea of dipping them in clarified butter, I rolled with it and can attest to deliciousness. Whoever said that dairy has no place in seafood dishes should go to Pearl Oyster Bar.
that guy in the top photo looks great