Restaurants: Rodney's Oyster House

Jenny figured out what she wanted to do in life so she left us at work to go back to school. Good for her, sad for us, and an opportunity for food and drinks.

Jenny picked Rodney's Oyster House in Yaletown. She was also foresighted enough to make reservations for our group on Friday after work. The restaurant was packed the whole time we were there.

Rodney's is predictably decorated in white wash, fishing nets and sea-themed decor but it has a warm and fun feeling. I recommend checking out the pictures by the sink in the ladies bathroom, unless Michelle has stolen them.

The oysters are lined up in ice against one wall and it seems that one person is in charge of shucking:



He stood there the entire time and shucked. And yes, we did make many "shucking" jokes. You might notice that all the waitstaff are men. Big, muscular men who must lift a lot of oysters. The service in Rodney's was fine. We had a few different waiters and we mostly had to flag someone down if we wanted something, but they were friendly enough when we got their attention.

We started out with drinks and bread.



The bread was really good, it was some kind of rye bread. A bit hard to tear off the loaf but very fresh.

Many of our group, myself included, had never eaten oysters. At the happy hour price of $1.50 per oyster, we all had one. They have many different types of oysters to pick from.



Oysters are weird. They just don't look good. I liked that we were provided with a large selection of sauces to put on the oysters to give them more flavour. I don't see the great appeal of them as you slide them down so fast they don't taste like anything but the sauce you put on them. I was surprised that they weren't slimy at all.

Here is an action shot of me eating my first oyster.



We had enough of that and moved on to some fried seafood. Hooray!



We ordered the crab cakes, fried oysters and prawns. I really liked the presentation. All served on one platter in shells and then some salad to go with it. The fried oysters were great. I think that is my preferred form of oyster. But then as Padma said in one of my favorite Top Chef quotes "you could deep-fry my toe and it would taste good"

We also ordered my new favorite seafood, clams. They were fantastic.



All the seafood was fresh and served quickly. I don't know if I am a raw oyster convert, but I had a great time.