I’m skipping around a little because some things are easier to write, and some of these are tying into something else I am working on. I’ve always wanted to try raw oysters, especially after reading Anthony Bourdain’s book. Walking around SF’s Ferry Terminal Building I spotted Hog Island Oyster Company, it was a month with an ‘r’ in it, so I figured it would be good to try some out.
The great thing about Hog Island was the fact that I sauntered up and asked if I could try just one. I wanted to see if I liked it before I committed to a full order. They were awesome and willingly let me try just one Atlantic oyster with mignonette and lemon juice. It was sweet and briny. It wasn’t gooey as I was expecting and not as chewy as I would have expected either. With that I ordered six… thinking I would get five since I’d already had one. The waiter was awesome and gave me seven – two Atlantic, two Sweetwaters, two Kumamotos of a certain kind, and one other kind of Kumamoto just so I could try.
He told me to flip the shells over to follow proper etiquette. It was great to try the four different ones and contrast them. The Sweetwaters were iodiney. The set of two Kumamotos was a bit milky. They were just lovely. I don’t think I could eat loads; eight was about right.
