Let's Splurge on Fancy Shellfish This Summer!
Let's Splurge on Fancy Shellfish This Summer!
Short reviews of Strange Delight, San Sabino, and Figure Eight. Also: where to get the best shellfish plateaus, langoustines, and king crab
Summer is shellfish season.
We travel to Red Hook or Long Island for lobster rolls. We shuck clams in our backyards — or let’s be real, over our kitchen sinks — and we douse them in Tabasco sauce. We splatter crab guts all over our t-shirts and we take rain checks on steak dinners in favor of chilled oysters. A dozen Island Creeks is a full meal, isn’t it?
Maybe with a martini or two.
My original plan was to throw together a regular shellfish guide, as these are the type of dishes I seek out so often, more so than I seek out tasty smashburgers or viral udon. But then…I decided to make this a shellfish splurge guide. Because this is an era when so many of these treats rank as indulgences, especially now that a dozen oysters can run $60 after tax and tip.
Will I pay that much for a dish that lasts me roughly 110 seconds? Yes, lol.
What follows are a few observations on the excellent state of shellfish in New York. Subscribers can scroll down further for quick reviews of the frutti di mare at the brand new Strange Delight, San Sabino, Figure Eight, Penny, and elsewhere.
And while this is a splurge guide — you’ll find primers on where to order langoustines and shellfish plateaus — you’ll also come across a few very good values. Whatever the case, everything on this long list should feel fancy or indulgent.
We’re living in a Golden Age of shellfish plateaus!
Ordering a shellfish platter in New York can feel like getting a big steak. That is to say: It will be oversized, expensive, delicious, and entirely predictable. It will include a standard array of cold lobster, fat crab legs, shrimp cocktail, oysters shimmering underneath pools of liquor, tiny plates of ceviche (maybe), and pink clams. It will not include bulots, periwinkles, or crevettes grises (sorry, we’re not in Paris).
But lucky for us, at least three new restaurants — including Strange Delight in Fort Greene — are doing smaller shellfish platters that are ideal for solo diners. And a small but growing class of establishments are pushing this luxury outside of its Western European comfort zone. You can now find creative riffs on these platters at a new Chinese Southern spot in the West Village, and at a hip Thai hangout in Nolita (Corima, a Modern Mexican venue, nixed their excellent shellfish and sashimi platter, alas).
Let’s eat more langoustines!!!
Are you thinking about waiting two hours to get into San Sabino, a new spot from the Don Angie folks? Or are you looking for a reason to hit up Figure Eight, by the Silver Apricot crew?
Well, let me give you a one-word incentive to visit either: langoustines.
These tiny lobsters — imported from Scotland, New Zealand, and elsewhere — pack a flavor that’s sweeter than most shrimp or scallops. And the flesh can boast a supremely delicate texture, as soft as an omelet at times. They’re expensive, commanding $28 or more per piece, but given how rarely they appear on New York menus, I try to order them whenever I can. More details below…
There aren’t enough grilled oysters on the half shell
I’ll never get tired of raw or fried oysters, but too many local restaurants are shy about getting creative with these pricey bivalves, which can run $4 or $5 a pop. One of the easiest and most delicious things a chef can do is roast or broil an oyster in its own shell, and yet it’s still not terribly easy to find that preparation in the five boroughs. It’s a beloved approach in New Orleans, but less so, here.
Heck, I’ve actually seen grilled oysters come off menus in Manhattan. Really.
Go slurp a Wellfleet getting hot and fat in a pool of seaweed butter and you’ll develop a lifelong habit. So shout out to Strange Delight for serving warm oysters on the half shell four different ways. Scroll down for a few notes on that Fort Greene newcomer, as well as for advice on where to find this delicacy elsewhere.
Beware the lobster roll…
You can generally walk into any New York restaurant that isn’t called Burger King and get a halfway decent oyster. But very few chefs make a good lobster roll. There are almost too many problems to list: too little meat, too much mayo, and the vile presence of celery. A lobster roll should taste orders of magnitude better than a tuna salad sandwich, especially now that it can cost $40 or more. And yet, it often doesn’t.
This isn’t a sandwich you want to try just because you see it on the menu as a special. If you have a favorite, stick with it. Otherwise, skip.
Behind the Paywall: ~16 Places for Splurge-y Shellfish
What to order (and what to avoid) at Strange Delight!
Review: Shellfish plateaus at Penny and Figure Eight!
NYC’s top restaurant for fancy shellfish…
Why the langoustines are so tasty at San Sabino and Figure Eight!
The case for warm oysters at Haenyeo
Where to get a fantastic $42 lobster roll
A few unique shellfish platters
Figure Eight | The Tower
Let me tell you what I got for $55 at Emmeline Zhao’s Chinese and Southern seafood spot in the West Village: