A dear friend of ours is visiting from Tokyo, Japan. She requested for Canadian oysters for dinner and her wish was granted 😄
Where else but Oyster Boy comes to mind immediately, when one thinks of oysters in Toronto.
Although I have never been to Oyster Boy, I’ve heard many great things about this tiny restaurant. So I was very excited about what’s to come. One of the reasons why I never managed to eat here in the past, is because they only open for dinner for most of the week and if you don’t have a reservation, chances are you won’t be able to get in.
We did not make a reservation today. Buttttt, we got there on a Sunday at 4pm, we were lucky and managed to squeeze in. We were a group of 7, a very large group by Oyster Boy’s standards as this is a very narrow and long restaurant that can only fit about 40 people. Even at 4pm, the place was packed and we had to sit on separate tables. Not ideal.
After taking our orders, a few other tables had cleared up, and our thoughtful waitress asked if we wanted to move to the long table at the back of the restaurant. We jumped at the opportunity! So good to be able to sit together as one!
Okay, let’s talk about the food because that’s why you’re reading this. Of course, we ordered fresh oysters. At Oyster Boy, they serve all and only Canadian oysters, freshly shucked upon order.
Before moving to the long table, I was sitting right at the bar counter and was right in front of the bartender/oyster shucker. It was so exciting to be so close to the action! He was entertaining guests, answering their questions about oysters, demonstrating how to shuck an oyster, taking orders from us, collecting payment from others…he was a true multitasker! Someone give him a trophy for the most hardworking employee!
The oysters were served to us on a bed of crushed ice, alongside lemon wedges, grated horseradish, and 3 kinds of sauces (seafood cocktail sauce, pickled onion, and a hot chili sauce). My friends were impressed with how fresh and plump the oysters were. Amongst us, we ordered up 3 dozen oysters. You can either choose which kinds of oysters you want, or you can let the oyster experts compose an oyster symphony for you. We let the experts impress us, and indeed, they did beyond our expectations 😄
Our platter came with oysters representing all corners of Canada, like Prince Edward Island, British Colombia, Nova Scotia…
Other than oysters, they also have a variety of other seafood dishes. I went for the bouillabaisse, an impressive seafood stew. A large plate of clams, mussels, shrimps, large scallops, rainbow trout, pearl onions, potatoes, all in a savoury sweet-smelling saffron tomato broth. Delicious.
Each individual piece of seafood was cooked just right. My favourite was the 3 large scallops – tender, yet had a nice bounce; sweet, yet gently briny like the sea. I highly recommend this dish.
It came with fresh crusty French bread which I used to mop up every drop of the saffron tomato broth 😋 A friend who arrived late saw my bouillabaisse and ordered one for herself too. I’m an influencer 😂
Other dishes that my friends ate included onion rings… the table next to us ordered these and we were in awe with the size of these rings. They were so friendly and offered to share their onion rings with us! Welcome to Canada 🍁
We weren’t going to steal their rings, so we ordered a plate too! Indeed, these rings were massive! They were as big as large donuts. My friends liked the ratio of onion to batter. It came with a selection of sauces, we had their chipotle mayo, which came served to us in an oyster shell.
Lobster fries…these were interesting too. We thought that lobster fries meant potato fries with some chunks of lobster. Nope. We obviously didn’t read the description at all 😂 These were actually tiny ribbons of lobster meat, breaded and deep-fried! Not sure I tasted the lobster as it was over-battered in my opinion. But still, give it a try as you’ll never get this anywhere else.
Steamed mussels in white wine broth… These looked good, I didn’t get to taste any, but my friends loved it. I imagine this to be just as fresh and good as my seafood stew.
Recommended for you 👍 Everything tasted so good. No wonder this place is always packed. The service here is good, attentive and accommodating. Our waitress was very knowledgeable about oysters. Overall, a satisfying meal. I’ll be back for more and I want front row seats at the oyster symphony orchestra.
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Restaurant name: Oyster Boy
Address: 872 Queen St W, Toronto, ON M6J 1G3, Canada
GPS: 43°38'42.6"N 79°24'51.5"W 🌐 43.645173, -79.414313
Tel: +1 416-534-3432
Hours: 5:00pm - 10:00 pm (opens at 3pm on Sat & Sun)
Date visited: 11 Aug 2019
By Johor Kaki's Toronto correspondent johorkaki@gmail.com
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