One of the South End establishments I've always wanted to visit is
B&G Oysters...and today, I got the chance!
For my birthday, my awesomest bro took me out for a luncheon at this cool, minimalist spot. In the backyard patio, beneath white cloth canopies, we shared a communal picnic bench with fellow foodies. A glass of cold, sparkling Prosecco started things off.
We began with a half dozen freshly shucked Wellfleets. Topped with a dab of horseradish sauce, a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of vinaigrette, these little blobs of deliciousness tasted fresh and sweet with an amazingly smooth and silky texture. I could have eaten TWO dozen of these guys. Remember the story of the
Walrus and the Carpenter? Now I understand the ending to that poem.
We followed our oysters on the half shelf with the fried softshell crab with pepper soffritto. The crab was perfectly cooked - light, crispy and very tasty (especially with a scoop of the brightly flavored pepper mix.) For a main, we went with what our table neighbor had been eating (it looked too good to pass up): the fabulous chilled lobster salad with tomato, avocado, cucumber and fennel. For some reason lobster and avocado go really well together. How this most excellent concoction ever came to be is anyone's guess. My bro speculated that long long ago, a lobster climbed out of the sea and up into an avocado tree, clipped off a piece of fruit and then fell (along with the avocado) into the awaiting jaws of some creature down below. And thus was born the lobster and avocado salad...
...but I digress. For dessert we went with the creme fraiche panna cotta with citrus tuile, and rhubarb coulis. It was certainly delicious and flavorful, although I prefer my panna cotta with less gelatin. The tuile was a bit soggy, though still very tasty.
The next time I go to B&G (and believe me, I WILL be back) I think I might just gorge myself on oysters. The lobster roll looked pretty amazing, pilled mile high with fresh lobster meat. That would be reason enough to go back as well.
"O Oysters," said the Carpenter,
"You've had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?'
But answer came there none--
And this was scarcely odd, because
They'd eaten every one.
~flutterbyblue
