Rodney's Oyster House

Rodney's is a special place. For a seafood lover and a foodie who loves to discovery new restaurants - I actually didn't hear it until an out-of-town friend mentioned it. No matter! I'm glad I found it now - and it quickly became one of my faves.

The first time I walked into Rodney's I was awed by the decor and welcoming staff. It was a busy night, kind of fancy, but also homey and warm. The hostess was sweet and didn't make us feel like since we didn't have reservation oh well you are screwed. Atmosphere was great and I liked it. They seem to have a location in Toronto and one in Calgary - check out their site: https://rodneysoysterhouse.com/

The rest of night can only be described as a unique Rodney's experience. Not too many times I've had this type of experience and was glad Rodney's delivered. Within 10 min of my first visit (without a reservation on friday night), we quickly (and very luckily) obtained the best seat in the house - at the bar right in front of the bartender/oyster chef. The great thing about this seat is that not only were we attended to all the time, we got to chat with the great chefs, had a direct view of the fresh oysters on ice, and got an oyster shucking lesson during the meal. Well, how many times do you get that?

When the menus came, I can pretend I have my favorites and know what's what, but honestly that would be a lie because many of them I have never even heard of. If you really know your seafood, maybe you really get to decide which ones would fit your taste buds for the night. For relative amateur oyster eaters like myself, I went with a dozen of "mix and match" - which is a pair of 6 oysters so I get to try a bunch in one go. The oyster display is just gorgeous - spread out on a tray of ice, with freshly shaved horse radish, lemon. Just simple, wonderful. If you like there are hot sauces and vinegar close by but to me all the embellishment was not necessary. Throughout this time, don't forget the awesome seat we had - the fantastic bartender slash oyster chef slash entertainment. Not only he shucked all of our oysters, this same guy also shucked probably half the house's worth of oysters of the night. And since I asked, that's like a more than a thousand or two of these a night, easy. I felt so inspired to learn this art of shucking - ofcourse I watched someone do this for 2 hours so I naturally felt like a pro myself. I even bought the shucker that the oyster chef was using - not literally the one he had in his hands but an identical, new, wood-handled shucker. Which is what inspired my other post about shucking my own oysters at home (you can read it here).

Now on to the real food section, after the raw goodness I wanted cooked food. And Rodney's was good at that too.

- New England clam chowder: it's a fantastic warm bowl of seafood chowder. You get to crack little packs of crackers and the crunchy-ness just pairs perfect with the soup. It's a rich dish, comes in a smaller cup or a bigger bowl - we got 1 bowl and 2 spoons which was enough. Each spoonful of soup was packed with clams swimming in it. It can even be a meal on its own - so good!

- Warm smoked salmon - unlike cold smoked salmon, these hot smoke salmon were like salty pieces of salmon flaky jerky that go great with a nice drink. It was a strong tasting dish, a wonderful if you are chatting, on a date, and snacking away.

- Beef tartare - It was to be fair, a good dish, but I was not into it. We were in a fish/seafood house so this item was not high on my list of favorites. I actually thought I was ordering tuna tartare (not reading properly due to hunger and over excitedness of wanting one of everything maybe?). It was good but I have to say when the beef tartare came out I was visibly disappointed. Order it if you wish - but I think I'll op out next time.

One thing to mention is the first time I went we also sat next to these awesome ladies who were enjoying the below dish - whole grilled fish. They seemed like they went to the restaurant all the time, which was also just super duper - who doesn't like insider knowledge? And so the next time I went (with in the same month) I had to order the fish myself. In replacement of the beef tartare this time haha. Yes it has head, tail, bones and all, and it was probably a snapper. It comes crispy on the outside skin but tender on the inside. It also comes sitting atop a plate full of seasoned vegetables. If you had some oysters to share and also this grill guy - that's plenty food for two. Now, I am a big sucker for whole grilled fish generally - and this one was oh so delicious. Something about eating a whole fish that's appealing to me. I get you might not like to see the head and fins and all that but hear me out: 1) you get the entire fish so you know your ingredient is not a mishmash of minced "mystery" meats. 2) you are forced to eat a bit slower because it's slightly inconvenient. This sounds like a "con" but really a "pro". Just the action of taking the meat of the bones and eating around the fins makes you eat and chew slower so you are less likely to devour the thing in 1 bite. Chewing is good, 15 chews per bite is good for your health - or so the studies have said. 3) Having the entire animal in front of me is the closest I can get this day to connect to the age of our previous generations eating their meals. This is weirdly satisfying and makes you respect the animal and waste less food. Rest assured, I was trying to take out every single bit of meat between the rib bones - which was a big savage. 4) having fun with the food - yes my mom also told me not to play with my food. But is it so wrong though? I had to use my hands (less civilized so maybe not a first-date kind of cuisine - but honestly ladies if your man can't see you eat with your hands, sucks for him because that means you pretty much get the whole fish yourself. Obviously he won't even get a bite), and loved every bit of it. Just wash your hands with a lemon later.

Before you go, another thing that I found hilarious in this whole dining experience are some of the fun decors in the shop- near the washroom in the back. There's a little random double door hanging in the washroom - and if you open it there's a little - some kind of uh.. genitalia mushroom thing? I stood there trying to figure what it was for like 20 seconds. There's also a plate of.. burnt on images of vaguely phallic lined up shapes. With the recent penis fish washing ashore - maybe that's what they were grilling? AND there's a group of ladies holding their boobs, some of the boobs fell out. Rodney's was just full of of little fun surprises.

 

Ok, so after all that, maybe you are convinced or maybe not. Honest it's fine either way because if they get too busy I won't be able to get the awesome bar seats. But I can't deny that my recent dining experience was absolutely phenomenal. Thanks Rodney's, see ya real soon.