Van and I left work at 5pm on the dot to get there with enough time to enjoy as many oysters as possible. We were shocked to see that by the time we got to the bar at 5:30pm it was totally packed to the brim. We were told that we could stand by the bar but you can only order oysters if you're seated. So we put our name down and we were told that it could be up to a 30 minute wait. I was so bummed because it was eating into my oyster time. But luckily, 2 seats at the bar opened up and we were seated within 5 minutes.
While I love oysters, I view them how I view wine. I love it and I've had many different varieties before but to this day I still can't tell you the name of any specific type I like. I've had so many different kinds of oysters but besides Blue Point, Malpeque and Kumamoto I couldn't tell you the name of any other oysters I love. So Van and I decided to randomly pick about 10 different kinds (2 of each) to start with. We tried to pick ones from both the east and west coast. At first I thought we were nuts to order 20 at a time but when I looked around everyone else was getting as much if not more than us. Maison also has a few other items on the menu: hot gumbo, shrimp cocktail, crab legs, raw clams, and sea bass ceviche ($14). We ordered the ceviche as something different to try. It does take a while for your oysters to arrive but we were sitting right in front of the poor 3 guys who must have shucked about 1,000 oysters while we were there so I wasn't too upset. When our platter did come out, it was picture perfect. They were served with fresh horseradish, cocktail sauce, lemon and a vinaigrette. In an effort to help you understand what's what, the waiter does leave a piece of paper which tells you which oyster is which but after you start eating and placing the shells on top of each other, it gets hard to keep track. As with my typical experience with oysters, some were awesome, and some were just ok. Some had sand and bits of shell still in it, which I wasn't a huge fan of but overall, to get to try this many different oysters for $1/each was amazing. Unfortunately, I wasn't as in love with the ceviche was I would have liked to have been. I thought it was going to be served like they do in Latin America/Peurvian type places, but these were served on half clam shells and while it was fresh and not-fishy tasting at all, it just didn't taste like ceviche either. There wasn't that tangy sour cilantro taste that you usually get. I mean, it was better than most general seafood dishes I've had in NYC, but probably not worth $14.
The thing about oysters is that you're never really full. So when the waiter came around asking how we were doing, it was only 6:30, so we decided to go for round 2. This time we hit all the other types that we didn't try in the first round. So we ended up ordering another 22 oysters. Oh boy. But the end of happy hour, we had split 42 oysters and while we weren't full, we were most definitely oystered out. While I know this wasn't really a restaurant per se, it would have been nice if they offered some bread before hand just to help fill us up. I should also mention that this place is really a gorgeous bar to just hang out in. It's got this old New Orleans style feel to it and they have a bunch of fun sounding cocktails and a large absinthe menu. I would totally come back here in a heartbeat and if you want to try out the happy hour, just remember to get here as early as you can. Total bill: $50/pp with tax and tip.
Photo Credit: Van Lu
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