The Bouzigues oyster is grown on ropes hung from wooden tables in the Étang de Thau, a tideless lagoon half an hour west of the city. Permanent immersion makes the shell thin and the meat unusually fleshy.
Where to eat it: 3 restaurants across 1 city.
Oyster culture on the Thau lagoon is barely more than a century old, but it now turns out around 12,000 tonnes a year from some 600 conchylicole holdings between Bouzigues, Mèze and Marseillan. Because the lagoon has no tide, the oysters hang permanently underwater rather than being alternately covered and exposed, which is why they grow fast and fill their shells. Some producers exondate their oysters, lifting them clear of the water on a cycle to harden the shell and firm the flesh. Montpellier eats them without any of the ritual of an Atlantic oyster bar: a dozen on ice at a market counter, a glass of Picpoul, bread and butter, standing up.
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Common allergens: Molluscs
Mélissa Coquillages shucks Étang de Thau oysters inside Halles Laissac, a market stall with a standing counter rather than a seafood restaurant.
OrderA dozen Bouzigues oysters with a glass of Picpoul de Pinet at the counter.
Why locals goA shucking counter inside Halles Laissac rather than a restaurant, so it never appears on booking platforms; you eat Thau oysters standing at the marble with a glass of Picpoul.
TipThursday is the late night at Laissac, when the hall runs to 23:00 rather than 20:00.
L'Écailler des Beaux-Arts sells shellfish over ice on Rue de la Cavalerie, a neighbourhood counter north of the boulevards rather than a seafood restaurant.
OrderA shellfish platter of Thau oysters, clams and prawns with bread and butter.
Why locals goA shellfish counter on the Beaux-Arts side of the boulevard, serving the neighbourhood rather than the centre; there is no dining room to speak of, just the counter and the ice.
TipOpen Monday to Saturday until 20:30, later than the covered markets across the boulevard.
Halles Laissac packs 24 traders under a rebuilt rotunda on Place Alexandre Laissac in Montpellier, oyster and tielle counters pouring wine into the evening.
TipThursday is the night to come, when the halles run until 23:00 and the central tables turn into one long apéro.
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