Half-shell flights of Kumamoto, Olympia, Shigoku and Pacific oysters from Hood Canal and Willapa Bay. Briny in winter, melon-sweet in summer, eaten standing up.
Where to eat it: 4 restaurants across 1 city.
The Olympia is the only oyster native to Washington, harvested by Squaxin and Suquamish people for generations and prized for a coppery finish the size of a thumbnail. By 1900 over-fishing had collapsed the wild beds; growers introduced Pacific oysters from Japan in 1902 to rebuild the industry, then Kumamotos in the 1940s. Taylor Shellfish Farms, founded in 1890 on Samish Bay, now grows all four commercial species across leases from Hood Canal to Willapa Bay and runs three Seattle oyster bars at Melrose, Pioneer Square and Queen Anne. The Walrus and the Carpenter opened in Old Ballard in 2010 and codified the local format: a wood-and-marble bar, a chalkboard listing 12 to 16 oysters by farm, and a kitchen pulling lardo and rye toast against the brine. There is no better cheap thrill in the city than an oyster happy hour from 16:00 to 18:00.
Common allergens: Shellfish
Tip from the editors. Buy oysters the day you shuck them and keep cup-down in the fridge under a damp cloth. If you smell anything but the sea, throw it away.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
The Walrus and the Carpenter in Seattle's Ballard is Renee Erickson's 2010 oyster room: a wood and marble bar, a chalkboard of 14 oysters, and a kitchen that built a city's seafood vocabulary.
Signature: Oysters on the half shell, Steak tartare, Fried oysters
Order: A flight of Hood Canal and Samish Bay oysters with the steak tartare and rye toast.
Tip: Walk-ins from 17:00 on Tuesday to Thursday; Friday and Saturday line up by 16:45 or take Resy at 16:30.
Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar in Seattle's Pioneer Square is the on-counter outpost of the 135-year Samish Bay farm: half-shells, geoduck crudo, manila clams, all from one supplier.
Signature: Half-shell oysters, Geoduck crudo, Manila clams
Order: A dozen Olympias and Kumamotos from the farm, with a glass of grower's Champagne.
Tip: Happy hour 16:00 to 17:00 drops the oysters to $1.75 each; the Occidental location is the largest and quietest of the three.
Taylor Shellfish Oyster Bar Melrose in Seattle's Capitol Hill is the Capitol Hill outpost inside Melrose Market: a marble bar, Samish Bay oysters, a clam pot on every other table.
Signature: Half-shell oysters, Steamer clams, Shucked geoduck
Order: Half-shell oyster flight with the steamed manilas in white wine, butter and parsley.
Tip: Walk in for the marble bar; the back room books on Tock and turns slower.
Shaker + Spear in Seattle's Belltown is the Kimpton Palladian seafood room: a kitchen working off the Pike Place fishmongers and Hood Canal growers down the bay.
Signature: Whole rockfish, Dungeness crab, Oysters Rockefeller
Order: The whole roasted rockfish with brown butter and capers, deboned tableside.
Tip: The two top by the kitchen pass is the best seat for solos; happy hour 16:00 to 18:00 with $2 oysters.
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