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Oyster is an oyster and seafood bar in the old historical Vancouver stock exchange building.
This tiny restaurant creates an intimate dining experience where you almost feel part of a private function. If you do not have reservations, be prepared to go somewhere else as it fills quickly, and if you do have reservations, please honour them so that you do not deprive someone else the opportunity to dine there. There is not a TV behind the bar, which may be a pleasant surprise for some.
Food plates are small, yet creative. A bit on the pricey side, but the food specials and oyster happy hours can make the experience a reasonable value. The Dungeness crab special on a Saturday night was a decent surprise. Service is adequate, and the servers do appear to appreciate the food. They can be on the slow side when there are several orders of oysters to shuck.
We will return!
I work next door to Oyster and go all the time after work for some Oysters and wine. They have a great wine selection for such a small restaurant. The ambiance and food cant be beat.
The Salmon and Crab cakes are favorites and of course the Oysters are fantastic, always very fresh and tasty.
When it is busy the service can be a bit slow so its not a quick in and out thing but more of an experience.
I went the other day with a girlfriend and the place was packed so I definitely recommend making reservations, my best hidden secret seams to be out.
Being HUGE oyster fanatics my GF and I were really looking forward to our 4:30 reservation on a Tuesday. After locating this place and finding parking (no easy feat) we walked into what appeared to be the backroom of a grocery store with a red curtain separating the 2 spaces. This place seats about 15 people MAX including the bar. There was only 1 person working! This poor girl was taking orders, making drinks, bussing tables, and shucking oysters! We knew from the moment we walked in that this was going to be bad. This place has 0.50 cent oysters from 4-5 Mon - Thurs. The problem is because they only have 1 person working there, they only allow a dozen oysters ordered per table at a time WHEN THE SERVER HAS TIME TO GET TO YOU. So you know where this is going. We got there at 4:30, ordered at 4:45, and received 12 oysters at 5pm! That was it! BOOM.
Besides that, the bottled beer was warm and the oysters looked like they were shucked with a drill... mangled. No mention about what type of oysters they were or anything. Just a plate of mangled oysters.
At one point we asked her for a couple Caesars (apparently a house specialty). She gave us this look and LITERALLY told us that it was a bad idea to order them because it would take too long!!! OMG. This is the point where we threw our hands up and started looking for the hidden cameras.
If you are oyster fanatics like we are (or even if you're not), do yourself a favor... DO NOT GO HERE. Check out Rodney's in Yaletown or Chewie's in Kits or La Brasserie on Davie (West End). Other than that, do what I did, learn to shuck yourself you lazy bastard, ha!
BTW: We are huge foodies and do not unjustly chastise restaurants.
Oyster is an intimate stylish bar with food in the heart of downtown. Cool jazz is on the sound system and the decor is mostly reds and darks. The food selection is limited but includes a variety of freshly shucked oysters. The succinct wine list is well chosen. The oyster pot pie was chuck full of oysters. The side spinach salad was very fresh and perfectly dressed. For $10, the pot pie/spinach salad combo was just the right size for lunch and good value. Service was friendly and efficient. There are only about 20 seats so don't go there with a crowd. A great spot to drop in for a drink and a light meal.
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