100 Favorite Dishes: No. 4, Oysters on the Half Shell at Casey's

By Katharine Shilcutt Mon., Sep. 26 2011 at 4:00 PM

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FattyFatBastard

I just saw a rebuttal saying that ambience and atmosphere make this dish better. I find that contradictory to this entire list. If that were the case, we'd be seeing a lot more Rainbow Lodge, V&A's, Baba Yega and Brenners on the Bayou offerings, instead of taco trucks, hot dog stands, etc. This was a list of simply the best 100 dishes in Houston (area). Raw oysters and nice scenery have no rhyme or reason being on this list at all, much less at #4.

Wyatt

But Galveston's not even in Houston and how could this be you and Robb Walsh have offended my geographic sensibilities for the last time *puts gun in mouth, pulls trigger*

Megan

@Wyatt: *snerk*

Next year, Katharine, forget this "Best in Houston" name. You need to call the list by its proper name: 100 Favorite Dishes in the Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land Metropolitan Statistical Area. Because WE MUST BE LITERAL ABOUT EVERYTHING.

FattyFatBastard

Is it their cocktail sauce? Do they get a special horseradish? To me a dish shouldn't be a food that's available at dozens of places around town. Unless Casey's has a unique vendor.

Jscarbor

I agree, oysters? This is the 2nd time someone at HP has put raw oysters near the top of the list I believe. Are these oysters better than Tony Mandola's, Dantons, even pappadeaux? Don't get me wrong, I love oysters in the winter, its as comforting as a bowl of soup.Its just kind of pathetic that raw oysters are the 4th best dish you had in Houston area this year.

Megan

What's wrong with oysters? Yeah, they're simple, but sometimes simplicity speaks for itself. Would you rather she put a completely baroque, over-the-top dish up here just to please you?

Megan

Full disclosure: I am not an oyster person. I will eat oysters, but they are not my favorite bivalve in the world. (Give me steamed mussels any day.) However, there is something to be said for eating seafood as close to the source as possible. The best seafood I ever had was at Mont St. Michel in a little restaurant overlooking the Atlantic. The prawns and clams were prepared simply; a squirt of lemon was all they needed to shine. I firmly believe that the fresher the product, the better it tastes. Brittanie talked about that above, and Anthony Bourdain has written about his "madeleine moment" in France.

Also, your comparison to vodka is not analogous. Vodka is not supposed to have any taste; its translation from the Slavic languages is "little water". In that case, yeah, I'm not going to pay for Belvedere or Grey Goose when Smirnoff or Stolichnaya will work just as well, especially if I'm mixing it with other ingredients. Oysters are each going to have a different taste based on where the bed is located and the different minerals it's digested. This goes back to the discussion earlier this year regarding Gulf oyster appellations - there are some people that are willing to pay extra money to sample oysters from different beds and experience the different taste of each oyster and some who would rather just buy the sack, mineral content and salinity of the oyster be damned.

I keep going back to the scene in "Ratatouille" where Anton Ego eats the titular dish and is transported to his childhood. In this case, it's not a fancy dish with bells and whistles, foie gras torchons and truffles that he raves about; it's a humble peasant dish. Food has the ability to take us to different places, and sometimes it's the simplest dishes that stick with us more than the really fancy ones.

Jscarbor

Product

worble wookie

is this a "dish" or a "product?"

Wyatt

If I may, I think the point some people are making is that raw oysters are like vodka - at the high-quality end of the spectrum, there's not much difference between different providers.

I'm inclined to see the other side of the argument, though - that a little extra freshness does make a difference.

Scott218

Definitely better than pappadeux. Pappadeaux will insert the oysters vertically into a mound of crushed ice, an inexcusable offense. I think it also speaks wonders that a dish so simple can be #4 on someone's list. Oysters stand on their own and don't need to have the "Food Network" treatment.

Dr. Ricky

They've quickly halted this practice at least a year ago.

Brittanie Shey

I think it has to do with the freshness of the oysters, literally coming "FOB" in Galveston. I can honestly say the second-best* raw oysters I've ever had in my life were at Casey's. I even found a pearl in one. The experience is enhanced by sitting on the patio and looking out at the people cruising the Seawall, surfing the piers, etc.

*The best oysters I ever had were also from Galvestion, consumed on the beach, having been delivered straight from Pier 19 in an igloo cooler. We used screw drivers to open them, and they cringed when squirted with lemon juice. It's hard to get them that fresh even in Houston proper.

Tim

I try to avoid being negative in these comments, but I have to ask what is the deal with the crushed ice on the oysters? If I were served a dozen that had ice on them, I'd eat 'em but I wouldn't order another dozen.

Fred

Agree 100% - No crushed ice on the oysters!

Katharine Shilcutt

I might have also been hoping that no one would notice the ice... ;)

Cheflambo

I agree -- that ice should NOT be there.

Katharine Shilcutt

No, you've got a good point. This is the only photo I could find of my own that I took at Casey's. I should have gone back and gotten a better one, given that this tray is literally the only time I've ever received oysters at Casey's with ice on them...