The First Oysters of the Season at Danton's

By Katharine Shilcutt Mon., Dec. 31 2012 at 9:00 AM

Photos by Katharine Shilcutt

Not a bad meal for $5.50.

While Gulf appellation oysters aren't here quite yet, I couldn't help myself from indulging in some fat Gulf beauties during last week's cold snap. Drizzly and rainy equals perfect oyster-eating weather, in my opinion, as it's exactly these two meteorological qualities which are responsible for plumping up the oysters just off our Texas shores.

I headed to Danton's with a group of friends who simply wanted Cajun food that night, but sneaked in a little ulterior motive of my own by choosing a place which always has some of the most reliably good oysters in Houston. And Danton's did not disappoint.

Oyster stew with tasso.

Along with the platter of enormous oysters above (including a rarely seen four-bite oyster), I also indulged in a cup of Danton's creamy oyster stew with tasso. The smoky tasso meat normally does a pretty good job of cutting through all the cream, milk and butter in the stew, but I found that it needed a bit more Tabasco this time than usual. Nevertheless, it was a welcome accompaniment to the cool oysters on that cold night.

Danton's offers a generous happy hour deal on Mondays -- as in, tonight -- if you want to enjoy a plate of buttery Gulf oysters for even less than they usually cost. Every other day of the week, Danton's oysters are $11 a dozen -- already cheap. But on Monday evenings from 4 to 8 p.m., a dozen oysters on the half shell are only $5.50.

The happy hour deal only runs in the bar area, but it's a large and well-appointed bar that's done up in dark mahogany and leather. Again: perfect oyster-eating environs. It's also a great place to enjoy some Sauvignon Blanc -- an ideal wine pairing -- with your oysters; Danton's has three to choose from by the glass.

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Danton's Gulf Coast Seafood Kitchen

4611 Montrose Blvd., Houston, TX

Category: Restaurant

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Bolillo

I went to Danton's last night to relive my NOLA days. It turned out to be a murky rememberance in the culinary realm. The oysters on the half shell were adequate,but the oyster stew was less pleasing. After one bite it could be determined that I was served a watered down version of their standard stew. Adding to the stews blandness was the unseasoned oysters and a complete lack of tasso. The dish in essence was butter water. Very dissapointing to say the least. Leaving the stew aside, I sampled my friends gumbo. Here again there were fundamental technical errors. The roux had clearly been burned leading to a pervasive bitterness that let nothing else in the dish come through. I wanted to give the establishment the benefit of the doubt by chalking it up as a bad day, but too many rudimentary execution pitfalls were made for this to be the case.

Andrew Puls

4 dozen is where i start to feel some pain. And yes, eating them alive makes them so much more tasty when you suck thier soul into your belly!

Melissa Marie Young

1 Like

Not anymore: I learned that an oyster can remain alive on the half-shell once opened for up to a week. Meaning... THEY ARE STILL ALIVE WHEN YOU ARE EATING THEM.

FattyFatBastard topcommenter

Already trying to gather the troops here for this evening. Good call!

NoisePodium Records

We'd rather not say.

Adam Roberts

I did 3 doz once. Woke up in the middle of the night and puked.

Belinda Barrientos

1 doz. (darn iPhone)

Belinda Barrientos

1 fox

Amy Ero

3 dozen....especially if they're accompanied by beer

Patricia Thündercat Oun

Are they safe? I am still iffy about oily oysters

Nathan Baxter Simar

Zero. But they do look good (on the outside)...

Dantons

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drricky

@EatingOurWords did I read that right? I thought $5.50 was the happy hour price.

EatingOurWords

@drricky You are correct; I mistyped. Mea culpa!

kae71463

Are the oysters $5.50 a dozen all day every day or just during happy hour? Thanks!

kshilcutt moderator editortopcommenter

@kae71463 They're $5.50 a dozen during happy hour. I misspoke originally. Mea culpa!

kae71463

@kshilcutt Bummer. They are $5.95 at Pappdeaux all day Mon-Thu, so I will just stick with there. I knew the $2.75 was too good to be true.

Jalapeno

@kae71463 @kshilcutt The oysters at the Pappas places aren't as good as the oysters at Dantons, but they are priced well. The Danton's $5.50 deal is only on Mondays and only in the oyster bar. I don't know where they get them, but they are superior in quality to others I've had. Oysters are 1/2 price daily during happy hour at Denis' Seafood House, also only in the bar.

Kylejack topcommenter

@kshilcutt Dang, when you had it as $2.75 I was about to go severely murder some oysters. 5.50 is still pretty darn good.

montemaggiore

I'm doing a magical oystery tour tonight before the party: Danton's for these big Gulf badboys, then later to Michiru for the sainted Kumamoto oysters I've been reading about. I shall have lead in my pencil and happiness in my eyes by the time the clock strikes witching hour.

aegeansiren

@montemaggiore 'Magical Oystery Tour' , hah, what playful verbosity my good MM! However, en route to Michiru I would include a quick stop by Cove, for yet another species of delicate bivalve; he had four types on offer last week.