Oyster Hut

I saw on Facebook about the opening of a Japanese restaurant specializing in oyster dishes and was curious to give it a try the other night with my friends S and J. There’s no lack of oyster bars around town but I couldn’t recall one in an izakaya setting and focuses on ingredients directly imported from Japan. 

The place was located in one of those commercial buildings in Causeway Bay filled with restaurants and bars. It was packed when we arrived – even with a reservation we had to wait a little before a table was made available to us. The bright décor with open kitchen on one side, bar on another with both regular and sunken table seats in the cozy dining area, reminded me of those Japanese fish market shokudo. They even came with the TV showing Japanese programs. Near the entrance was the ice-bath where the seafood ingredients were displayed. There were oysters, of course, but also other fish and shellfish. 

Of course this being an oyster house oysters took up a couple of pages in the menu – one could have that shucked and served raw with several different types depending on market availability, but they also had a few cooked oyster dishes. And we started with just that, with the olive oil-poached oysters served as our appetizer, with the firm texture paired with the rich taste of olive oil made this a good one to go with a simple beer. Tamago-yaki is a staple izakaya item, and this one was made soft and wobbly with melted cheese filling and plenty of scallion and mentaiko mayo on top. 

The sashimi platter came with an okay selection of seafood items – my favorites were the scallops and tachiuo (beltfish). We also ordered a few yakitori dishes which were alright, with the oysters and bacon the more interesting other rather than the usual suspects of tsukune, wings and giblets. 

Then the rest was all oysters. First was the traditional ganganyaki, with the oysters placed in a covered tin container and steamed with sake on a portable gas stove. Once cooked (after 10 minutes or so), the oysters were served with the top shell removed by the wait-staff. The juice from the oysters and the sake was so tasty that the plump oysters (with the delicate texture from the gentle steaming) didn’t need any additional seasonings. 

Kaki Dote-nabe (oyster hotpot) is probably more suited for cold winter nights but then there’s nothing more classic then oysters cooked in a casserole with vegetables and miso paste on the side. The regular size was said to be for two but I reckon it would feed up to 4 persons well, especially we did pick a few additional items to add on, on top of cabbages, leeks, shungiku, mushrooms (shiitake, enoki and shimeji) that came as standard ingredients. And we finished with grilled onigiri, served in cylinder shape on a bamboo skewer with a piece of oyster wrapped inside, as our last course right before the restaurant had to close at 10pm. 

The place has a drink menu as long as their food one and after the beer, we went for a sake bottle said to be brewed specifically to go with seafood – and appropriately named “Shell Lovers”. The shirokoji (white variant of the starter yeast which is more common in shochu) gave the sake the more wine-like character with nice acidity, refreshingly floral and mildly sweet. Good summer drink, with or without the shells. 

When? May 14 2021
Where? Kagura, 10/F The L Square, 459-461 Lockhart Road, Causeway Bay
Menu Highlights? Kaki Ganganyaki - Steamed Oysters in a Tin Can
Drink?
Fukucho Shell Lovers Shirokoji Junmai, Imada Shuzo Honten, Hiroshima Prefecture
富久長 シェルラバーズ 白麹純米火入 広島県今田酒造本店
Web: (Facebook) www.facebook.com/kagurahut