You know, there's a reason for everything our parents always told us while growing up. Simple quotes and admonitions like "An apple a day keeps the doctor away; You are what you eat; Think about the starving people in Africa," or, on the funner, lighter side, "How desperate was that first man to have consumed an oyster?"

Old wive's tales? Absolutely not! Who can deny the simple yet profound wisdom and insights found in all of them? That's the reason for the last decade or so, I've been taking at least one shot of apple cider vinegar a day, and when it comes to the subject of consuming oysters, let's just say I haven't always been such an eager and willing participant! For oyster connoisseurs who have been throwing these amorphous blobs down for so long they disappear down the hatch as naturally and enthusiastically as a burger and fries, the related statement above may be an issue you just can't relate to. But think about it. Say you've never been to an oyster bar before. Say you've never had them pop and bubble-open over hot coals with shoyu, Tabasco, and lemon. Say you've never experienced the luxury of someone shucking and presenting them open-faced on a beautiful iced platter, with a ponzu vinaigrette, shredded green onion, and daikon/pepper oroshi. Nor have you ever washed them down with a giant mug of draft beer. I mean, you're walking down the beach at low tide, and notice what looks to be a cluster of rock/shell hybrids, with barnacles and seaweed growing out of them. You pry one loose, but an evolutionary monkey snatches it from your hand, stands homo erectus on two feet, breaks it open with a big rock, and out spluges a wet, jiggling brain without wrinkles. Want some?

To tell you the truth, I couldn't even get myself to touch the stuff raw until quite recently, perhaps only a few years before doing this site! I could handle smaller ones, hibachi-cooked to a crisp edge, drowned in shoyu, Tabasco, and lemon, but even at that, my limit was only a few pieces on any given night. Raw was simply out of the question. It took a fine Hawaii Regional Cuisine restaurant, lots of pretty garnishes, and a tiny species called Kumamoto to finally draw me out of my impoverished shell. A few taunts of "Chicken" also helped, I must say.

If you're anything like me, the guy who eats oysters but is not particularly fond of nor very experienced with them, you'd do yourself a great favor by visiting Broadway Seafood and Oyster Bar on Keeaumoku St. After all, if you're gonna give it a shot, may as well give it the best shot possible, and if there's any place on the island I'd recommend for raw, fresh-shucked, beautifully-presented oysters in all their natural glory, then hands down, it's right here at Broadway!

That being said, let's get a few things out of the way before expounding any further on the subject. For location's sake, it's at the old Go Shi Go Noodle house, just above the Nail Salon in the pic, and sandwiched between Nihao and Ireh restaurants. Parking is found either on the street or in the maze of lots connecting all the restaurants and shops in the area. 

Broadway by night

Inside, it's simple and minimalistic, but classy and elegant at the same time. A long counter with bar seating is available, while two separate sections of tables make up the main dining areas. Being byob for the time being, we've seen several groups of rather boisterous folks having fun and enjoying themselves immensely, coolers on the side, but be fore-warned - they may have acquired their liquor license by the time you next arrive!

 
Inside shot, bar area

 
Inside shot, main area

 
Inside shot, smaller section

Though you will see many different varieties of oyster by the time we're through, do keep in mind that they aren't the only things on the menu, not by a long shot! Besides regular menu items, and because they only opened recently, there are a number of "Coming Soon" notations here and there, although they could possibly be available by your next visit! These include an ahi carpaccio ($9), a spicy ahi poke stack ($9), an octopus carpaccio ($9), and a platter of manchiego, goat, and brie cheeses ($10), all starter/appetizer dishes.

One item recently pulled from "Coming Soon" status and now in the "Newly Arrived" category is a seafood doria, decently priced at $9:

 Seafood Doria

The description on the menu was "Baked with bechamel sauce and cheese over a seafood garlic butter rice." Why, that sounded absolutely divine in a super-rich, super-tasty, even greasy kind of way! However, it was a huge let-down as far as that goes. The cheese and cream-filled layer on-top was a bit too thick and excessively on the creamy side without much actual flavor, while the rice below didn't carry much taste, either! I was expecting soaked grains that would border-line make me sick with buttery, cheesy, hyper-rich flavors, but the rice was so clean and pure, it seemed right out of the Tiger rice pot! I know the Chef/Owner and most of the employees here are actually from Japan (although Chef has worked in New York restaurants and aims to duplicate New York-style dishes!), which explains the cleaner, lighter, and more delicate presentations, but this was a little too little for me!

 
Seafood Doria, underneath!

To be fair, it just became available that night, and our kind waitress said the seafood curry gratin over rice ($8) was similiar and much more preferable to her. The relatively blander taste contrasted sharply with another dish named, quite aptly, "Vampire Killer!"

 
Vampire Killer

Presented much in the same fashion as escargot, these tiny pockets contained two or three whole garlic cloves each (thus the name "Vampire Killer!"), then were filled-in with some type of panko/batter and anchovy sauce. Texture and appearance-wise, this would have met the greasy-rich requirements I was looking for in our seafood doria above, but at the same time, it was somehow surprisingly mellow and not too over-bearing, considering its contents. 

Check out these whole cloves of garlic underneath:

 
Be careful!

Besides the seafood doria, there is one other dish that struck a negative chord, and that was our lobster cobb salad. While garden salads are $5, caprese salads are $6, and ceasar salads, $9, our lobster cobb salad came in at an alarming $18, so quite naturally, we were expecting the world! I could just taste those fresh, plump, juicy morsels of lobster meat drenched in some type of tangy-sweet dressing, in between layers of bright, fancy greens. While being presented, however, both Kumi and I instantly knew something had gone undeniably awry.

 
Lobster Cobb Salad

It came in a huge bowl and looked fantastic, for sure, with bacon, boiled egg, avocado, plum tomato, cubed chicken breast, crumbled cheese, and various types of crispy greens, but an awful smell emanating from the lobster hit us like a brick wall, even before reaching the table! I mean, this is the kind of dish most folks would have sent back immediately, but I guess I'm just not the kind of guy who likes doing that sort of thing, especially when the Chef and waitstaff are so nice! Try as we did, we could only stomach a couple of small lobster pieces each, leaving the rest untouched. And to make matters worse, the house-made dressing was entirely bitter and highly unpleasant in taste. Just not a good night for lobster cobb salad at all! 

But that's about it for the negative's. I'm definitely ready to move on. From here on out, it's anywhere between good and fantastic, and their fried calamari platter ($10) definitely falls into the latter class!

 
Fried Calamari

Battered and deep-fried to perfection, the coating carried an almost tempura-like delicateness, but was naturally a bit sturdier, its crunch a bit stronger. Inside, the squid itself was as tender, fresh, and sweet as it gets, while a tangy, house-made tomato dipping sauce was the perfect complement, coming smooth, sophisticated, and perfectly balanced in every way.

Much the same goes for their mussels, which Kumi insisted upon:

 
Mussels in Tomato Sauce

Absolutely spectacular, they were! The mussels were undoubtedly fresh and cooked to perfection, while the tomato sauce it swam in was, like the tomato sauce above, masterful in its harmonious balance of flavors and textures. It was sweet, tangy, savory, and singing with a natural tomato taste, while the silky consistency gave it an ample look and feel of complete luxuriousness.

And finally, before getting to our oysters, here's a look at a Broadway-style pescatore ($14):

 
Perfectly Al Dente!

 
Shot from above

Pasta choices are all very reasonably priced. In addition to pescatore, there's a vongole ($12) with clams, garlic, and butter in a white wine sauce and also a spaghetti caprese eggplant ($12), with tomato sauce, fresh basil, and mozzarella cheese. But as for the above-pictured pasta, it was simply amazing. Besides the great sauce, every piece of seafood - mussels, squid, clams, shrimp - was cooked perfectly, as were the al dente noodles. It was light, refreshing, elegant, and a dish I'd recommend to anyone.

The rest of the menu includes a soup of the day as well as chowders of New England and Manhattan-styles (all $4); jumbo shrimp cocktail ($12), pepper-seared ahi w/genevese sauce ($12), and an Atlantic salmon meuniere ($12) I came very close to ordering.

But enough of this and such. Let's get down to some serious oyster talk! And for you beginning or aspiring oyster fans, there are a handful of options here besides going completely au naturel - try 'em with curry, with panko and garlic butter, deep-fried, smoked w/cheese and crackers (coming soon - can't wait!), or the always popular Rockefeller style:

 
Oysters Rockefeller

The first time I had this dish, it came with bacon bits and a thick coat of crispy breadcrumbs, so I was actually a bit disappointed with this version, which came with cheese, spinach, and a garlic butter sauce. The consistency on-top was soft and chewy instead of crispy and breadcrumb-starchy, which I was expecting. I'm really not sure which style is more accepted for this particular dish, but I can only assume it's the one presented today, since one of the aims of the Chef here is to correctly duplicate true New York dishes. However, and whatever the case... I still wanted my bacon bits and crisped breadcrumb!

It's completely your own prerogitive to request oysters baked, pan-fried, deep-fried, grilled, smoked, or otherwise cooked in whatever fashion you want, but my own personal epipheny on this particular series of visits to Broadway was that, yes, no matter what, oysters in their most natural form, meaning un-cooked, are indeed the best way to go. Whaaat? Five years ago, I would have been aghast at the statement, but I guess my new-found preferences have elevated me, in a way, to somewhat of an oyster purist, albeit of the first degree white belt variety!

 
Kumamoto's, Miyagi's, Penn Cove Select's, and Totem Point's

A skosh pricey at $9 per 3 pieces (1 type of oyster), $16 per half-dozen (2 pieces each of 3 different varieties), and $30 per dozen (3 pieces each of 4 different varieties), but boy, are they something else! Some, as you can see from the shot above, are also much smaller than others, such as Penn Cove, Kumamoto, and Stellar Bay varieties, so if size matters to you, just consult your waitstaff.

Truth be told, on our first two visits, I searched high and low through my limited and meagerly-skilled palate, trying to find any distinct smell, any texture change, any kind of identifying factor that would help me differentiate between the various types of oysters so beautifully arrange on our platter, but for the life of me, as much as I tried, I could not detect even the tiniest degree of difference between one oyster and another outside of size and appearance! Amateur! For this reason, I'll give you Chef's quick descriptions listed on the menu for the four varieties found above, beginning with:

• Kumamoto Oyster (Washington State)
  Sweet, salty, rich-flavored oyster. Most recognized among oyster lovers. Japanese species raised in clear fresh Washington State waters. 

• Miyagi Oyster (Washington State)
  Mild and creamy 

• Penn Cove Select Oyster (Washington State)
  Firm with a crisp, briny flavor leaving a fresh after-taste 

• Totem Point Oyster
  Not on menu; special order

Our second time around, we stuck with a half-dozen platter, letting the Chef decide on our choice of oysters once again:

 
Miyagi's, Penn Cove's, and Stellar Bay's

Turns out, the platter consisted of Kumamoto's and Miyagi's, as upon our first night, as well as a newcomer called Stellar Bay Gold Oysters:

• Stellar Bay Gold Oyster (Washington)
  Larger version of Kushi oyster; Kushi oyster is sweet in flavor and buttery in texture, appealing to both oyster enthusiasts and beginners.

As stated, I could not tell a single lick of difference between any of them! Turns out, however, there was a simple and pretty darn laughable (not in a good way!) reason for the foggy palate - I just wasn't eating them in true, lobster-purist fashion! I suddenly realized by our third visit, and probably because of my ingrained sense of aversion to raw oysters in the past, that I was drowning them all in as much ginger and cocktail sauce as I could! No wonder I couldn't tell the difference! At the time, it actually didn't seem like much sauce at all, since the two sauces provided are presented in the tiniest of portions, with serving spoons almost the size of earwax diggers, and outright dainty compared to the shooters we often see in restaurants.

 
Complimentary bread and sauces

I was once again determined to give my oyster-tasting skills another shot, this time without any hint of sauce at all besides a splash of lemon:

 
Penn Cove's, Miyagi's, and Sunset Beach's

First-up were the Penn Cove Select's that seem in relatively good supply here, and I was pleasantly surprised to find a strong and immediate impression in my head - super-sharp, crisp, and clean; very silky down the throat. Hey, I finally sensed something! I was also over-joyed to find an equally clear and vivid description from the Miyagi's, which were much creamier in both texture and taste. Right then and there, it was the beginning of a new oyster dawn for me personally, and I suddenly realized that oyster tasting was for everyone, not just the pro's!

Our last choice was a Sunset Beach Oyster from Canada, which was different in its own way:

• Sunset Beach Oyster (Canada)
  Nice and briny in taste and firm in texture 

My immediate impression, in a description I can't really explain further but was nevertheless extremely palpable, was "meatier." Not nearly as sharp as the Penn Cove's and not nearly as creamy as the Miyagi's, it was robust and full in flavor, and more savory, I guess you could say, then sweet.

It took three at-bat's, but at least I didn't strike out! Only wish I didn't use any sauces from the very beginning! Judging from my last visit, it really is clear how the various types of oysters are so different from one another, and it's interesting and fun coming to each new and successive conclusion, like a wine or beer tasting!

Yes, we did experience a few roadblocks here and there, but also some extremely impressive high points, as well. Make absolutely sure you take the oyster challenge correctly by discarding the sauces, and you'll put your inner connoisseur to the test!

Have yourself a grand and fantastic month!

Take care, and Aloha till next time!

Stan

Broadway Seafood and Oyster Bar
903 Keeaumoku St in McCully/Moiliili
946-7888
11am-2:30pm and 5pm-11pm Monday-Friday; 5pm-12am Saturday-Sunday
Parking in lot behind restaurant or on street