Eventide Oyster Co.
Fried Oyster Bun – Tartar, Pickled Vegetables
Buttermilk Fried Chicken Bun – Ranch, Pickled Watermelon, Coleslaw
Peekytoe Crab Bun – Mayo, Lemon, Dill
Eventide Brown Butter Lobster Roll
Dashi Chowder – Miso, Seafood, Potato, Charred Onion, Biscuit
Coconut Choco-Taco – Buckwheat, Almond / Ice Cream Sandwich / Whoopie Pie
Rhubarb Pie – Sweet Cream
Arguably Portland’s busiest restaurant, a line usually present at the 11am opening with a wait list ranging 15-60 minutes frequently stretching the next dozen hours, Eventide Oyster Co. is owned by the same team behind Hugo’s Restaurant and The Honey Paw, and although originally formed as a more casual spot or place to stop for cocktails and oysters before dinner next door there is no doubt the little-sister has grown up nicely, evidence of a role-reversal even playing out on Tuesday when diners entered Hugo’s in wait of a table next door.
Fast paced and frenetic, several varieties of briny bivalves being shucked rapidly for diners inside, outdoors, at communal tables or the bar, Eventide’s menu additionally runs the gamut of upscale Seafood selections and a few land-based animals, the sliders and sandwiches particularly popular with a few “staples” and others that depend on whatever is being brought fresh to shore.
Spending a 55-minute wait wandering the city, Coffee at Bard quickly passing the time, return to Eventide was requested by way of a cellphone paging system and ironically sat at a table with a duo from Ohio the conversation was almost instantaneous, the server taking orders from both parties with food quickly expedited from a kitchen that moves at an almost unparalleled speed.
Much friendlier than the environment at The Honey Paw, a soundtrack spinning Dylan during much of the meal, course one featured three ‘buns’ with fresh-picked Peekytoe composed as Crab Salad proving exceedingly light with strongly sweet notes while the Buttermilk Chicken and Oyster were each fried crisp to play elegantly off of their respective pickled fruits or vegetables and tangy sauce.
Celebrated for novel takes on New England Classics, course two appropriately presented two of Eventide Oyster Co.’s most famous items, and although the chowder likely will not convert traditionalists the medium-thin potage is undeniably delicious with plenty of seafood accentuated by caramelized onions, the infamous Lobster Roll an even more impressive three-bites that actually may be good enough to warrant both the wait and steep price-per-bite cost.
Rarely one to forgo desserts, the menu at Eventide riffing playful in parts while Chocolate Whoopie Pies and a Slice of the day are also offered, suffice it to say that the suggestion to “just get it” for a $6 Ice Cream Sandwich should be heeded while the Coconut Choco-Taco takes frozen novelties to new heights with a clever shell of Buckwheat and Almonds studding the top.
www.eventideoysterco.com
