Tiny Urban Kitchen

Exploring Food from Boston to Hong Kong and Beyond

  • About
    • About Me
    • Tiny Urban Kitchen’s Favorite Equipment
    • Press
  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • Asian
      • Chinese
      • Taiwanese
      • Thai
      • Malaysian
      • Japanese
      • Korean
    • Appetizers
    • Soups
    • Salad
    • Pasta
    • Noodles
    • Rice
    • Vegetarian
    • Meat
    • Sweets
      • Baking
      • Ice cream
      • Cookies
    • Misc
    • Kawaii (Cute)
  • Travel / Restaurants
    • United States
      • Boston
        • Jen’s Picks
        • Boston
          • Allston
          • Back Bay
          • Brighton
          • North End
          • South End
        • Cambridge
          • Kendall Square
          • Inman Square
          • Central Square
          • Harvard Square
          • Porter Square
          • North Cambridge
        • Somerville
          • Davis Square
          • Union Square
        • Greater Boston
          • Brookline
          • Arlington
          • Belmont
          • Watertown
          • Newton
          • Lexington
          • Concord
          • Burlington
          • Natick
        • Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Berkshires
      • Vermont
      • Maine
      • New York
      • Washington DC
      • Philadelphia
      • Orlando
      • Chicago
      • Las Vegas
      • California
        • Los Angeles
        • San Francisco
        • Napa
        • Sonoma
      • Seattle
      • Hawaii
    • Canada
      • Montreal
      • Canadian Rockies
      • Toronto
    • Argentina
    • Europe
      • United Kingdom
        • London
        • Oxford
      • Italy
        • Rome
        • Piedmont
      • France
        • Paris
        • Bordeaux
      • Spain
        • Madrid
        • Barcelona
        • Catalonia / San Sebastian / Girona
      • Germany
      • Belgium
        • Brussels
      • Switzerland
      • Greece
      • Finland
      • Norway
      • Denmark
    • Japan
      • Japan Guide
      • Tokyo
      • Osaka
      • Kyoto
    • China (Mainland)
      • Beijing
      • Chengdu
      • Shanghai
      • Shaanxi
      • Shenzhen
      • Xiamen
      • Yunnan
    • Singapore
    • Hong Kong
    • Malaysia
    • Taiwan
    • Thailand
    • Australia/New Zealand
  • Michelin
    • Formerly had a star
    • Michelin Recommended
    • 1 Star
    • 2 Stars
    • 3 Stars
  • Jen’s Eating Guides!
    • Boston Restaurants
    • Boston Dishes
    • Tokyo
    • Hong Kong
    • Las Vegas
    • Napa / Sonoma
    • Taiwan (night markets)
    • Taiwanese (casual eats)
    • Street Foods of Bangkok (Part I)
    • Street Foods of Bangkok (Part II)
    • Kitchen Equipment
  • Trip Reports
    • All trip reports
    • New England
    • New York
    • Washington DC
    • Las Vegas
    • California
    • Canada
    • Europe
    • Florida
    • Japan
    • China

Island Creek Oyster Bar

April 12, 2012 by Jennifer Che 6 Comments


This massive oyster bar right next to Fenway has only been open for a little over a year, yet its success is indisputable.

Island Creek Oyster Bar’s main aim is simple: “to bring the restaurant to the farmer” and to create a collaboration that joins “farmer, chef, and diner in one space.”

A few things help make this work. Most importantly, one of the owners (Skip Bennett) is actually an oyster farmer from Duxbury. He helps supply the restaurant with its amazingly fresh and delicious assortment of raw oysters. Furthermore, the restaurant has relationships with other seafood vendors that enable it to get really, really fresh fish.

Their bar is run by the same guy who runs the bar at Eastern Standard. Both places are known for having excellent drinks.

We came on a Sunday to enjoy their special Sunday brunch menu.

The space is huge, and gorgeous, with tall windows streaming in tons of light from the outside. The oyster bar sits right up front, proudly displaying some of the day’s fresh offerings.
It’s definitely fun to try the oysters. Along with your menu, you get a piece of paper that lists the fresh oyster offerings of the day. Although most of the choices are local (of course including Island Creek Oysters!) you’ll see representation from the West Coast as well.

The oysters were fantastic, and Bryan and I definitely sampled several! They were all super fresh, with various different flavors depending on the region. Definitely try the Island Creek Oyster. Not only is it the cheapest of the bunch (around $2 each), it’s also excellent.
Because it was brunch time, Bloody Marys were popular; it seemed like everyone was ordering one. Bryan thought the drink was only OK, still citing the “make your own Bloody Mary Bar” at East Coast Grill to be one of his favorites.

We came with some friends. Here’s a look at some of the dishes we tried!
Fried Clams (hand-dug in Ipswich) over a bed of French Fries.

Smoked fish (was it trout or salmon? I can’t remember) over pesto, toast, and orange slices

Crab Cake Benny $15 – poached eggs, spinach, and spiced hollandaise

Thoughts
I can see why this place is so popular. The space is really inviting, the service is solid, and the food is all well-executed. Considering the sheer number of people they are trying to serve at once, the consistency of quality is definitely a sign of a tightly run kitchen.

Seafood is definitely their strength, so make sure to at least try some of the oysters, if not one of their fresh fish offerings. Brunch entrees range from $9-$15, lunch from $9-$18, and dinner from $13 to $32. Of course, once you add a drink, a handful of raw oysters, and an appetizer, you’re probably looking at closer to $35-$65 for dinner.

I think this would be a great place to take out-of-town guests. Imagine, sitting virtually right next to Fenway Park while enjoying some of the freshest New England seafood around.

You can’t get more Bostonian than that, can you?

Island Creek Oyster
500 Commonwealth Ave
Boston, MA 02215
Island Creek Oyster Bar on Urbanspoon

©2009-2014 Tiny Urban Kitchen
All Rights Reserved

Filed Under: Boston, Restaurant, Review Tagged With: Seafood

« L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon
Eleven Madison Park “Tour” at Menton »

Recent Posts

  • L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon Hong Kong January 18, 2021
  • Nostalgic Reminders of Home: Five Guys Hong Kong January 6, 2021
  • Elementary Hong Kong January 5, 2021
  • Happy New Year 2021! A Look Back at 2020 January 1, 2021
  • Restaurant Le George Paris December 29, 2020
  • Nice Yakiniku and Fine Wine Hong Kong December 28, 2020
  • Merry Christmas 2020 December 25, 2020
  • Sushi Shikon Autumn 2020 December 24, 2020

Latest Chinese recipes!

Comments

  1. Dave Louie says

    April 12, 2012 at 5:24 pm

    Island Creek is incredible, I’ve only been there once but it was quite a treat. Not only is the food superb but the drinks pairings were right up there as well!

    Reply
  2. LauraGoyer@AnUneducatedPalate says

    April 12, 2012 at 5:49 pm

    That Crab Cake Benny looks fantastic!

    Reply
  3. Judy says

    April 13, 2012 at 2:54 am

    Jen – your pictures and recaps are amazing! Makes me wish I was back in Boston! Btw, the best Bloody Mary is the one drank the day after too much bad tequila.

    Reply
  4. Esther says

    April 13, 2012 at 9:44 am

    I wish I knew about this place when we went to Fenway last Spring! Though it sounds like it might not have been open then. I’m coming for you, crab cake Benny! 🙂

    Reply
  5. Colleen says

    April 15, 2012 at 5:19 pm

    Those crab cakes are making my mouth water. I can only imagine how good they are with a runny egg!

    Reply
  6. plumbing supplies says

    July 3, 2012 at 5:12 am

    Oyster knives are unique in the world of cutlery. Chefs frequently spend a small fortune on different high quality knives to optimize their performance in chopping, mincing, filleting, slicing, and dicing different types of meats, vegetables, and fruits.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Welcome to Tiny Urban Kitchen!

JenChe

Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am a Boston to Hong Kong transplant, born and raised in Ohio with parents from Taiwan. Feel free to head on over to the About page if you want to learn more about me, or just explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Archives

Categories

Awards

Saveur
PFB

BostonGlobe

Most Recent Posts

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon Hong Kong

L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon Hong Kong

Five Guys Hong  Kong

Nostalgic Reminders of Home: Five Guys Hong Kong

Elementary HK

Elementary Hong Kong

Happy New Year 2021! A Look Back at 2020

Restaurant Le George Paris

Restaurant Le George Paris

Great Yakiniku and Fine Wine

Nice Yakiniku and Fine Wine Hong Kong

Merry Christmas 2020

Sushi Shikon Autumn 2020

Foodhallen + Amsterdam Eats and Museums

4850 Restaurant Amsterdam

4850 Amsterdam – Nordic Inspired Creative Food

France!

Yam'Tcha Paris
David Toutain Paris
Divellec Paris
Breizh Cafe Paris
Clamato Paris

Kawaii! (Cute)

Norway!

Food Advertising by logo

Chinese Recipes

Okra with Chicken
Food Advertising by logo

Shop & Support us!

Spain!

Girona Spain
Amelia San Sebastian

Japan!

Bulgari Il Ristorante Luca Fantin
Sukiyaki Imafuku Tokyo
Sushi Ishimaya Tokyo
Disney Sea Tokyo
Tempura Fukamachi Tokyo
Shinjuku Gyoen

Cambridge restaurants

Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress