Blue Plate Oysterette

For a die-hard Bostonian, Blue Plate Oysterette is a “taste” of home.

BYO White Wine ($10 corkage)

Tania – our excellent server who lived in Boston during her college years – she knows her fried clams

Oysters on the half shell – Paradise Cove (Ca), Endless Summer (Baja), Barron Point (Washington) and Malpeque (PEI)

Grilled Prawns Cocktail (served cold) with Cocktail Sauce

Ipswich Fried Clams – I order a half order at a time so the clams stay hot for the entire order. This was a half order? I deep-sixed the other half order and was only charged for just the half.

Notice the plump belly of the clam – these are true Ipswich clams with the bellies

Cornmeal Crusted Trout on a Hoagie Roll with lettuce, tomato, onion and creole mayo and tartar sauce served on the side – portion size is huge!

Fries served with the trout

Huge portions, fun, good food closest to a New England Clam Shack and perfect around 3:30 pm before the crowds descend.

Blue Plate Oysterette

O.K. I am a sucker for raw oysters and fried clams with the bellies. We tend to order our favorites and not mess with a good thing.

The room – casual

Ale for John

Champagne for me

Oysters – Wellfleet, Island Creek, Fanny Bay, Del Sol

Fish Tacos – grilled mahi mahi, cilantro aioli, diced tomatoes, guacamole

Fried Clams – Whole Belly Ipswich Clams, fried lemons, preserved lemon aioli – I have this nailed down to ordering a half order and when I have finished the first half asking them to fire the second half

Second half of fried clams

It’s not Neptune’s Oyster in Boston, but it is the best fried clams that I have found in Los Angeles.

Blue Plate Oysterette

I have been on a search for fried clams with the bellies and until now the search has been futile for decent fried clams in Southern California. I read that Blue Plate Oysterette had them. I immediately called Blue Plate and yes they were on the menu – 2 hours later we were at Blue Plate for a late lunch.

Blue Plate Oysterette is loosely modeled on one of my favorite restaurants in Boston – Neptune’s Oyster. It has the feel of a casual neighborhood restaurant/bar with an open kitchen.

BYO white wine

Ale for my husband

Lauren, our excellent server

1/2 dozen oysters – only 4 pictured

Kumai – West Coast

Fanny Bay – British Columbia

Glacier Bay – New Brunswick

Kumamoto – Washington

Blue Point – CT

Gerrish Island –  Maine

The oysters were fresh, shucked expertly and perfect for slurping with just a touch of lemon

Caesar Salad – romaine hearts, garlic chips, anchovy, croutons – excellent

Fish Tacos – grilled mahi mahi, cilantro aioli, diced tomatoes, guacamole – another winner

Fried Clams – Whole Belly Ipswich Clams, fried lemons, preserved lemon aioli – the piece de resistance! The fried whole belly clams were lightly battered, plump and juicy and fried perfectly. Next time, and there will definitely be a next time,  I will order the fried clams the way I do at Neptune – a 1/2 order at a time so the clams are piping hot for each half order.

This is the clam from Sonny McCleans – to the left is just batter – the clam is far right about the size of half of my little finger

This is the clam from Blue Plate Oysterette – notice how plump the clam is.

Chef Craig Brady should be very proud and I have finally found my fried clams.

Blue Plate Oysterette

Posting about a 5 day old restaurant is basically unfair – every restaurant has tweaks to work out, service issues to refine, suppliers to be locked in and a hundred other details that need to be addressed. But as a Bostonian, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to try out a New England style Seafood Shack. 

 

Blue Plate Oysterette – you can eat outside

The room

 

The open kitchen

 

BYO white wine – corkage $10.00

 

The genial and gracious GM, Salvador – He is terrific.

 

Oysters on the half shell with homemade cocktail sauce and mignonette – Lunas (San Diego), Bahia Falsa (Baha), Fanny Bay (British Columbia) and Metcalf Bay (British Columbia) – Other than the Fanny Bay, the oysters were good. As for the Fanny Bay, they were non-existent and shouldn’t have been served. To the restaurant’s credit we were given 4 oysters of our choice to replace the Fanny Bay.

 

4 Metcalf Bay oysters – absolutely addictive house-made cocktail sauce

 

In terms of sourcing, I would say that Bouchon’s oysters (Yountville) Neptune’s oysters (Boston) are superior, but again they have been in business a long time and as such have established a major relationship with their sources.

Neptune Oyster – Boston

 

Clam Chowder, cherrystone clams, light cream broth – My husband likes very thick chowder so he wasn’t in love with this. He doesn’t even like Neptune’s chowder because he thinks it is too thin.  (My feeling – take it as a personal preference).

 

Fried Seafood Combo – Calamari, Oysters, Shrimp – the seafood was cornmeal crusted

 

Close-up – 3 oysters, 2 shrimp and mostly calamari.  I started major begging with Salvador to add Ipswich clams to the menu. I even brought my photo of Neptune’s clams to help with my plea.

 

Neptune’s Clams 

 

The fried Oysters were perfect and I decided to have 4 extra. Next time I think I would just order fried oysters until they get clams.

 

The Big Dog – all natural 1/2 pound Kobe Beef dog, sauerkraut, homemade pickles, slaw – My husband loved it, ate half and is eating the other half watching the Dodgers.

 

Bottom line – we will definitely go back. One caveat – do not park in the lot next to the restaurant – exorbitant – just find a public parking lot only a block away and save a lot of money.