Joyce, Karen, and I held our annual October 1-3-5 birthday reunion at Rodney’s Oyster House (469 King Street West) this year! We had initially been narrowing down our restaurant choices based on attractive and affordable private rooms, but ended up going for a smaller party and keeping things a little more low-key. I made the reservation for ten people (with one last minute addition a couple hours beforehand, which they had no problem accommodating) for 6:30pm on a Friday night. Note that there’s a 20% pre-tax gratuity for groups of eight or more!
INSIDE THE RESTAURANT
The restaurant was downstairs and not yet too busy. We were seated comfortably at large table and noticed the private area being partitioned off around the end of our meal time. I immediately loved the feel of the place and all of the decorations in keeping with a seafaring theme. Our server even had a tattoo of an anchor on his arm, haha. We were served bread and butter and glasses of water while we looked over the menu and waited for everyone in our party. The oyster menu, of course, interested me the most! We got antsy and a few of us started ordering a couple of things:
OYSTERS
(Friday, October 10, 2014 selection)
$2.40-$4.73 each
I don’t know pretty much anything about the difference between oysters, but here Kevin and I ordered a mix of East Coast and Pacific oysters. To be honest, possibly because we staggered eating the oysters and experimented with the different sauces, but we couldn’t tell the difference between the ones we tried! They were all delicious and I liked each of the sauces I got to try with them. The oysters above ranged anywhere from $2.40 to $4.73 each and included Paradise Cove, Marina’s Top Drawer, Mystic Cocktail, and Macintosh (Large). We enjoyed them but definitely thought they were quite pricey.
Kevin and I then shared our main:
LOBSTER CLUB
$23
We basically ordered this based off tons of reviews raving about it, and it really is good! The picture doesn’t do justice to just how much lobster is actually packed in this deceptively tiny-looking sandwich. So much delicious lobster! I loved the contrast of the softer lobster parts and crispier bacon bits. The onion rings were nice, too. We also managed to get a few bites out of our friends’ plates: liked the New England clam chowder ($13), enjoyed the pasta with scallops ($21), LOVED the steamed mussels ($14), underwhelmed by the seafood risotto special.
Our server checked on us pretty often and the food was, for the most part, great. A good place for seafood! I noticed a few of our guests were still hungry after finishing their meals though (even the ones whose plates I didn’t touch!). It’s definitely on the pricier side but nice for special occasions.
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