Friday, September 12, 2008

Dragging My Tongue for Drago's Oysters


Recently, my friend brought me out to Drago's Seafood Restaurant in the Riverwalk Marketplace to relax, converse, and enjoy a leisurely evening of Drago's often-imitated, but never duplicated chargrilled oysters at their oyster bar. Unfortunately, our evening was interrupted by the looming fact that we had to return back to work that evening, to finish up various projects before their rapidly approaching deadlines. However, but we had an enjoyable dinner nonetheless, in large part because of Drago's oysters.

Why are these oysters so special and so sought after? It is all in their signature preparation.


Drago's world-famous chargrilled oysters are first slathered with a heavenly marinade of butter, chopped garlic, and vibrant herbs. Then, Drago's chefs proceed to cook the oysters on the grill, and generously shake handfuls of fine cheese powder over the oysters during the grilling process.



Flames lick and dance mercilessly upon the oysters until the entire exposed oyster surface is encrusted with a gooey, yet rough and seemingly calcified parmesan and pecorino romano cheese barrier.


The supple and incredibly juicy oysters are served with significant wedges of yeasty french bread, which may be used to sop up the liquified butter and oyster liqueur that collects within the oyster shells.


In addition to Drago's "killer delicious" oysters, that evening, I ordered another winner: the "shuckee duckee," which my friend noted was charmingly named after the oyster (thus the "shuckee") and the duck (thus the "duckee") components. The dish came with two tender and smoky duck breasts, which were scored with a knife and blackened on the surface, but crimson and trembling within. The al dente linguini pasta accompanying the duck breasts was carefully tossed in a decadent cream sauce interspersed with chewy nubs of chopped oysters.



My friend ordered the mesquite-grilled gulf shrimp which had been seasoned with fiery New Orleans spices, and tossed with fresh garden ingredients, including cucumbers, tomatoes, and mixed greens.


Though we had to take our uneaten entrees back to the office in doggie bag containers, we enjoyed our evening, and our oysters. I hope this post did the convincing, in that Drago's oysters are definitely something worth writing home about!

9 comments:

  1. Help! I can't get those oysters out of my mind.

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  2. yow, those grilled oysters sound and look so amazing. Sigh... I am going up to Tomales Bay soon, and will need to try out shaking handfuls of fine cheese powder while grilling. PE that meal sounds delicious!

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  3. Wow those oysters look amazing! Hope you're doing well :)

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  4. Hey, just wanted to drop you a line. I've been reading your blog for a few years now, but as I just moved to New Orleans from Sacramento, it's become even better. :) Keep it coming. I put up a link to ya on my own blog if that counts for anything...

    Are Drago's better then Acmes?

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  5. Yum, those oysters do look good. I have to think of a way of doing that indoors in my tiny studio without setting off the fire alarm. And the duck looked yummy too.

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  6. you actually were able to go back to work after this? mannn it would have been some serious siesta timme for me. haven't seen oysters like that in a while/amazing!

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  7. Thanks Bert N, Food Hoe, Taste Tester, and Chef Ben we really need to figure a way to do this cheesy + buttery chargrilled oyster thing at home!

    And thanks Faine for your link and your support!

    I also was able to go back to work Taste Memory, but thankfully, our late night work was interrupted by a fire alarm, so we got to "rest" at home.

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  8. Oops, I forgot to respond Faine--I love Acme's raw oysters and overall food selection, but I like Drago's chargrilled oysters better.

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  9. Those oysters sound wonderful, and you pictures are mouth-watering!

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