West Coast Eats: Pacific & Atlantic Oysters Step Up to the Plate

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DATE: Summer 2015
1355 Ocean Ave
Santa Monica, CA 90401
During our time in LA, we spent a lot of our time in Santa Monica. There’s just something about the boardwalk & beach life that I love. Life can be crazy and chaotic, so whenever I can retreat to the fun, simplistic pleasures of life, I will gladly indulge in it. Somewhere during our days at the Santa Monica Pier, biking to Venice Beach and soaking in the beach life, we made our way to Blue Plate Oysterette. Not too far from Santa Monica pier on Ocean Ave, this place was a casual but classier change from the wings and funnel cakes we had been gorging on. The place definitely speaks to me, since it's all about fresh seafood with a New England vibe.



It wouldn’t be right to go to a restaurant named Blue Plate Oysterette and not get ourselves a plate of oysters. We did another East Coast vs. West Coast comparison. On the East Coast side, we had our all-time favorite Blue Point Oysters. On the other side of the plate, representing the West Coast, we had… shoot, I can’t remember if it was either Kusshi or Kumamoto oysters. Let’s just call it the Pacific K-oysters. The Blue Points were fresh and a substantial piece of fleshy shellfish. There was definitely a sweeter taste to the Pacific K though. Which is typical in each of their flavor profiles, but either way, Blue Plate Oysterette gives you nice quality of both the Atlantic & Pacific oysters. It is even more fun to eat each one alternatively, from the East & West Coast.


We also ordered the mussels with white wine and herbs. The sauce was a bit thin but garlicky, which is always a plus in my book.




Lobster Mac & Cheese seems to be a dish that’s hard to turn down but never lives up to the hype in its name. This dish had Maine lobster, parmesan, herbs and truffle oil. This was definitely an excellent mac & cheese dish, with the scent enhanced by the truffle oil. But I think most restaurants anywhere are a bit too loose calling something a “lobster” mac & cheese. I am always hoping for plenty of chunky lobster meats within each cheesy mac bite. While this was a creamy, thoughtfully crafted mac & cheese plate, it had a just few choiceful lobster pieces. I’m still hoping for a place to give a generous ratio of the lobster to the mac & cheese. The price of this dish makes it’s not worth it. Perhaps the regular side of mac & cheese will be just as good if that’s what you’re looking for.



My favorite dish here and the better lobster plate were the Lobster Tacos. The amount of lobster in the tacos is what I was hoping to find in that mac & cheese! The crispy shells filled with lobster, truffle oil and a side of guacamole and pico de gallo was a great compilation of tastes.


Bottom Line: Pacific & Atlantic oysters step up to the plate, but it's the lobster tacos that hit a home run. The East Coast & West Coast are the best in their own rights, so order either coast, it doesn’t matter which ones! This restaurant serves fresh, tasty shellfish regardless. Blue Points are great Atlantic oysters for its fresh, substantial texture and the Pacific K’s (kusshi or kumamoto) are a sweet, pleasant West Coast alternative. The Lobster Mac & Cheese would be worth getting if it had more lobster chunks, unfortunately this gets downgraded to just an amazing mac. For a lobster fixing, go for the lobster tacos cooked with truffle oil instead.

Happy Noshing, Jeanne

Location: 1355 Ocean Ave, Santa Monica, CA 90401, USA

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