It's Oyster Season—Here's Where to Eat the U.K.'s Best
The U.K.’s native oyster season begins in September. Here are the best places to eat the prized bivalves.
If you ever need an excuse to eat an oyster, Bobby Groves has plenty. The author of Oyster Isles: A Journey Through Britain and Ireland’s Oysters — a book written on a 5,000-mile motorcycle ride across the UK and Ireland charting the oyster industry and its heritage — has more than 20 years’ experience in the industry and makes a compelling argument for their consumption.
“I think people want something hyper-local, something [with flavour] that reflects the environment, something that can help fight climate change and is very healthy to eat,” Bobby says. The humble oyster ticks all four boxes, each one filtering surrounding waters, developing its own unique flavour and trapping nitrogen and carbon in its shell.
Two main types of oyster are consumed in the UK. The Pacific ‘rock’ oyster and the European native ‘flat’ oyster. Both are bivalve molluscs, but the two differ in origin, taste and shape. Rock oysters, introduced to the UK in the 1960s, are teardrop-shaped and deep, whereas native oysters are round and flat. Natives, best from September through to April (the ‘R’ months) take longer to develop, up to eight years, whereas rocks, available year-round, are ready to eat in less than half that time, with prices reflecting their availability. Cooking a native is deemed sacrilegious.
“The food connoisseur will always ask for the native,” says Bobby. “But within the two species, you have different farms, different flavour profiles, different branding. It’s the same kind of psychology as asking for different wines on a menu.”
Bobby, who also set up the wet bar at London’s Chiltern Firehouse restaurant, likens the difference in taste between the two as akin to the stronger, gamey flavour of rabbit or pheasant (native) versus the accessible flavour of chicken (rock). Like wine and soil, he says the oyster’s flavour will reflect the body of water it's found in. Some will be sweeter and creamier, while others will vary in their salinity and crisp zinc-y or nutty taste. As September ushers in the return of the UK’s native oyster season, here are some places across the country to seek them out.
Stranraer Oyster Festival, Scotland
The impact of the native oyster on the Scottish coastal town of Stranraer in Dumfries and Galloway shouldn’t be underestimated. After losing the ferry port in 2011, the annual oyster festival has been a catalyst for the town’s growth. A tonne and a half (roughly 15,000) of native oysters, sustainably fished from Scotland’s sole remaining wild native bed courtesy of the Loch Ryan Oyster Fishery Company, are shucked and served here each year at a fraction of the price they fetch in London. Loch Ryan oysters are known for filling out their shells and only the biggest are picked, making for an especially generous nutty, zinc-y mouthful.
Bar Shrimp, Manchester
The aptly named Bar Shrimp on the fringes of Manchester’s China Town is a must for seafood fans and cocktail enthusiasts alike. Cornish native oysters are served simply here, with horseradish and lemon (neighbouring sister restaurant Higher Ground serves oysters with preserved wild garlic), best paired with an ice-cold house martini, its Isle of Harris gin elevating each sip with a slightly saline finish. Bar Shrimp’s curation of local DJ talent also makes for potentially the best soundtracked oyster you’ll ever eat.
Falmouth Oyster Festival, Cornwall
Falmouth is the only fishery in Europe, and potentially the world, to still harvest oysters using traditional low-impact methods (no motors, only oar or sail). It’s a feature that’s enabled oyster stocks in the Fal Estuary to thrive while others have declined. The town’s oyster festival is all the more special as a result, according to festival chef and owner of local seafood truck Kelp Canteen, Elliot Kett. Elliot serves local natives raw with a roasted quince vinaigrette and says the floral, rich fruitiness of the quince pairs beautifully with the local oyster’s strong, mineral-forward, saline flavour.
The Company Shed, Essex
Set against Essex marshland and tidal creeks, The Company Shed is one of the most cinematic spots in the UK to eat a native oyster. This modest wooden shack has sat proudly here on Mersea Island since the oyster boom of the 1800s; the building was then purchased by the Haward family in 1985. Native oyster accompaniments are kept to a minimum, to respect the local bounty, and drink pairings champion local producers, be it crisp, dry whites from the Mersea Island Vineyard or beers — including oyster-infused Island Oyster Stout — from the vineyard’s brewery. High tides cut the island off twice per day, so be sure to check before travelling.
Whitstable Oyster Company, Whitstable
Tracing its history back to the 1400s, the Whitstable Oyster Company is one of Europe’s oldest oyster purveyors, and the Whitstable native oyster one of the UK’s most prestigious. On the first floor of the seafood restaurant, you’ll find the handsome, stripped back Victorian meeting hall interiors of the Oyster Stores Bar, where a full oyster menu is complimented by cocktails, wines and beers, the latter made at the on-site brewery. Try an oyster shooter (rock oysters dressed with alcohol) or an oystertini (vodka, vermouth, lemon, rock oyster and oyster liquor garnished with thyme) while gazing out over the estuary and oyster beds.
