Upstate
95 1st Ave
New York, NY 10003

Craving seafood on a Friday night, per usual, I scoured the Internet for good options near home.  Upstate popped up a number of times as a low key beer and oysters kind of shack.  They are known for simplicity and freshness.  Sounded good to me.  I hear that normally there is always a wait on weekend nights but we managed to arrive right when a table of two was leaving – score!  We ordered 10 oysters ($2.50-$2.75 each), two of each: Sheepscot River (ME), Fanny Bay (BC), Kumamoto (CA), Hammersley (Puget Sound), and Skookum (WA).  Notice how we only ordered one East Coast type… both LAW and I prefer creamy sweet oysters to briney ones.  Kumamoto oysters won by far, as expected!

If you know me at all, you’ll know that I love scallops and will typically always order the scallop dish if there is one.  Well, since I started buying scallops on my own, I’ve stopped this nonsense because scallops are so darn expensive and petty at restaurants.  Case in point.  The scallop special ($18) included four very fresh steamed (I think?) scallops over a bed of summer slaw (zucchini and cucumbers), drizzled with olive oil and vinegar.  It was suuuuuuper simple and very healthy tasting.  I quite liked it and thought that the fresh, sweet scallops went very well with the veggies.  LAW thought it all tasted just a bit too healthy and was not quite filling enough.  I’ll have to agree with the not-quite-filling enough part… four scallops with zero grease equates to an appetizer portion in my mind.  I could definitely have two portions of these, easily! Continue reading Upstate in East Village →