I have been eating round a lot in Happy Valley lately, trying out new places and venturing into unfamiliar restaurants. Though I have been here for almost two years now, it wasn’t until I have a buddy to do this with did I dig into with gusto recently :)
Oyster Island, without a doubt, was one of those little secret of Happy Valley that came as a pleasant surprise. Tucked at the end of a quiet road in the Valley, the restaurant was quiet looking for an eve-of-public-holiday-night. But the other half wanted oysters, so in we went into the blue, mysterious looking restaurant.
All was well. Because we were the only occupied table, service was attentive and we felt very comfortable with the wait staff. To start off the night, we pondered over the selection of oysters available, and opted for the lighter and sweeter variety, Rocky Bay and Namibia, to the denser, heavier tasting Gillerdeau and Sydney Rock.
I am familiar with Rocky Bay and Sydney Rock – thanks to their easy-to-remember names – and was happy to report the oysters tasted great, succulent and juicy with just a hint of sea-water tanginess. I liked mine with less sauce – we were provided with some vinegar-based sauce and tobasco – and just some squeezed lemon. Pair that with some chilled white wine and ahhhh… the night was perfect.
The rest of the food for the night wasn’t as stellar though. We didn’t get as adventurous with our mains so we went for the carbonara, which didn’t come with the obligatory raw egg sitting on a mound of pasta, but since I seldom liked mine heavy the version at Oyster Island was reasonable.
What was disappointing was the thick mushroom bisque with truffle oil. I am a great fan of mushroom soup and immediately I can detect the unmistakable underlying taste of canned soup. The soup wasn’t anywhere near “thick” but the portion was large, good enough to be split between two persons.
Oyster Island was good for exactly that – oysters. I would come here again for some good service, intimate ambiance and fresh oysters, and will play down expectations on everything else.
P.S. Pardon the grainy photos. It was very dark in the restaurant (kinda bluish actually) and I only had my iPhone with me.
Oyster Island
G/F, 14 Min Fat Street
Happy Valley
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2572 2028