Over this past Labor Day weekend, my adoring husband took me out for cocktails and appetizers before romancing me with the somewhat-recent release “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.” (Thank goodness Matt’s actually more romantic than the lead character of said movie - ha!)
We tried out Mitchell’s Fish Market in the Westshore Plaza - a restaurant that is new to us and somewhat new to the area. We sat in the bar and ordered our cocktails - Key Lime Martini for me, Mandarin Orange Martini for my sweetie. After a few sips we ordered our appetizers: Pan Roasted Wild Blue Mussels and the Oyster Sampler from the raw bar. After we ordered our apps, I realized that I’ve never really tried to figure out which drinks go best with oysters…
Well, we almost immediately inhaled the Mussels when they arrived - we were starving and they were delicious. After getting a little food in our tummies, we moved on to the food that needs to be savored - our raw oysters…mmmmm. My sweet hubby had never really eaten raw oysters before meeting me, and he has assured me he would never go back (from eating raw oysters, or from me!). Anyway, we realized that Key Lime and Mandarin Orange really aren’t the best pairing for delectable oysters, so we ordered another round… Of course, the cocktail menu was intriguing, so we ordered what looked good - and not what necessarily would go well with our oysters. (I got a mojito - see my Mojito Madness post - and Matt ordered something I can’t remember the name of, but it reminded me of a sex-on-the-beach.) Again, these drinks didn’t really complement our oysters. So, the conclusion we came up with…
When you order oysters (especially a delicious combination of 4 “exotic” types) - order a beer.
Mitchell’s is great, shannon and I ordered the exact same appetizers (if I’m not mistaken) and their key lime pie was fantastic!