EaT: An Oyster Bar — Restaurant in Portland

I googled oysters, and this place came up in my search. The first thing that caught my eye is that it is creole cuisine. I grew up in Texas near the Louisiana border in what is called the Tri-state area and recently moved here. So I grew up eating Creole and to boast ,as the website says, if you're from the south of the Mason Dixon, this is food like your grandmother cooks is a big boast. My sons and I went to check it out. We ordered the red beans with the housemade sausage as an appetizer because, yes, I miss a good bowl of red beans. Let's stop right there. The sausage is the closest thing to boudan I've had since leaving home. I infact question it's not. I had to put on my glasses to inspect it. I swore I saw rice. I ordered the redneck baked oysters. So good. One son got the seafood gumbo. I got etouffe, and my other son got Jambalaya. Now one thing we as creole raised people know. If it doesn't make your nose run.. It's not spicey enough. This was perfect. If you don't like a little heat, these dishes aren't for you. For us. Perfecto! The sauces they have on the table... awesome. All in all, I walked away feeling like I'd had a piece of home. So the boast isn't a lie. I could say the roux on the gumbo was dark enough. The spice to the etouffe right there. And the jambalaya was well. I wouldn't know it wasn't served by my grandma. So..southern, creole or not. If you want good creole. I give this a stamp of authentication. That's about as good of review as you're going to get. 10 out of 10. When I need to feel like I'm back at a crawfish shack. I'll be going to Eats. Thank you, Eats, for doing it the right way! , oh and to boot, they have live jazz every Saturday from 11 to 2. If that ain't NO don't know what is! "pose...

Believe me when I say that this food here was beyond horrid. Like inedible. My friend made a joke that "hopefully the hush puppies aren't bad and we'll know what we're in for" and I kind of shrugged it off, having never in my life experienced bad hush puppies, but she was prophetic; the horrible, bland hush puppies were a glimpse of what was to come.

I got the gumbo, which was completely inedible and essentially had the flavor of charcoal mixed with store bought box chicken stock with no additional seasoning. My friends dish was slightly edible, I'd accept it at a mall food court or something, but then it wouldn't be 20 dollars, and it might taste better. I find it hard to believe that the people in portland could be this tasteless; there must have been one point where they were able to make something edible. But maybe I'm wrong, maybe it's just a culture of guilty, white REI members who just accept it... "Well, I guess that's what it's supposed to taste like... chacoal, huh, interesting"... lol.

I don't care if it was a Saturday night. There is no excuse for how disgusting the food was here. The atmosphere and service were fine, and they took all the disgusting food off the bill (I didn't want it replaced, I just wanted out of there), so I guess there's that, but even with just the drinks I was out 40 bucks or so.

Horrendous.

Btw I'm from MD and am seafood obsessed, been all over the south, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, etc.

This place makes a Red Lobster seem like having a meal at the Culinary Institute of America, and that's hardly an exaggeration. Homie...

My wife has been on an oyster kick recently; thus, I have been tasked with finding new and exciting places to shuck and suck throughout the region. Unsurprisingly, places with names such as "Eat: An Oyster Bar" are obviously going to get some immediate attention, as was the case this past weekend, when we stopped in for a dozen of the meaty molluscs, as well a cocktail or glass of wine, and a couple of appetizers.

Having enjoyed the Pickering Passage oysters that we ordered at a different place last week, we went with what we knew, and ordered a dozen of those, along with some fried pickles and okra. The oysters arrived swiftly with lemon, horseradish and vinegar, to join the basket of hot sauces already present at our table. My wife and I found the flavors that worked best for us, and made quick work of our slimy little friends, which were quite enjoyable! As for our sides, both the okra and the pickles were plentiful and breaded nicely, although the sauce that came with the okra wasn't our favorite, and we substituted it out for other things.

Fantastic prices, excellent food, and excellent service; in short, all around an exemplary experience! Additionally, the rest of this restaurant's menu specializes in Cajun/Creole cuisine, all of which looks wonderful, and is likely to draw us back in for that reason alone! And when it does, you can bet there will be some oysters to accompany our gumbo or jambalaya!

In short, if you're looking for a little southern comfort, whether it be surf, turf, or both...just...