Oyster Club
New American restaurant · Mystic
13 Water St, Mystic, CT 06355
Highlights
Fresh, local seafood & farm-to-table dishes in a rustic-chic space.
Fresh, local seafood & farm-to-table dishes in a rustic-chic space.
"Open since 2011, this renovated carriage house is one of the restaurants that put Mystic on the map as a dining destination. It’s the place to get down with a dozen oysters from the water you’ve been kayaking on all day. The rest of the menu leans local and seasonal too, with an excellent fish cheek sandwich on a baguette from Meryl Bakery, and day boat scallops so fresh you’ll owe the fisherman a thank you. During the summer months, head up to the Treehouse, a patio in the sky that serves a special themed menu. This year it’s Mexican, and you need to eat some summer squash guac followed by a lobster tostada before it’s fall. photo credit: Lisa Nichols photo credit: Lisa Nichols photo credit: Lisa Nichols photo credit: Lisa Nichols photo credit: Lisa Nichols Pause Unmute RESERVE A TABLE" - Tanya Edwards
"Executive chef and partner Reneé Touponce laments a shortage of technical cooks and the resulting pressure on remaining staff: "It’s still hard to find advanced cooks — specifically pasta cooks and butchers — people who can break down whole animals and cook proteins," and says that, "Because we can’t find a lot of cooks, we focus on bringing in interns from culinary school." - Adam Reiner
"Recommended as a top seafood spot offering dishes such as 'Smoky Rhode Island clam chowder, dashi-buttery roasted oysters, and the homemade bucatini,' presented as the perfect meal after visiting maritime museums and coastal parks." - Anne Olivia Bauso Anne Olivia Bauso Anne Olivia Bauso is a travel writer and hotel expert based in New York City. She has written hundreds of hotel reviews, from 5-star Ritz-Carlton properties to treehouse eco-resorts in the jungle. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines
"Oyster Club was opened in 2011 and is part of Dan Meiser’s 85th Day Food Collective. It is renowned for its fresh produce and seafood." - Adam H. Callaghan
"Led by chef Renee Toupounce, this Mystic restaurant emphasizes using whole fish and minimizing waste, utilizing heads, tails and bones to build a delicate, focused seafood stock. Toupounce advises avoiding strong-flavored vegetables and herbs (skip carrots, sage, rosemary) and instead using softer aromatics like white onion, celery or fennel and light herbs so the true flavor of the fish can come through. She also stresses gentle, low-and-slow simmering rather than a rapid boil to prevent bitterness, and notes that in a restaurant setting cooks must be mindful of shellfish–finfish combinations because of allergy concerns." - Tanya Edwards
