Smitty's Oyster House

At one point in my life (like before I was 20), I wasn't a really fan of oysters - raw or cooked.  However, as I ate more and more of them, I started to like oysters in all forms.  So going for happy hour oysters is a real thing for me and due to the recent social media hype about Smitty's (has been on my list for awhile), we decided to hit them up precisely for their happy hour (and the oysters).  If this location looks familiar to you, it used to the the Five Point...

So here we go with a dozen of Sunseeker Oysters complete with all the condiments including grated horseradish, lemon wedges, vinaigrette, cocktail sauce, hot sauce and habenaro hot sauce.  I've had Sunseekers before and they are somewhat similar to kushis except for being slightly larger with a more pronounced pouch.  In terms of flavour, they are a bit more briny in my opinion but equally sweet.  These were fresh and shucked perfectly with no shell fragments.

We also got the happy hour Salt Spring Island Mussels in a white wine, garlic, shallots, lemon and thyme butter.  This also came with frites on top and aioli.  Being SSI mussels, these were plump and decently large.  They were cooked beautifully being delicate and still juicy.  Nice brininess and natural sweetness accented by the properly cooked-down white wine broth.  I would've liked a bit more salt in the broth, but it wasn't a deal-breaker.  Crispy frites too.

Everything was served on a platter (they tend to do that here) and here we see the Crab Cakes as well as the Seared Scallops.  Although the crab cakes were filled with mostly crab with little filler, they were quite dense.  Even the breading was dense and heavy.  I did like the flavour though as it was full of crab essence and sweetness.  As for the scallops, they were good with a nice sear while still being tender.  They were well-seasoned and the pea puree was a nice compliment.  I also enjoyed the smokiness of the bacon with the crunchy cabbage.

Lastly, we had the Sablefish Risotto with lemon, broccolini and mushrooms.  Featuring crispy skin, the sablefish was beautifully buttery and moist.  It was properly seasoned too.  Underneath, the risotto was cheesy and perfectly cooked.  It was a tad on the clumpier side (as it didn't spread), but it was still good.  Overall, the food was quite acceptable at Smitty's and the oysters were yum.  I would come back.

The Good:
- Properly shucked fresh oysters
- Proteins cooked right
- The service we got was on point

The Bad:
- On the pricier side, but what isn't these days
- Crab cakes were dense