Update: Now Closed

You may think that with a name like B&T Oyster Bar (B&T stands for Block and Tackle), that this restaurant only specializes in oysters.

And, it is true they offer more than half a dozen kinds of oysters to select from for a Raw Oyster Platter that you can choose from yourself, or let them choose for you. During happy hour, each oyster is only $2 on the half she’ll so you can feel free to sample them all to compare and contrast the differences of the different types.

You can also order Raw Oyster Shooters here with citrus, fish sauce, and tomato. These are only $1.50 during their early or late night happy hour.

Or step away from the raw and explore cooked oyster. For instance they offer Grilled Oyster with simple chili-lime butter. Or my pick is the Miso-Sake Grilled Oysters with miso, sake, bonito, yuzu, and butter. The grilled oysters are not part of the happy hour selection, but very tasty if you don’t want raw oyster.

But definitely don’t feel like B&T Oyster Bar is only a go to if you want oysters. They offer so much more!

For instance, they have a spectacular regular menu item and also happy hour special of Crab Hand Rolls with king and red crab, glass noodles, nuoc cham mayonnaise and yuzu tobiko in soy paper.

Another fantastic flavorful special on their regular menu and happy hour are their Tempura Rock Shrimp spicy mayo or wasabi mayo and then served alongside a daikon and herb salad with white soy ponzu.  I prefer the wasabi mayo but you should try it yourself and see what side you fall upon

A special I saw on my second visit was Shrimp Toast.

For a bit more acid, the B&T Squid Salad on their regular menu and also on their happy hour menu includes flash poached calamari, shaved leek, shallot, basil, mint, cilantro, marcona almonds, roasted chili-lime & fish sauce citronette. The acidity here is refreshing but funky fun. Another visit, the dressing was changed out for a grilled chili and sweet lime vinaigrette instead that wasn’t quite as salty and more sweet.

My favorite salad is on their regular menu, the Beet Salad with heirloom beets, wasabi ranch, belgian endive, arugula, green apple, and pumpkin seeds which is fun with all the flavors and textures and pretty hearty and totally vegetarian without any oyster or Seafood at all!

If you are detecting a theme here of Asian influence to their food, you are right on the mark. They may offer a seafood pot pie on their regular menu, and also on the regular and happy hour menu a Fish Sandwich with beer battered fish filet (the fish may be Mahi Mahi, or Wahoo – or something else depending on what is fresh) in a bun along with old bay mayo, house pickle relish, shaved red onion and iceberg lettuce. But those are more the exception of combining fresh Northwest seafood and American style traditional seafood treatments.

Other items on the menu take cues from our neighbors in the east. Some of it is Japanese influence as mentioned with some of the dishes above already, which isn’t a surprise since Japan is such a seafood worshipping country and handles myriad seafood in combinations we wouldn’t see normally at a traditional seafood restaurant.

B&T also takes cues from other Asian countries who also love their Seafood. These show up on the menu in offerings of miso cream in the kale, uni butter with radishes, szechuan spiced seafood ragu on dan dan noodles, and Fish in a Hot Stone Bowl with hiramasa or Hawaiian super white tuna or other fish depending on what’s fresh, sushi rice, pickled shiitake, carrot, radish sprouts, sautéed mushroom, scallion, wakame, jidori egg, and miso-sake chili sauce.

Tip with the stone bowl- don’t touch the bowl, it’s extremely hot. Let it sit for a while so that the rice on the bottom can get crispy. Decide whether you want to stir the fish in so it cooks with the hot stone bowl, or take it out so it stays raw instead. And, pour in the sauce just a bit at a time as it has a strong flavor and you don’t want to just be eating sauce and rice.

And seriously I could just eat that side of Miso Creamed Kale with black kale, shimeji, oyster, and maitake mushrooms, miso cream by itself, it was so decadent and so much better than a regular creamed green of any kind. Wow. I didn’t know kale could be so rich!

For me, this Asian flavor nod makes B&T all the more intriguing in that not only are they focused on good seafood, but they are willing to explore flavor combinations with seafood beyond just the tried and true lemon and butter. But, you should also not be expecting simple lemon and butter dishes then where the seafood is the star, since you’ll notice that there’s a lot of sauce that comes with B&T’s dishes. These are not light preparations.

With a highball menu with a dozen options, in addition to a cocktail menu with more than a handful of other choices, and a rotating special “Oyster pairing wine glass selection”, there is plenty to quench your thirst with your seafood from the bar. During the early happy hour the discount is on the wine glass and specialty cocktails, while the late happy hour discounts the highballs.

You can expect the highballs here to run much more complex in flavors then your usual Jack and Coke or Dark and Stormy or Pimm’s Cup. Instead, consider some options I’ve seen such as:

• Tanghetto with Fernet, homemade tarragon syrup, Cock and Bull ginger beer and lime wedge is refreshing
• Jamaica Queen’s Special (my favorite of what I’ve tried) with Wray and Nephew overproof rum, coconut lime spiced syrup, Boylan’s seltzer, 2 limes
• Monkey Man with banana infused Jameson (yes you read that right), Mexican sugar syrup, Boylan’s seltzer
• Cafe Jalisco with Cazadores reposado tequila, mole syrup, Stumptown cold brew coffee
• and more!

Meanwhile, options on the cocktail menu include

• I Wish It Would Rain with bourbon, peach liquer, lemon, rooibos tea, cardamon, ginger beer
• Tina Louis with mezcal blend, amaretto, lemon, ginger, cayenne tincture
• Rhubarbarella with rye, dry curacao, pineapple, rhubarb shrub, ginger, beer, egg white
• and more!

Early happy hour is from Tues – Sat 5-7 PM, and late night happy hour is Tues- Thurs 9 PM – close and Fri – Sat 10 PM – close.

Do any of the items above pique your interest? What do you think of their more Asian take of seafood with stronger sauces? Have you been to B&T before, have you tried the new updated menu, and what did you think?

Disclosure: One happy hour meal was complimentary and shared family style with other bloggers, but I also have visited on my own dime. II will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own.