The Review: Blue Plate Oysterette reels in one star and a good bit of praise

OK, so L.A. has its Issan Thai restaurants, Sichuan and Shanghai style places, Tuscan trattorie and Provençal bistros, Yucatan and Oaxacan joints. Why not an East Coast clam shack? Well, now we have one, fetchingly called Blue Plate Oysterette.

I'm surprised no one has tried it before. There was the short-lived Menemsha, but it was a much more ambitious East Coast seafood place. That this one is small and cozy with a studied casual air and a great front of the house -- not to mention it's just across from Palisades Park and the Pacific -- gives this place a fighting chance.

Owner Jenny Morton, who also owns Blue Plate on Montana Avenue, went for a neighborhood kind of place rather than something glitzy. The menu is smart too. Pretty much everything that people love about East Coast seafood -- oysters, clams, mussels, lobster rolls, fish 'n' chips, steamers -- is listed on the one-page menu. But if you're looking for grilled or steamed Maine lobster, you're out of luck. No clam bakes either.

But then you can't have everything, can you? What's best here is the raw seafood -- oysters, clams, ceviche and some, but not all, of the cooked dishes. New York's Pearl Oyster Bar, this is not. But the service from waiters in blue-and-white gingham or striped shirts is eager and willing and the front of the house bends over backward to accommodate everyone.

To read the rest of S. Irene Virbila's review, click here.

Photo: A dozen oysters on the half shell are served with homemade cocktail sauce and Moscatel and tarragon mignonette. Credit: Christina House / For The Times

Comments

[jodie]

Of course, restaurants can have off days, especially at the beginning, but my experience was not at all like Ms. Virbila's. I have gone twice, just to give the Blue Plate Oysterette a second chance - it had such a cute name. I thought the lobster roll was overwhelmed by the sliced brioche it is served in. It was bland, no lobster taste at all! I did like to romaine caesar, though, crisp and flavorful. I must have waited at least 20 minutes for my dessert to arrive, a hot fudge sundae with crushed malt balls. It was pretty tasty. The second go-round, I heeded my enthusiastic server's recommendation and ordered the baked clams - wow, inedible! Like trying to eat the Sahara Desert! My companion was even less enthusiastic about the lobster roll than I had been. The caesar salad was still outstanding, though!