Mussels at The Oyster Club in Mystic, CT
Recently I met my good friend, Eileen, for lunch at The Oyster Club in Mystic, CT. I had the mussels in the coconut lemongrass broth which had a lovely lemongrass flavor permeating through the cream base they were served in and definitely worth going back for. The Oyster Club atmosphere is as sweet and charming as the building it’s in which is a 1902 converted clapboard building…talk about a little bit of history here. The mussels were tender and creamy with a subtle taste of the sea and they were orange in color. Some mussels have an orange meat to them and some have a whitish meat. So what’s the science behind that you might ask? Well, I will tell you. The orange color mussels are females, and the whitish color ones are males or young females. Either color mussel is a treat for me and are the same in taste although I am partial to anything with orange pigments and will side with the orange mussel.
The 3 owner’s of The Oyster Club recently opened their sister restaurant, The Engine Room, right around the corner so to speak, also in Mystic. The fact that they work with all local farmers, and fisherman says something about their integrity and makes you want to support them even more which isn’t difficult to do considering the product you get in return. Keep a look out for my reviews at The Engine Room in Mystic. And if you like lemongrass you should check out my Mussels in a Lemongrass-Fennel Sauce. It’s a flavor combo that you will love to crave once you try it.