If you include Tony’s Seafood, which is owned by Hog Island, Marin has four Hog Island locations where the briny bivalves are the main attraction, including The Boat Oyster Bar and Hog Shack along Tomales Bay, and Hog Island’s restaurant in Larkspur. No matter where you dine, focus your attention on the top of the menu where Today’s Oysters are prominently featured in raw glory. Available on the half shell, oysters are also grilled with a choice of four sauces. Miso-nori butter pumps up their fatty deliciousness while Calabrian chili and garlic cuts through the meaty heft with prickly heat.
The menu here changes daily, depending on what’s locally available and oysters from the bay just steps from the restaurant are on the menu nearly every day. Look for raw oysters with lemony mignonette and broiled oysters in three styles. We’re partial to the Chard Rockafellar whose topping of nutmeg, Manchego and shallot takes us to a flavorful place that is familiar yet altogether new.
Though the restaurant serves raw oysters with mignonette or warm garlic butter and fried oysters with tartar sauce, be sure to stop by at brunch for a classic plate of Hangtown Fry.
A re-tooling of the 1840’s Gold Rush era’s most expensive meal of oysters, bacon and eggs (it was $6 then, an astronomical sum) reimagines the dish as an “omelet” with fried oysters, bacon and eggs alongside skillet potatoes and greens.
What is it about the oysters bingo that makes it a perennial Marin favorite? Made with spinach, baked cheese, and the house’s special white sauce (could it be béchamel?), it is a classic that satisfies modern palates.
Many like to enjoy their Bingo with vino. But we think a martini pairs just as well.
You already know that Nick’s Cove placed number one on Travel & Leisure’s “10 Best New Resorts in the US” for its “delightful seafaring-inspired wallpaper, vintage clawfoot tubs, cozy wood-burning stoves, and plush beds.” Even if you don’t stay the night, you can enjoy the views over Tomales Bay from one of the waterfront patios or inside by the fire when summer’s chill is just too much.
Perhaps best-known for its large platters of barbecued oysters, the restaurant also deserves attention for its cioppino, cast iron skillet mac ‘n cheese and seasonal salads (the greens plucked from the garden just steps away). Be sure to wash it all down with a drink from their vast local wine and beer list.
Don’t miss: Cioppino, Steamed Mussels, Oysters
