The Gossiping Gourmet: The Ways and Means to tasty oysters

Huntington Beach is becoming quite a resource for good food. Many restaurants have opened recently, and several are located in the new Pacific City Mall just across the street from the ocean, including OLA Mexican Kitchen, Simmzy’s Pub and The Old Crow Smoke House.

The one that got my attention was the Ways and Means Oyster House. It is on the main floor and has a very large dining area as well as a big outdoor patio with an ocean view. There are floor-to-ceiling glass panels held in red metal frames and another pair of glass panels that open onto the patio.

Inside is a U-shaped bar area, a line of long, tall tables and tall seats, as well as regular tables, all in very pretty gray wood. The place has an industrial-modern sort of look.

Since this is an oyster house in part, my dining companion and I began with the dressed oyster trio called barong. Three very fresh, salty and delicious oysters were accented with a wonderful fruity sauce that had fresh mango bits for sweetness and heat from the chili syrup. I would have ordered more, but we wanted to have as many different tastes as we could handle.

Next was the lobster roll with Hefeweizen aioli — Hefeweizen is beer — house-made brioche that had a bit of sweetness and a side of creamy mango coleslaw. The lobster was very good, as was the sauce, but the coleslaw was bland.

We really loved the crab cakes. They had lots of jumbo lump crab in them, and the crust was nice and crunchy. A mayo-like cream sauce was served with them. They are referred to on the menu as “life altering.” Perhaps a bit of hyperbole, but they were top-notch.

Sweet-and-spicy-bacon-wrapped shrimp skewers came with green onion and cilantro and a side of excellent sweet potato puree. The problem here was that the shrimp were hard to find in the otherwise tasty dish.

We had been waiting awhile for our next order when our very pleasant waitress came to apologize for the long wait and sent us a complementary dish of poblano portobello mushroom skewers. The mushrooms were perfectly cooked and just the right texture. They were served on top of a pile of luscious smoked Gouda cheesy grits accented with poblano cream.

The dish we had been waiting for, ribeye skewers, did arrive but it really was not edible. The pieces of meat were over-cooked and some were almost blackened.

Fortunately, our next course was perhaps the best. I think black cod must be my favorite fish, and this one was cooked perfectly. The inside was moist and tender with just the right amount of salt, and the skin was crispy. The cod was accompanied by the very good sweet potato puree as well as fried baby kale.

The menu offers only four desserts: cherries jubilee with chocolate ice cream, cookie dough with sea salt and caramel ice cream, fruity pebbles with berry sherbet, and fudge brownies with vanilla ice cream. We chose the cookie dough. The sea salt was undetectable, and the ice cream had no caramel flavor. It tasted like regular vanilla.

Specials are available, including the Maine lobster for $9.99 on Mondays, half-off wine on Wednesdays and a $15 whole-roasted chicken on Sunday evenings, to name a few.

I think the restaurant has a few kinks yet to be worked out, but I believe this will be a successful venture.

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TERRY MARKOWITZ was in the gourmet food and catering business for 20 years. She can be reached for comments or questions at m_markowitz@cox.net.

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WAYS AND MEANS OYSTER HOUSE

Location: 21022 Pacific Coast Hwy., Huntington Beach

Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays; 11 a.m. to midnight Fridays, 10 a.m. to midnight Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays

Prices:

Appetizers, Plates and bowls: $3 to $48

Boats $35 to $140

Desserts: $4

Wine:

Bottles: $30 to $209

By the glass: $8 to $12

Corkage: $10

Information: (714) 960-4300; wmoysters.com