Pearl Oyster Bar

In 1997, Pearl Oyster Bar became a reality for Rebecca Charles. She had roots in New England and opened her dream restaurant with her partner Mary. Somewhere along the line Mary and Rebecca had a falling out and Mary moved down the street and opened her own restaurant called Mary’s Fish Camp.

For the locals (I am one of those people), there is always a discussion on which restaurant is better. The menu’s are similar. I like them both but I am partial to Pearl.

There are no reservations at both restaurants which is part of the charm. Opens at 6pm for dinner. I have been there many times but am prefer lunch because you can generally get a seat with no problem. Lunch is from 12 -2:30. The food has always been exceptional. The menu doesn’t change and the specials just highlight the menu.

We brought my husband’s parents last night for dinner. I have not been there since they expanded. Maybe it was an off night. Maybe my palette has changed. Maybe I have eaten too much seafood this summer prepared by me and the Clam Bar. I am not sure what it was but the food was not as good as it has been in the past.

We had the classic fried oysters which has an incredibe cold chunky tartar sauce paired with the hot light crispy oyster. It was good but it wasn’t as good as it has been in the past. We also had the salt shrimp. Eat them shell and all. They did not have the bite that I remember. 2 lobster rolls which I did not taste but looked really mayonaisse laden. I ordered the whole fish. There were 2 options, snapper and dorado. The bass was charred over a salad of corn. I said that we were going to split a whole fish, let’s do the bass. The waitress was so interested in just moving us in and out that she just put down bass without even responding that the whole fish was not a bass that night. I didn’t remember but she should have reminded me. So, the bass is what came. Maybe that wasn’t what I was expecting so I didn’t like it. I also had a bowl of steamers. They were not sweet and plump like the one’s I have been eating weekly at the Clam Bar in Napeague.

We finished with a chocolate sundae to split. It wasn’t that good. The chocolate was too rich. It should have been light and smooth.

Oh well. I will continue to go back to the Pearl because perhaps it was an off-night. The guy that sat us even said that it was tourist season until October. I think next time, I might recheck in with Mary’s Fish Camp.