Pearl Diver Toronto

Located on 100 Adelaide St., at the heart of Toronto, there's a seafood restaurant called the Pearl Diver. I went there on Thursday this week with Duckie for a mission to try out raw oysters for the first time. I was super nervous about this experience so beforehand, I did my research and found a restaurant that would suit my requirements. I looked at Rody's Oysters and Oyster Boy which are all well known stores that features fresh oysters. They had very good reviews on Yelp... BUT with my investigative techniques I found a couple sources that complained about their service, quality, and price. Anyways, long story short, I chose Pearl Diver and convinced mah man Duckie that it was a good idea.

On the day of, I made reservations for 7pm. I emailed the request at around 4pm and they got back to me within minutes, which was great. Thankfully we made reservations because it was pretty much a full house that night since it's their feature #100for100 night (100 oysters for $100). We were seated and then nothing. It was weird because I expected our server to come within a couple minutes and we also didn't get an oyster menu which was confusing. For the first time oyster goer, we were confused. So we waved someone over and she was confused too. And then she waved someone over and he was confused, but we got our orders taken. It turns out that because the oysters are fresh from the sea, they only feature seasonal ones and they change daily so the choices are displayed on a blackboard they have in the back.

THE FOOD

We ordered:

• Shucker's Best (dozen oysters) 
• Calamari (starter)
• PD's Mussels
• Fish and Chips

That's a lot of food and very expensive which meant that the bill came out to be around $85.

Okay. Starting from the oysters, they came out shucked in a really nice ice platter with lemon, horseradish, and 2 different house sauces. One is more liquidy and the other, a more solid consistency. They were both great but I preferred the lighter one but Duckie liked the other one better.

Anyways, the oysters were great. I liked the bigger ones better than the smaller ones and the clams were terrible. I think the idea is that smaller ones are more concentrated with the flavour of the sea and the sea doesn't taste that great haha. We asked one of our servers and he didn't really know which ones were which but he tried his best and did name a couple. The larger ones were the Beausoliels from New Brunswick. The smaller ones were the Kumomot from Washington. Kusshi is from B.C is also one of the larger ones? They also gave us complementary clams which looked pink and cute. It was a lot less slimy than I expected and I preferred the lemon with horseradish because it was enough to cover any weird sea taste while not being overwhelming. But I am not yet a connoisseur of oysters... so it's whatever. What I'm saying is, don't be scared. 

The Calamari was good, but not the best, especially not the portion size. It was so small and overbaked in my humble opinion because I have weirdly sensitive gums that make eating hard things like nuts hurt. Duckie was into the Calamari though. The dip was delicious. We both have had better calamari though so there's that. 

I got the PD Mussels and Frites. I typically don't like mussels because they taste kind of weird to me, but these mussels were super good. The broth made everything taste good. It was nice and gingery with a little bit of spice to brighten things up. I liked it. The portion was small though, the shells are deceptive by filling the large bowl... but remember, the only edible portion are the small mussels inside. So if you're going into the store famished, perhaps it's not the best option.

The Fish and Chips are good. Especially the fish. Puffy and well fried. It was well seasoned too. With the house tartar sauce, it was great. Yum Yum. The portion was nice and large. It filled up the starving, giant man duck with fish to spare. So the bang for your buck is this. 

OH and the fries. It tasted like sweet potato fried but I don't think it was. But the fries were wonderous. TRULY WONDEROUS. Perfect in every conceivable way. (I don't have pictures because we finished them too quickly) 

THE SERVICE

I mentioned a little bit of this before, but it was weird that we got a server that was confused. But he tried and was nice. But we also had a second server that was very informative and very nice... but she only peaked in every once in a while so we don't know whether or not she was our server? It was very weird. I guess between the 2 of them, they were perfect for us. 

AMBIANCE

The restaurant was very lively, small, but not cramped. It had the hip bar feel that doesn't make you uncomfortable at all. Everyone there was a lot older though (probably due to the price range) so that made us feel extra young. But that's okay because let the record show that we possess better judgement. The couple beside us decided to challenge the #100for100 deal that Pearl Diver offered and on their second round, they were going to give up. Each round of oysters consists of 30 VERY LARGE oysters. The tight seating arrangements (tight but not cramped) allowed me to eavesdrop very effectively and their defeat was very fulfilling because we were almost going to do the challenge. But alas, age does not equal wisdom. 

I jest, but seriously :3

♚ Cindy