Island Creek Oyster Bar and a Red Sox Game

During my brother's trip we managed to hit some good New England trademarks: lobsters, and Back Bay/Sonsie.  All we needed was a little baseball!  Due to a number of circumstances, my brother and BL ended up with tickets to the afternoon game of a double-header, but since it was a weekday, Nick and I really couldn't cut work and go.  Lucky for us, Nick was able to get four tickets to the evening game as well!  Good thing my brother happens to be the biggest Red Sox fan ever!

Wanting to grab some dinner before the evening game and also wanting a good place to meet, we decided to head to the Island Creek Oyster Bar.  I had been wanting to try this place out for awhile and this proved to be the perfect time!

When I walked in, I was greeted by a light cottage feel that had a modern flair, making me feel far away from downtown.  After checking out the raw bar...

Raw Bar

I settled on down at the bar (still not quite sure how I found a seat) and ordered a Narragansett, which I have been all about lately.  Big, cheap and delicious - how can you go wrong!

Beer!

Oyster Shell lined wall - pretty impressive

While I was able to grab a seat at the bar, the hostess had some trouble determining the wait for our table as her 25-35 minute estimate quickly turned into at least an hour.  When we finally were sat, we were ready for some good food!  To start, we had to indulge in some treats from the raw bar, so we picked some oysters: Island Creek Oysters, Pocky Nocks and Big Rocks.  All were fresh and delicious, but my favorite were the Pocky Nocks - they had the perfect combination of flavors. 

Oysters!

After seeing some of the massive shrimp served to some other tables, we couldn't resist!  The shrimp were great, but sometimes, when they are bigger they lose a bit of taste.  While not as succulent as some of their smaller counterparts, these had plenty of taste to go around!

Shrimp...

and plenty of condiments.

For main courses, I decided on the lobster roll.  While not hot and buttered like Neptune's Oyster, this was definitely tasty.  The mayo was pretty light, so it did not compromise the flavor of the lobster meat.  The roll was delicious - much more appetizing in my opinion than a split top roll (sorry Nick!)  Obviously, I was just enjoying loads of lobster meat that week.

Lobster Roll

Nick went with the Colorado Angus Burger with house-cured bacon and Grafton Cheddar, and decided to go for the full effect by adding the fried oysters and horseradish mayo as well.  The burger had a lot of good flavors from the addition of the oysters and mayo.  The burger was cooked perfectly, but for a similarly composed burger Neptune's really had a bit more to it. 

Island Creek Burger

My brother went with some fried claims for dinner.  It was a nice size portion and had a nice crispy breading to it.

Fried Claims

BL went with the classic fish and chips.  You really cannot go wrong with this order, and at Island Creek its no different - the fish was tender and crispy, just like it should be. 

Fish and Chips

Island Creek Oyster Bar is such a welcome addition to the Fenway area.  Really, Fenway had been lacking in some quality dining establishments, and this joins a bunch of other great new restaurants in filling that void - good food and drink, what more do you need?!

After our delicious meal - we took our fully bellies over to Fenway and walked up to the Bleacher seats.  Nick actually got these from a co-worker who lives in Fenway - turns out as a treat for those who put up with the craziness of the season you can enter a raffle for a chance at tickets for select games.

When you sit in the bleachers you never really know what you're going to get.  Lucky for us, these were pretty amazing bleacher seats!  We were able to see all aspects of the game.  Of course, I went to the bathroom during the triple play - but still there were a couple of other great plays and home runs to enjoy!

Evening at Fenway

I think we got plenty of Boston/New England jammed into one weekend for my brother and BL.  There was plenty good food, drink, duck tours, and baseball to go around!