My food critic friend Denveater loves oysters, and I’ve been bugging her to take me out and introduce me to some. Sunday night we stopped briefly at Ocean Prime in Larimer Square but decamped when we discovered they served 1 type of oyster. One seated at the bar at Oceanaire, we ordered a happy hour chef’s choice plate of 8 oysters. Some of the oysters on the menu were new even to her, which made me happy.
As we waited for our first dish to appear, I made a fateful decision: I would take my photos without flash, in order to avoid having blindingly white plates in my pictures. All the pictures in this post were taken at 6400 ISO, mostly because I could. But then I had to go home and unleash Noise Ninja on them. As I was editing them, I thought, “Why am I taking pictures at such a high ISO, then using Noise Ninja to remove noise, and then sharpening them? It’s silly.”
First up, Chef Creek from British Columbia. As Denveater said of West Coast oysters, it was a bit sweet, mild with just a touch of brininess. 
The Riptide, from Massachusetts, was my favorite of the four types. It was saltier and had a more robust flavor. It’s also prettier, though I don’t know why that should matter.
The second East Coast oyster came next: Alpine Bay from Prince Edward Island (shades of Anne of Green Gables!). It was less salty than Riptide but definitely had more grit. I liked it too.
The Nootka Sound oysters, again from British Columbia, were my least favorite, with a less distinctive taste. After all, if you’re going to toss something rather slimy down your throat, it should have some flavor. Denveater thought the Nootka were a little chewy.
Of course, we didn’t stop with oysters; we took full advantage of the happy hour food and wine menu. We started with deep-fried asparagus, which were a little undercooked. Then we moved on to beef sliders, soft and oniony.
It may have been lowbrow, but I wanted to try the cornmeal-friend oysters and fries. Apparently, Sunday is no-carb-left-behind day.
We finished up with friend green beans, which were perfectly cooked. The bacon-flavored aioli was just spicy enough. I’d give them the prize for best snack, though the fried oysters were good too; I especially liked the textural contrast. 
This was my second meal at Oceanaire. I went there two years ago for Denver restaurant week and enjoyed the food and drinks then as well.
The tamarind was so red I didn’t recognize it; usually it’s brown. The mint-jalapeno chutney was refreshing, and both chutneys were spicy. Not what I expected, considering how the website mentions the chef’s “low threshold for chili.”
the pattern created by slicing it in half was beautiful. They were best hot, just come from the kitchen, but they were still decent well into the meal.
Perhaps 10 days after I first visited 
Toward the back, past the end of the bar where the servers hang out when they’re not busy, patrons can lounge on couches.
I can’t identify all the cheeses just by tasting, but there was some kind of blue cheese in there, and the crust on top contrasted with all the gooiness underneath. The asparagus spears were crisp and tasted grilled. That lovely, filling food cost $10, but then I managed to spend 200 percent more on wine. What can I say? The waitress kept asking me if I wanted anything … and apparently I did. And from the look of the wine rack near the entrance, there certainly are wines-aplenty.
Leela’s European Café
Given the MySpace page mention of “exposure,” I would guess that the bands don’t get paid much, if at all.
I would have preferred half the feta, but that is my only complaint. My mouth was still tingling from the peppery dressing when I left.
The barkeep chatted with all of them; she was in her second week and very, very personable. When I asked her how long the restaurant had been open, she said about two years. She laughed about the fact that they “don’t charge” tax; the price you see on the menu is the price you pay. That’s what’s European about the place, she added.
Cloudy with shreds of crab and slices of white asparagus, it tasted of the latter with a hint of crab. There was too much brown rice for me in the Asian portion, and the chicken tasted precooked and warmed over.
I recommend it for visitors and residents alike; I had never heard of the Purple Martini bar in the Tabor Center, for example. You can buy tickets to events in Denver at the center, and there are several people there ready to help you find entertainment.
but that was the name of a former department store, possibly a locally owned one. The contemporary store, Only in Colorado, is one of three on the mall owned by two brothers (and another works for them) named Young Chung. According to the clerk at the Welcome to Denver Store down the mall a few blocks, the three brothers have different middle names.
The other stores have similar merchandise but are much smaller. One or more of these stores has been in business on the mall for 40 years. They sell sand paintings and moccasins, small Western sculptures (some of the Mill Creek Studios creations were appealing), leather hats (“USA” on the top label, “Made in China” on the one underneath), and “genuine Indian handcrafted jewelry,” though I didn’t see any certificates of authentication.
Appaloosa Grill
The Horse was originally owned by Mayor John Hickenlooper’s company, Wynkoop Brewing, but was sold to Johnny James Qualley and Adam Hill, members of the local roots rock band Oakhurst, and a couple of other investors.
I thought, brunch in downtown Denver, we’ll have to wait for half an hour, right? But I guess the hot places for brunch in Denver are Dixon’s (in LoDo) and Snooze on Park Avenue.
It was barely warm when it came out, but I liked the cheesy egg flavor. What I noticed most was the mixture of textures: egg and bean and soft sweet pepper and juicy corn. The sourdough toast was light and crisp, and when I asked the waitress for jelly, she brought grape because that was all they had.
There’s a list of all their products on the website, including such things as “summer meat bundles,” if you’re the kind of person who likes to get off work in downtown Denver and purchase 29 pounds of meat. And I did notice, 
but not the red-light-at-the ceiling tackiness I found at Copeland’s in Louisiana
but they were both good. However, the food did not leave me “lusting for more,” as the website promised. (To be honest, I think conch fritters in the Bahamas are the only seafood that’s ever had that effect on me. OK, so I’m lowbrow, or I need a beach to get lusty. Sue me.)
