The sort-of-secret: Island Oysters, a little slice of PEI in Bloordale
You may have heard of it if: You’ve encountered the Island Oysters crew at farmers’ markets, pop-ups or their new kiosk inside the Waterworks Food Hall
But you probably haven’t tried it because: You unintentionally bypassed it on your way into Three Speed next door
Before he started Island Oysters, PEI-born-and-raised Jason Kun had a nine-to-five job in the solar-energy industry, but his heart was still floating around in the Atlantic. So he worked part-time gigs shucking oysters at restaurants and was known for his epic house parties that always featured massive boxes of oysters. “I just always wanted to be close to oysters and shellfish,” he says, laughing. “It’s my happy place.”
Then, in 2013, Kun was helping to build a skate park at the Dufferin Grove farmers’ market when he proposed the idea of running an oyster stand to the market coordinator. He was pretty confident the answer would be yes, but he thought it would most likely be a next-year thing. Instead, they asked him if he could start next week. Kun ran out and bought a folding table, sourced oysters from a local seafood supplier, unsheathed his shucking knives and was an instant hit. His side hustle grew to include regular appearances at farmer’s markets and breweries along with a catering business. By 2018, he had left corporate life behind to pursue his love of bivalves full time. During Covid, he pivoted to a busy takeout window. Then, last year, he took the leap and opened his first restaurant.
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Kun found an intimate space at the corner of Bloor and Brock, joining Burdock Brewery, Grey Tiger and Alma to turn the little Bloordale block into a destination for food-and-drink nerds. Kun’s mysterious ad recruiting a chef for a “new seafood restaurant” piqued the interest of BC-born Nicholas Taylor, who trained at Ferrandi Paris and cut his teeth at Tofino’s famous fish-and-forage-to-table restaurant Wolf in the Fog.
Hospitality comes naturally to Kun, who grew up above his parents’ Chinese-Canadian restaurant in Charlottetown. Taylor and Kun both spent their youths fishing and foraging for seafood on their respective coasts, and both are excited about bringing their obsession with sustainable seafood (ask Kun about keystone species or healthy terrestrial systems, I dare you) to diners in an inviting and accessible way. To that end, the restaurant’s vibe is deeply casual: oysters are served on vintage cake stands, diners sit at simple wooden tables, and prints of maps and various maritime bric-a-brac line the walls and shelves. “It’s fancy without being fussy,” says Kun. “People like that it feels like a neighbourhood spot.”
The menu lists 10 oyster varieties from four provinces—including less-common treasures like Conway Pearls, tide-tumbled shells grown in the Conway Narrows of Malpeque Bay. And the prices aren’t eye-watering, with tasting platters starting at $33 for a dozen (get the Four Shores, a smart mix of East Cape Emeralds, Chebooktooks, Island Pearls and Effingham Fliptides.) There are also weekly specials on Wednesdays (two-buck shucks) and Thursdays ($1.50 shucks) between 5 and 7 p.m. As guests slurp, servers talk them through all the flavour notes of the different mollusks like shellfish sommeliers. “Oysters taste like a place, and we’re trying to represent geographies without being too cutesy,” says Kun.
While oysters are obviously the star of this seafood show, Taylor’s plates should not be missed. He didn’t want to do the typical pub grub people might expect from a seafood joint, so while, yes, there are pillowy prawn rolls and crispy Newfoundland cod cakes, there’s also seared Humboldt squid, smoked tuna dip with baguette, sizzling potatoes topped with house-smoked salmon, poached beets with crème fraîche, and tuna tataki on a bed of smashed cucumber salad with miso and candied walnuts. Even with these elevated takes, the most expensive dish on the non-oyster menu (the squid) is only $26.
As for the drinks, there’s not a ton of room behind the handsome curved wooden bar (most of it is taken up by bins of oysters), so the cocktail list is short. Choose from a caesar (natch); a briny Ocean Martini made with sugar kelp, gin and vermouth; and the PEIsland Iced Tea, a dangerously drinkable concoction of black tea, rye, lemon and simple syrup. Given Island Oyster’s history of partnering with various local breweries, there’s a lot more beer on offer from the likes of Burdock, Bellwoods and Blood Brothers, plus a small selection of mostly natural or organic wine, sake, cider and even mead.
The locals have definitely discovered Island Oysters, and word is starting to spread. “You’d be amazed at the cross-section of people we get here,” says Odin Ahlers, operations manager and lead oyster shucker (actual title!). “We’re the oyster bar for everyone else. Our customers include tables full of university students and families with young kids. The other day a seven-year-old came in and crushed three-dozen oysters by himself.”
For Kun, that kid is the perfect symbol of the kind of community-friendly spot he always wanted to create. “If we can have people on a date night and a little kid feel equally comfortable here, then we’re doing something right.”
1165 Bloor St. W., islandoysters.ca, @islandoysters
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