For those of us who savor every drip of the liquor of your dozen fresh oysters, imagine eating a peck of them! Here’s a peck, held up by Jesse. Depending on the size of the oysters, a peck could be anything between 30-40 oysters!
My daughter Alison, her father-in-law Mickey and I had one and a half pecks. About 50-60 oysters between us. I think I was stuffed by my fifth oyster, especially since I also ate steamed shrimp and scallops.
We were at the Sunny Side Oyster Bar in Williamston, North Carolina. That night, some of the oysters were larger than the size of a saltine cracker and a lot fatter.
Well known to clients from all the surrounding counties in North Carolina, Sunny Side has been in business since 1935. The restaurant building itself is historic. It is more like a wooden shack, just like its image on its place mats.
They open for dinner and only during the cold months–from September to April–when oysters are at their best. Earlier in the season the oysters are from North Carolina but that night our oysters were from Louisiana.
Their oysters may be served raw but most people have their’s steamed. Medium, medium light (with the shellfish still with its juices) and well done (not as juicy, and maybe a tad chewy.) And no, no deep fried oysters, they are known for only steamed oyster. Our server Jesse said that some people leave when they hear that they don’t serve fried shellfish. “They don’t know what they’re missing,” he said.
The eating area is more like a bar area. Each small row of diners are served by a shucker, whose images appear on the place mats. Our’s was Jesse, who was super friendly and very quick to take our orders and requests.
Once we sat down, Jesse wasted no time getting our order. Because the restaurant accommodates maybe up to 35 diners at one time, the turnover time must go really fast. Usually other diners are out at the bar having drinks while they patiently wait their turn.
A peck of oysters? Jesse asked. Steamed medium light? Shrimp? Scallops? Then he got us ready with our dipping sauce. Hot butter, poured out from an electric kettle and also their secret sauce. The Secret Sauce tasted like prawn cocktail sauce, tomato-ey with Tabasco and horseradish. Jesse confirmed this smiling, with an “I can’t tell you anymore what’s in it. It’s a secret!” He offered the restaurant’s Rooster Sauce, so spicy Jesse called it Misery Sauce.
Mickey added Rooster Sauce and horseradish in his melted butter. Jesse was impressed. “Oooo, you’ll pay for it tomorrow morning. Better put some wet wipes in your fridge tonight!” he joked. I tasted a little and it burned.
I put more horseradish and a little Misery Sauce into my Secret Sauce, dipped and wolfed down a few steamed shrimp. Tasty. The sauce was refreshing enough to keep me going for more shrimp and scallops. Jesse generously gave out saltine crackers which I dipped in butter.
He left and returned with a peck of steaming oysters and got to work shucking them, handing each of us oysters one at a time, giving us enough time to eat before he replenished.
We chatted with Ty, the guy next to us. Ty is from Alabama but comes to Sunny Side every time he’s in the area for business. Jesse told us tales of trapping squirrels and rabbits and hunting bears, all the while shucking the oysters and loading our dishes. He’s like feeding chickens and we happily grabbed each oyster as he slid it on to our saucers.
Now here’s the big delight–the juicy oysters, super fresh. One can’t bite into a fresh oyster without accompanying sounds of satisfaction. Hmm. So tender and tasty.
I bit into something. It was a pearl! What luck. Ty got a pearl too! We left with our little momento, stuffed and totally satisfied with another great culinary experience.
Sunny Side Oyster Bar is situated in 1106 Washington St, Williamston, NC 27892.
