SAVORING THE FRESH FLAVORS OF

If you are searching for a truly shucking amazing experience, I have found it! In my never-ending search for new restaurants in Lee County, I came across Blue Pointe Oyster Bar & Seafood Grill.

I am a huge fan of oysters, particularly of the raw variety. While you can get them at many seafood establishments, most are your run-of-the-mill Florida oysters, which are not bad. But those are not the flavor-filled oysters I seek! What caught my eye about Blue Pointe was the fact that they are known for having multiple varieties of raw oysters to try, and try them, I did!

I will say, before I continue on, that you are going to pay for these oysters. They cost more than you are used to at your average seafood spot, but, oh are they worth it!

On the night when I went to go to this fine establishment, they offered three varieties of oysters. Obviously I had to try all three –you know, for the greater good! They had Chebooktoosk oysters, Katama Bay oysters, Stonington oysters.

While some will say each oyster will taste the same, that is simply just not true! Some oysters are super salty or briny, and some are super sweet and nutty. I like the hybrid of those two flavor profiles, but honestly all three were super flavorful.

The one that I favored the most was the Chebooktoosk oysters. First, it is fun to say aloud. More importantly, the buttery flavor alongside the cracker, hot sauce and extra horseradish-filled cocktail sauce was truly phenomenal – even when eaten plain on a fork! The others were also delicious as well. I would recommend trying them all!

What are those other items, you ask? Blue Pointe Oyster Bar & Seafood Grill also has a large variety of shareables. We went with a few of those, which in and of itself, could have been a meal! Our chosen shareables were the blackened grouper bites and the Chesapeake Bay crab cake. Each of those came with a variety of fun sides! The bites featured a fresh bed of salad beneath the grouper, which included soy beans to add texture, along with avocado cream sauce that I could not get enough of. And, are you a fan of huge lump crab meat? This crab cake offered the most amazing balance of sweetness and savory. It is served with strawberry slices and mustard sauce on a bed of greens. Both of these options were worthy of the hefty price tag on them. 10/10 would recommend!

I should also note that Blue Pointe serves homemade multigrain bread with butter. The bread is beyond fresh and served right out of their oven! It is noteworthy for sure.

The Main Course

After trying all of these delectable teasers, we decided to dive in to the entrée selection. Blue Pointe offers a large variety of choices that all truly sounded worthy. After 15 minutes of consideration, we opted for two. The first was the filet mignon, served with a cabernet demiglace accompanied by onion rings and garlic mashed potatoes. Rather than asparagus that traditionally comes with the dish, I opted for the Caesar salad.

Now you can get a filet at most any restaurant, but this one was like “buttah!” It was cooked to perfection, a mid-rare. With the cabernet demiglace, it was out of this world! Each bite from the plate seemed so perfectly paired.

Our second entrée was the miso-glazed Chilean seabass with spinach and garlic mashed potatoes. The fish was served with a ginger-soy glaze and wasabi sauce. Full of buttery flavor, the seabass came accompanied by the most amazing and mildly spicy wasabi sauce, which was something I wanted to bottle up and take home! It would go well on anything!

DRINKS & DESSERT

Did I mention the wine selection yet? Well, they have a huge wine selection and offer pairings with each shareable and entrée. I opted to go with a Pinot Noir, the Rodney Strong, Russian River, and I did not disappoint myself with that pairing. The wine went fabulously with the oysters and other items I ordered!

Blue Pointe offers a cocktail menu featuring some specialty cocktails. When I dine out, I love to order and compare a restaurant’s oldfashioned. While they taste similar at different dining venues, I have noticed that each place seems to take their own liberties with the drink recipe. So, I gave the Blue Pointe “Olde Fashioned” a taste as well. It was quite refreshing and paired well with the seafood shareables.

Now, one cannot simply try a restaurant and not taste their dessert. Or rather you could, I suppose… But when I saw that the menu highlighted a French toast bread pudding with candied pecans, dried cherries and maple syrup drizzle, served with vanilla ice cream, I had no choice but to order it. With the maple flavor and dried cherries, all of it collectively was truly a treat!

Blue Pointe Oyster Bar & Seafood Grill can be found in Bell Tower. Reservations are highly recommended. Between the convenient location, the wide variety of both drink and food options, and our server, who introduced himself as “Justin Credible,” this place is one to visit!

By Noelani Mathews