Oysters, Oysters, Oysters!
ELV doesn’t wish to alarm anyone, but the $1 oyster special at P. J. Clarke’s is such a deal, it could threaten the world’s population of Crassostrea gigas and Crassostrea virginica.
It runs from the slightly odd hour of 2:45 pm to 6 pm every day, and every day a special bivalve is featured. When you consider oysters are usually priced from $2.50 – $3.50 in our better bistros and oyster bars, this is a very special special indeed.
We polished off 30 of the deep-cupped Lunas the other day and washed the lot of ‘em down with a sweet/tart Sancerre. ELV would’ve kept slurping on the saline/sweet slimers, but his two dining companions, who wish to remain anonymous, but whose initials are Gregg Vermeys and Rob Kim (both über-lawyers-at-law, we might add), insisted we dive into something besides the sea. (ELV note: Only one type of oyster is on special every day, but those Lunas were as briny, thick and fresh as you’re going to get 250 miles from the nearest salt water.)
So dive we did into some nice pasta, and tasty cheese and broccoli dip with house-made chips, and a couple of what ELV still insists is the best burger in town.
Eating Las Vegas thinks this is just the sort of bold marketing move P. J.’s needed to make to grab the attention of serious feeders, mollusk mavens, and mall-strollers alike. It hasn’t been open a year, but continues to exist (literally and figuratively) in the shadow of Joe’s — a place with food that can’t touch what’s coming out of this kitchen.
Or the price of all these lip-smacking bivalves.
P. J. CLARKE’S
In The Forum Shops at Caesars
3500 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
702.434.7900
Restaurant reviews, quips, picks and pans-with some seriously salivating history-from the man who eats his way through Sin City every day.
September 21st, 2011 at 2:49 pm
I too highly recommend this. The oysters are a steal for the price and really tasty. This place is my new Las Vegas favorite.
September 21st, 2011 at 9:06 pm
Was in Vegas a few weeks ago (during restaurant week) and was going to eat here, but the “vibe” was so unwelcoming that I walked out. It was like they were doing you a favor letting you eat there. The odd thing was that the place was nearly completely empty. BTW, Joe’s was packed.
September 21st, 2011 at 9:57 pm
You missed out. Joe’s kind of sucks compared to PJ Clarkes.
September 22nd, 2011 at 7:21 am
We were recently at PJs for the 4th or 5 th time, we always start at the bar, we now know Woody the bartender! Our oysters were the best we ever had here in Vegas, I had the lobster Mac and cheese, very generous on the lobster and my wife had the delmonico Oscar ! Wow now that’s the way to have a steak, we used to go to joes, they need to revisit hospitality 101, the service is impeccable at P.J. Clarke’s! The food is well worth the trip to the strip! Oh! And what a great tv at the bar! It’s about 12 feet , good place to watch the game. Keep up the good writing john
September 22nd, 2011 at 8:50 am
I agree with Mr. Hank on his assessment of the hospitality at Joe’s. Putting it nicely, it sucked when I went there. I did not feel welcome at all. Was my wallet not fat enough? Did I hit the staff on a bad day? I don’t know, but it turned me off to the place. (And the stone crab claws were kinda mushy.)
I’ve got to give P.J. Clarke’s a try.
September 22nd, 2011 at 2:01 pm
Think about the oyster if you will. A bottom feeding bi-valve with a propensity to eat foeces and rot. Add a little bit of green Tabasco, a saltine, a shake of green pepper chipotle infused Grey Goose, and a little freshly grated horseradish from Endless Meadows Farm in Sonoma. You end up with saltine that is bearing a trash compactor filled with foeces and rot, some hot sauce, a bit of booze and spice, and some bitter tuber grate.
.
It would be disgusting if it failed to provide my aging manhood with the chemicals , nay, man-nutrients to engorge my veins with the girth of a Jesus sized- PXXX@ which is incidentally on the Starters menu for late service at Oyster Bob’s by the cannery.