Shucked - oyster bar at Gardens Midvalley

I like oysters and had only developped the taste for these the last years I was in France. In Malaysia, eating oysters is still something of a luxury and a reserved activity for certain occasions.

I saw this oyster bar by chance while waiting for a friend at the Gardens and so I decided to check it out...

The variety of oysters offered was good but the price was very steep. The listed price does not include taxes. Well, anything for a one-time experience...I always had fin de claire when in France but Irish oysters were new to me so I had decided to give it a try - 3 pieces of them (Galagher) cost RM55 on the menu, ending up at RM64 after tax so it is RM20 plus a pop - not at all the kind of price one should be paying for eating out of a stand with cheap IKEA cutleries and cheap paper napkin to wipe off their hands (what, not even cheap scented wet towel in plastic packets to wipe your fingers after consumming oysters??? - see pix below)

The bar..."minimalist" at best. 

Honestly, I would have liked it better served the French bistrot way: with butter, bread and mignonnette sauce. That was not the biggest setback: they killed the oysters before serving, completely destroying the texture and flavour of the oysters as the sea water that gave part of the taste of the oysters was also discarded. The plump-looking oysters in their shell looked like a clump of shrivelled dead oysters in a cloudy juice of damaged oyster meat. They were removed completely from their shells and then put back into their shells before serving. The explanation given: Malaysians are too scared of eating live oysters. Utter disappointment. I couldn't tell if the oysters were really fresh or not...and the staff had to argue their ways are the way to do it (I am wishing the owner of the outlet good luck for the future).

Verdict: Go buy some fresh oysters and shuck them yourself would have been a cheaper and more satisfying option...lemons are cheap and sold everywhere! (plus you get to wash your hands after eating)