Oyster Shack

The chowder was awesome oysters were really fresh lobster was good but the service sucked

Came here by recommendation from the concierge of our hotel. We wanted seafood so this is what the concierge recommended. The ambience, food and service were great. It was the 31^st. They had live music and people dancing. We chose from a prix fixe menu. It was a lot of food. We split the calamari and escargot. Both were delicious. The décor of the restaurant was antique. For main entrees, we had filet mignon and two seafood mountains. The dessert were brownies all around, it was very yummy. We all enjoyed it. Overall, I was satisfied with this place.

Food sucks sucks sucks sucks!!! So expensive plus service is shit shit shit shit!!! Worst experience ever!!! Mother f@&$-«&:$ I’m so mad!!!

Charming throw back Piano Bar with great vibe. I am going to be frank. This is not a 5 star dining experience. But two things made this a must visit for me. First was the great piano bar player who was really talented and who played all my favorite songs. You can actually eat your meal right on the Piano which is a nice touch. The second thing which makes this place a winner is the hard working husband and wife team owners who went out of their way to make us feel welcome and really took care to make sure that everything was ok with our meals. they really care. It was nice to see that. This is not a place with world class food or some super creative chef but it is a charming place and it is filled with great people. The waiter was great also. I think it would also be a great place to come by and sit at the bar and enjoy some nice wine or a drink with friends and listen to the lovely piano man sing away the night.

Oysters were great! Waiter was knowledgable and very helpful. We had two entrees also, both good!

Worst experience in years. I’ve been a few times before the new administration and now twice after the new administration. It used to be good, but no longer. We went for lunch on a Monday.
Service was extremely slow.
Ordered a dozen of fresh oysters on ice for 30 $. The oysters were really tiny and did not taste good.
Main course was lobster roll and fries. The fries were good, but the lobster meat tasted like they were just out of the freezer. I understand that it’s frozen lobster meat that they thaw to serve… but it *tasted* frozen like it was just barely thawed.
By then I felt that their general attitude was that they didn’t care about good food and were sloppy. I was beginning to doubt whether the food was really fresh/​clean and started worrying about food poisoning. So I didn’t finish my lobster roll (since it tasted terribly anyway) and asked for the bill. The manager noticed I barely touched my dish and instead of asking me why I didn’t like my meal responded with «I sell a dozen of those every week».
In all fairness, the waitress asked what was wrong and offered to fix it. But I wasn’t going to wait another hour for what I suspected would be another mediocre dish so I declined. Later I did NOT come down with food poisoning. For the same price there are tons of better options.

The servers and oysters were great but management sucks. We had, wine, oysters and ordered our meal which took forever to show up. My wife ordered surf n turf I ordered mussels it took a half hour to arrive. Her steak was cooked to perfection but the lobster was obviously overcooked I had to use my hands to pull it out of the shell.
My mussels (which are almost impossible to screw up) were cold on top and so dried out I gave up half way through. The thing that made it so I would never come back again is that I asked to speak to the manager, not looking for any freebee, just so he know what was being served and he sent multiple servers never coming to our table. They offered us free desert which my wife took and in the end it wasn’t available yet the manager still never attempted to approach our table.
The manager was greeting clients two tables behind us and walked past our table at least five times but never attempted to know what made our meal bad. In the end the server gave us a free bottle of wine to compensate for the restaurants lack of food quality. I gave her a 20% tip stating it was not her fault the management has no care about the complaints of their customers.
I eat out at least three times a week and my wife is a full time traveling consultant who eats out every day so we aren’t occasional restaurant people that just have a bitch.
In conclusion as a business owner myself I was totally appalled the owner never made any effort to come to our table or find out why we had a complaint about the food. He was very eager to seat anyone that came through the door to a table dressed in a wealthy manor they got all of his attention.

Visited on thanksgivings eve. It was not crowded. Had 1 dozen oysters on half shell, very fresh. Escargot was generous and full of flavor, perfectly cooked not chewy. Seafood chowder was the star of the night. Service was just perfect to match.

Mediocre at best. As a fan of sea food, this place was quite disappointing.
The food is really greasy overall, and while the bread they serve seem to be freshly baked and are delicious, sadly that was the high point of my dining experience there.

Nice ambience. Generally cool place but I’ve been here 3 times specifically for the oysters and on two of those occasions had a bad oyster. 2 out of 36 bad oysters is a bad batting average for an oyster/​seafood specialty house. Ironically, I’d suggest you proceed carefully around the oysters but I’ve found the other items on the menu great. The wait staff offer to bring another oyster if you point out a bad oyster — for what that’s worth. But definitely not a high-​end oyster specialty house if that’s what you’re after.

sea food choices are mediocre and service sucks. the staff here is not attentive at all.
there’s probably better sea food restaurants in montreal to go. I could probably do better customer service than staff here.

The service was excellent, knowledgable and friendly! The food was fresh and delicious. The oysters were amazing, we had four kinds — served fresh and cold. My salmon was done perfectly and the accompanying vegetables were just right. My wife’s steak was exactly how she requested it and excellent quality. Her lobster was also exactly right — not overlooked like so many places do. We will return here on our next visit to Montréal.

Calamari was amazing. Had the mountain of seafood which was an exceptional amount of food for two people. Service was above par for Montréal

I came here for a late lunch so I had the place to myself. I had a great seat open to the street. The waitress was excellent and very knowledgable about the oyster selection. I got a dozen Goose Point oysters which were meaty and not too briny… perfect! It was complimented with the traditional lemon wedge and cocktail sauce but also with a vinaigrette dipping sauce which was interesting. I prefer tobacco sauce on my oysters so sauces don’t normally matter to me. I also got the lobster roll which was disappointing as I consider myself a lobster roll aficionado. I’ve had the best that Maine and Boston can offer, this was not even close. I applaud the chef for his presentation but onions on a lobster roll is just terrible. I couldn’t even enjoy the succulent meat over the overpowering chunks of white onion. I felt bad giving the waitress my negative opinion. It wasn’t her fault that the chef doesn’t know the reason that you spend $ 20 for a lobster roll is to taste the lobster. I recommended parsley if the chef was going for some color or chives if he was going for a onion overtone. But the best way to make a proper lobster roll is to keep it simple. I would go back for the oysters but not the lobster roll!

My husband and I stopped in for lunch a couple weeks ago and ordered salads and fried calamari. The waitress was pleasant, the place seemed clean and it was open early in the day (11:30am) which many of the other restaurants on Bishop Street were not. My salad was bland and not anything special, but the fried calamari and its accompanying dipping sauces were nice and had some spice to them. I’d give it another try if the opportunity presented itself. The décor is fun!

Went here on a whim because:
Yay seafood!
Or so we thought.
The service was lacklustre and slow.
The portions were big, so it wasn’t too expensive considering (the oysters are however).
But the fun part came when we got home: our friend became violently ill.
Food poisoning.
We called the place to warn them and get some form of resolve.
They were going to call back.
We’re still waiting on that call.
Yeah, I’d stay clear of this one unless you like violently ridding yourself of your food shortly after your visit.

This place is a good spot for a great time — Atmosphere, Service, & Food: the breakdown.
Atmosphere: Visiting the Oyster Shack on St. Paddy’s Day (eve) is sure to skew the status quo — but the Oyster shack is the quincentennial bustling Montréal pub /​bar. Located on Bishop St. (south of St. Catherine) the Oyster Bar is surrounded by similar establishments: Resto /​pub attracting mainly University crowded and the local regulars. You’ll see and meet all kinds of people at the Oyster Shack — and this makes for a terrific opportunity to have a good time no matter the occasion. The place itself is a little worse for wear though — scuffed furniture, creaky tables, faded signs /​stickers — but they all seem to blend in to make for a very comfortable, even familiar atmosphere. A great place to watch the game (any game) and a good place to have a group gathering (check out the upstairs)
Note: the place is littered with cheesy /​cliché furniture. Surprisingly charming.
Service: There are (shockingly) 4 main staffers at the Oyster. Two gents at the bar and two waitresses. They work tirelessly to cover the two floors of patrons ~ and most of the time they do so with a smile and good conversation. Hardworking, and willing to be of help.
Food: The menu direct and to the point ~ sea food is the name of the game. Oysters, Clams, clam chowder, Calamari, and Shrimp cocktails are all on the menu. The main dishes mostly feature seafood with a few exceptions (like the Shack Burger) that cater to the turf-​lovin’ dinners. The food is good, but may be a hit and miss during time of great rush. The menu’s simplicity however almost assures that things are never far from what they should taste like.
It was a happy surprise to end up there ~ will repeat.

Came here in October with my mom and was not very impressed at all. We ordered a lobster sandwich which was just ok and some fries that came with it. The service was not that amazing either. Waitress took a long time to greet us and left us standing and waiting at the door for a good while. She didn’t seem attentive or interested. Oysters were small and pricey compared to Lawrence’s great oyster deal. Maybe the other dishes are better, but the lobster sandwich was definitely nothing special. Expensive too!

The atmosphere and décor are very in tune with what they serve… rustic booths, and bar, with fishing nets hanging on the walls. Went with my girlfriends, and we ordered the Rockefeller oysters, and the regular oysters, along with a lobster roll, and fries. The oysters, in my opinion, we’re nothing to write home about. The lobster roll on the other hand was pretty good. The lobster meat was fresh, and not «rubbery». However, I think they should TOAST their buns, but other than that it was good. The fries were pretty good too, they’re spiced up with something, can’t quite put my finger on it, but whatever it is, it gave them an addictive taste, we couldn’t stop eating them. On of my friends had a beer, the other had a Rum and coke and she said it was watered down. So I wouldn’t go here for drinks. The staff is very nice and helpful when asked questions about the menu. When in the mood for a lobster roll, will consider this place again.

Very good resto with excellent menu and pricing. Very friendly staff. Good place for a one on one for dinner or a group in their good size terrasse.