Where Do Restaurants Get Their Oysters?

[sunsandsurf]

Are the oysters in restaurants around town from Thailand?  Never seen an oyster farm.  Where are they?

[zilly]

I've never seen a chicken on Walking Street but I still buy from the vendor. Why do you ask? You thinking they come straight out of the bay?

[sunsandsurf]

I've seen plenty of chickens in Thailand.  Never seen the oysters.  Just kind of wondering where the oysters I'm eating comes from.

[FROST MEDIC999]

They come from the Sea and from fresh water and are Farmed and imported as well but plenty about being farmed down south and along parts of Krabi and Phuket plus off Rayong

[Taeng Mo]

Bang Saen is good for cheap, local oysters too.

[Christie]

I am a big oyster fan.... In the case of restaurants serving them raw they are normally from France, Fine De Claire arrive on Wed and Fri later afternoon into Pattaya from Bangkok shipped by air. Oysters last about 10 days alive they normally last around 5 days once they land before dying... If they are not mentioned in the menu as Fine De Claire then who know where they are from but its my understanding that Thai oysters are not safe to eat raw and I wouldnt risk it. Other than that Thailand also imports oysters from Australia on a weekly basis depending on the season.

 

They 'should' cost around 500-600 baht for half a dozen, if they are cheaper than that then you would have to question why. You do not mention raw or cooked, if they are cooked they can come from anywhere and it wont really matter.

 

And like everywhere in the world make sure they shuck them TO ORDER and dont WASH them before serving to remove shell, this is a common problem with ordering oysters throughout the world. Look for the briny salty taste from the brine. 

[Touchagrey]

And get your hepatitis A shots, especially if you're eating anything out of Pattaya Bay.

[Teecnx]

I was always under the impression that oysters could only thrive in pristine sea water. if some one is farming them in the Gulf of Thailand then they must be an awful lot tougher than I have them credit for. You do have to wonder what exactly they have been filtering out from what passes for seawater around this coast.

[ertert]

I am a big oyster fan.... In the case of restaurants serving them raw they are normally from France, Fine De Claire arrive on Wed and Fri later afternoon into Pattaya from Bangkok shipped by air. Oysters last about 10 days alive they normally last around 5 days once they land before dying... If they are not mentioned in the menu as Fine De Claire then who know where they are from but its my understanding that Thai oysters are not safe to eat raw and I wouldnt risk it. Other than that Thailand also imports oysters from Australia on a weekly basis depending on the season.

 

They 'should' cost around 500-600 baht for half a dozen, if they are cheaper than that then you would have to question why. You do not mention raw or cooked, if they are cooked they can come from anywhere and it wont really matter.

 

And like everywhere in the world make sure they shuck them TO ORDER and dont WASH them before serving to remove shell, this is a common problem with ordering oysters throughout the world. Look for the briny salty taste from the brine. 

We have great oysters in Sydney. I shuck them myself to preserve the brine, chill and eat naturale with lemon. Heaven.

[sunsandsurf]

I am a big oyster fan.... In the case of restaurants serving them raw they are normally from France, Fine De Claire arrive on Wed and Fri later afternoon into Pattaya from Bangkok shipped by air. Oysters last about 10 days alive they normally last around 5 days once they land before dying... If they are not mentioned in the menu as Fine De Claire then who know where they are from but its my understanding that Thai oysters are not safe to eat raw and I wouldnt risk it. Other than that Thailand also imports oysters from Australia on a weekly basis depending on the season.

 

They 'should' cost around 500-600 baht for half a dozen, if they are cheaper than that then you would have to question why. You do not mention raw or cooked, if they are cooked they can come from anywhere and it wont really matter.

 

And like everywhere in the world make sure they shuck them TO ORDER and dont WASH them before serving to remove shell, this is a common problem with ordering oysters throughout the world. Look for the briny salty taste from the brine. 

 

Thank you for that info!  I expected most places serving oysters in dishes were serving oysters from Thailand, and that good fresh ones were from somewhere else.

 

I like good raw oysters.

[baise moi]

Thank you for that info!  I expected most places serving oysters in dishes were serving oysters from Thailand, and that good fresh ones were from somewhere else.

 

I like good raw oysters.

 

The best oysters I've ever had were at LengKee on Pattaya Klang. We used to eat oysters from a place in Pathum Thani but after getting sick twice, stopped eating them.

 

 

[Beerburgerbonk]

Oystralia

[Gobby]

Big oyster farm in jantaburi . 2-3 hours from pattaya.

[expatdude]

Most oysters eaten raw in Thailand are not from France--that's ridiculous. Thais often eat them as in the picture above--local oysters. One of my favorite girls loved them.

[LongPlay]

I was always under the impression that oysters could only thrive in pristine sea water. if some one is farming them in the Gulf of Thailand then they must be an awful lot tougher than I have them credit for. You do have to wonder what exactly they have been filtering out from what passes for seawater around this coast.

You must be joking...  The whole reason they have "closed areas" where people go harvest oysters is that they grow BEST under the fishing camps, that tend to have their indoor toilet facilities dumping directly into the water under the fish camp up on stilt legs.  

 

They are filter feeders, and the more they can filter out, the bigger they get.  

 

I was raised in the salt marsh areas of South Louisiana.  They grow wild in most estuary environments.  Also grow well in coral reef areas as well.  Yes they can grow in pristine water, but they do not grow as fast or as big.  

 

I only eat oysters fried to death.  I have spent many pre-dawn mornings motor boating out to hunt ducks, and seen the 'gatherers' under those camps harvesting those oysters in very CLOSED waters.  I will take my chances with 375 deg F boiling oil.

[xymmot]

All the oysters I have eattten in Thailand were pretty good and I never gotten sick.  As I have gotten older though, I stop eatting raw seafood and sushi as well.  When in Phukett, go to number one seafood restaurant on second road, by far the best and filling.

[Christie]

Yes Expatdude I know most oysters served in Thailand are not from France, but I also said that you would be crazy to eat the local ones. If they are imported obviously they will be much more expensive and labelled as from France or Australia and these are the only ones worth having.

 

Thai oysters (which I have tried raw in my younger days) are quite boring as they are huge and have less brine and flavour, and as a result, of course the Thais can't resist loading them up with fried garlic, chilli, coriander etc. A true oyster connoisseur would never think of eating anything other than a virgin, shucked to order, LIVE oyster - which isnt spawning - and has plenty of brine. That means an imported one, and my point was that you can get amazing oysters in Thailand as they are alive when they are shucked (hopefully) if they have been properly stored. Casa Pascal has an oyster special on at the moment, 690 for 6 medium size Fine De Claire.

 

http://www.restaurant-in-pattaya.com/menus/this-weekend-oysters-jet-fresh-from-france/

 

Other restaurants that I have imported oysters from and their origin include Matahari (American) - now and then, Au Bon Cain (of course French) - I think regularly, Chez Georges (again regularly) and Brunos.

 

Eating Thai oysters is akin to eating Thai Beef or Thai Wine - don't go there.

[Kathmandu]

Agreed...don't mess around with eating warm water oysters raw. In the US, you won't find any restaurants north of Mason Dixie selling oysters from the Gulf of Mexico.

 

 

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[CamelToe]

Had half a dozen oysters from one of the Pier restaurants in Walking st....food poisoning was so bad,im lucky I never died...Don't ever trust oysters in Thailand,do you really think the Thai owners would throw away Oysters gone bad,when a falang is happy to eat them? Mai pen rai

[ertert]

Ain't got the cojones myself...something I look forward to when going home...Sydney seafood goooood!

[OKAY]

I don't like them but I'll eat a few when the GF buys them. Recently there was a Sea Food festival on Beach Road, ate them two nights from different vendors; Both tasted great and I don't particularly like them. Others times GF goes down the end of Naklua bahtbus run and buys from market, not bad at all. Where these locals get the oysters I don't know, but in four years I haven't had problems with them.

[whitespider - RIP]

I eat oysters frequently, both the large fresh ones and the smaller ones you get a plateful of although I am pretty sure they are frozen.

 

Never been ill yet, although food poisoning from oysters can happen anywhere so I have probably been fortunate given the amount we eat.

 

To answer the OPs questions, there are many oyster farms not far from me in Rayong so I would gues ours come from there and probably Pattaya's also. Given that many of the oysters in the restaurants are "live" i.e. in tanks, they cant travel too far I would have thought.

 

On other seafood

 

I live in a fishing town - there is a 4am market about 2km from me and an afternoon market a few hundred metres away. The afternoon market is probably the same catch so not "totally" fresh, a few hours old. This stocks all the staples but sometimes we get a "bonus" - yellow fin Tunas etc whcih are small but delicious. These dont come in every day.

 

Hoi - several types, mainly large clams - we dig ourselves. Any of the mud flats close to here will yeild clams (mainly) and sometimes scallops. The clams vary from tiny tiny things, which my wife eats, to huge big ones, which are actually not so tasty. Best ones are medium sized maybe 1.5 inches wide.

 

What is great is the prices, pretty much across the board in the markets - 1kg fresh scallops 200 Baht. You would be lucky to get one scallop for 4 quid back home.

 

I am having scallops for lunch right now. The wife bbqs hers to death on skewers, the same as squid, but I have mine either lightly sauteed in butter and garlic or in a Pad Krapow (stir friend with basil, same the popular breakfast dish with pork).

[montypython]

Mama Cafe on Soi 6 advertises and sells Atlantic oysters. I shared a dozen and a plate of bulots with a Thai girl, but she did not appreciate the shallot vinegar

 

Can't say they were as good as a freshly shucked Cancale oyster but more than acceptable

[CamelToe]

Had half a dozen raw Thai oysters in a seafood restaurant on Walking Street and had the worst food poisoning possible.Took 10 days to get over it and ruined my holiday

[Teecnx]

Eating oysters anywhere is akin to Russian Roulette. Had food poisoning from oysters from a 5 star hotel in the Caribbean , famous seafood restaurant in Singapore and twice from "smart " establishments in Thailand. Think someone is trying to tell me something so promised my guardian angel ( long suffering girlfriend ) no more oysters, although River Market restaurant in Chiangmai do offer very good fin de claire regularly .