Suanne and I went to Hamilton Street in Yaletown for our Friday dinner out. Of all places, we chose a restaurant along Hamilton St because I want to check out the “happening street” during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. I read in the papers that Hamilton street will be made pedestrian only and will be THE connector between the two main party sites for the games.

It will be interesting to see how these restaurants will gear up to maximize on the biggest event ever to be hosted by Vancouver.

We went to Rodney’s Oyster House. Frankly, we are not fans of raw oysters ourselves. I eat it but Suanne, she can’t stand the slimy texture when eaten raw.

We did not have a reservation but on hindsight, it would have been better if we had. It was because they only have one table left when we arrived just before 5PM.

Rodney’s Oyster House has two levels of dining area. We got seated upstairs on the table that overlooks the whole of ground floor. We like that table — great for people watching and observing how the staff shucks the oysters.

Rodney’s is a noisy restaurant. It was not so loud that one could hardly keep up a conversation but it has a very noticeable din.

The first thing they did was to bring the bread even before we got the menu and stuff. Our waiter is great. I read of reviews that Rodney’s wait staff are exceptional, playful and relaxed … they sure are. The waiters are all guys and they are exceptionally good with the ladies. LOL!

The bread was OK … a nice sort of OK. It was sourdough, we think. First thing we did was touch it.  Was it warm? No, it was not but we enjoyed it all the same.

For drinks we had Heineken ($5.75) and Iced Tea ($3.50). I got Heineken because, you see, I am on training.

I am training to drink beer without getting flushed red all the time. Yeah, I know you people don’t think this can be trained. I’ll prove you all wrong. LOL!

I swear … my face was not as red as it used to. Don’t believe me? Suanne can attest to that.

Rodney’s call their Happy Hours the Low Tide. Monday to Saturday 3PM to 6PM. We were there for this, otherwise a meal here could be pricey depending on what one order. I was reading this one review that has a couple spending over $90 just on 18 oysters and two bowls of soup.

We see that a lot of people order the oysters by the platter with at least a dozen pieces, often more. We? We asked for … just FOUR pieces. During the Low Tide period they are $1.50 a piece.

They gave us a complete tray of nine types of condiments and sauces which we suppose are for the oysters. We tried each of the ones in the jar.

The sauce called the “Back from Hell was our favourite. It was ultra hot. We are no oyster connoisseur really. The oyster tasted fresh (it better be!) and clean. Suanne was game enough to try one. She shuddered gulping one down even though they were quite small.

From where we were seated, we could see that they grate horseradish fresh to go on the oyster platters. Not a fan of horseradish ourselves, we just took a small bite.

Suanne just can’t stand raw oysters. So she got Pan Fried Oysters ($11). There are seven pieces of freshly shucked and lightly breaded oysters. It smells good and was light tasting.

I had the Mussels which is steamed in dill butter, garlic and wine. The mussels were small unlike the succulent ones we had at Chambar. The juice at the bottom was nice although a bit too salty to slurp down. It was $10.

The bill came up to just under $40 before tips. Frankly, I find the food nothing to shout about. It was good and the oysters are fresh but I wouldn’t call it outstanding myself.

The way I look at it, Rodney’s is a great place to hang out with friends after work. The atmosphere at Rodney’s is relaxing and friendly.