Over the May long weekend Hitman and I went to the island for a mini vacation. He’s lived his childhood here so he was a great tour guide, showing me his childhood hangouts and whatnot, and telling me all about the shenanigans he’s caused with his friends back then ;P
Along the way to his parent’s place, we pass by the city of Fanny Bay. Well then, this is as fresh as we can get for Fanny Bay oysters right?? So we stopped over for a snack.
We stopped at Fanny Bay Inn which isn’t really an inn at all. It’s actually a pub restaurant or as Hitman puts it…a biker bar. This day there was just one biker present. It’s a small, quaint place.
Let me explain the picture above. When I walked by the front I could smell the lovely fragrance of the Wisteria flowers, so I made Hitman smell them too. He joked that the biker guys inside might not appreciate this guy, in a bright pink t-shirt, stopping to smell the flowers…so I made him lift his leg. However…it took me a few tries to get the picture so he ended up straining some ab muscle doing this pose and he was in pain for a while afterwards lol. Sorry baby!
We weren’t particularly hungry (well I wasn’t anyways) plus we had dinner waiting for us, so we decided to just order a dozen oysters to share.
They quite a selection of different ways to serve the raw gems, some with tequila a la Tijuana Oysters or with a Thai sesame dressing a la Thai Sesame Oysters. There’s also shooters and Ginger Lime Oysters.
I chose to order the Naked Oysters ($11) to fully appreciate the taste of the oysters. You get choice of cocktail, tartar, or hot sauce. I picked cocktail.
They were a decent size and from what I can tell (I am not a connoisseur of oysters by any means…I go by my tastebuds!!) they were very fresh. After consumption the brine left a slight alkali taste/sensation which I found very pleasant.
Hitman picked the Pan-Fried Oysters ($12), with the same choices of sauces as above or with a pineapple basil salsa. Now I wanted the salsa because it sounded yummy and interesting, but Hitman is completely addicted to hot sauces…anytime he sees it he must have it (wait until I tell you about his collection at home…). Turns out it was just like Frank’s hot sauce =P
These oysters were a bit bigger, and had an acceptable amount of breading to them. Still they tasted fresh but of course the breading takes away some of the natural flavors. Interesting there was pickled ginger on the side.
All in all it was a nice little stopover for oysters from the place they’re originally produced. Our only complaint is that…why are they still so expensive despite they’re farmed literally right next door?????
As in most eating establishments the majority of the cost of the meal is not the food itself but wages for the staff and the upkeep of the building, as well as the usual costs of electricity, gas and taxes. The prices at FBI for meals are quite reasonable.
The FBI is definately considered a DESTINATION in the Comox Valley! My first choice in casual dining/pubbing ……