Oyster Frenzy

There was a feeding frenzy in Melbourne last night. Around 150 of us packed into the bar at Botanical on Domain Road, grabbed our little cardboard containers and wooden mini forks and gleefully accepted the challenge – all the oysters we could eat in three hours.

For the first 30 minutes at least, there was no letting up in the pace as we queued for another half dozen of the briny beauties. Rock oysters, Pacific oysters, native oysters, wild oysters.


While oysters slide down pretty easily, there was champagne, white wine, beer or vodka cocktails to help them along.

I’m not sure how many oysters were consumed, but going on previous years, it was probably around 7000. And there were a dozen different kinds on offer, among them Barilla Bay, Coffin Bay, Pittwater, St Helen's.

I’ve become a big fan of Australian oysters since shifting to Melbourne. I was brought up on Bluff oysters in New Zealand, with the occasional Pacific oyster thrown in. Now, alas, Bluff oysters are around $NZ25 a dozen, but when I began my newspaper career they were fairly cheap.

In those days we junior reporters were often assigned to cover events on the cocktail circuit – national days and so on. One of the best bits of advice I ever got from my old chief reporter was to locate the oyster bowl and stand nearby for the speeches and toasts. Once the formalities were over and it was polite to start eating, I would be well positioned to attack. As I said “oyster bowl” – generally a large silver container full of luscious fat freshly shucked Bluff oysters was the centrepiece at many functions in those days.

But back to the Botanical’s $75 a head Oyster Frenzy. There were definitely some dedicated oyster fans out to get value for money. One man I spoke to was eating his 83rd oyster. He probably got to 100 before the night was out.


There was mignonette sauce, Tabasco and lemon slices on hand and it was interesting to try two or three different oyster varieties and compare their characteristics. Some were very salty, others had mineral overtones, others a sweet finish. And I did get one cooked oyster along the way – a succulent spinach and cheese concoction.

New Zealand’s Catalina Sounds sauvignon blanc and their Crowded House pinot gris were excellent wine matches for what Botanical describes as “our most debaucherous event”. Watch out for the next one…