Charbroiled oysters

As former New Orleans residents, my wife and I miss one of our favorite dishes, charbroiled oysters. They are prepared by taking an oyster on the half shell, adding a spoonful of butter or margarine, a little Italian seasoning and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. The shell is placed on a gas grill until the butter mixture melts and starts to bubble. During the cooking procedure, a little butter spills off the shell and makes the grill flame up, which adds a nice smoky flavor to the oysters.

Does anyone in town make such a dish?

Jeff Ruby's has something similar, very tasty. Perusia Cafe (sp) in J-Town has an appetizer of several large oysters cooked in various ways. Can't remember if any are charbroiled but the person I was with liked them all.

Selena's (which opened today) has chargrilled oyters on the menu. I haven't tried them, but they seem to be like what you described.

They are located on LaGrange Rd in Anchorage, in the building that used to be Willow Lake Tavern.

[Robin Garr]

Selena's (which opened today) has chargrilled oyters on the menu. I haven't tried them, but they seem to be like what you described.

They are located on LaGrange Rd in Anchorage, in the building that used to be Willow Lake Tavern.

I've been hearing about Selena's ... great potential! Do you know if they're open for lunch, Amy? Website yet?

Yes they are open 11-3 for lunch , 3 til ? dinner. The website is http://www.selenasrestaurant.com. The website is under construction, but a full menu is available.

Sounds good!

I have taken half shells and gas grilled them before, I put a dot or two of Sriracha hot chili paste and a nice squeeze of lime. Takes more time to prepare than cook, and since the missus doesn't like oysters they are all for me.

BW

Selena's opened today. Creole/Cajun/Italian. Good looking menu including Chicory blended coffee for Cafe Du Monde?
Beautiful outdoor patio area. Great interior lots of exposed brick walls. Good looking bar with a nice selection of local brews on tap. And YES charbroiled oysters!!

Thanks for your responses. We'll be trying Selena's within the next week or two. Their menu claims to pay homage to Pascal's Manale in New Orleans. I've eaten at the original Pascal's, and if Selena's is remotely similar they should be a hit.

Pascal's claims to be the birthplace of barbecued shrimp, which isn't really barbecued but baked in a butter/garlic concoction. Selena's Shrimp Manale seems to be a similar dish. They're right about sopping up the sauce with French bread. That's almost as good as eating the shrimp.

Richard, I can certainly understand your wanting to have these at a restaurant; however, you can pick up a few dozen oysters at Kingsleys (by Bowman Field), get an oyster knife, some Abita, and just grill them outside at home. It'll save you quite a drive and you get to enjoy the lingering aroma.

We went to Selena's tonight.
We had soft shell crab claws for an appetizer. They were extremely small, and about 10 of them in the order. They had a good flavor. Came swimming in a garlic butter sauce. Pretty good, but probably wouldn't order again for the value.

The BF had the New Orlean's Medley that contained red beans and rice, jambalya, and crawfish etouffe. It was about $15. He enjoyed it,but said the jambalya was lacking in flavor. He was in love with the read beans and rice.

I had the spinach lasagna. It does not come with a salad, but I order the house with their special 1979 vinegrette. The salad was very forgettable. Definitely nothing special. The lasagna was an adequate size portion, but certainly not huge. Filled with cheeses and spinach, it had a nice flavor. It was about $11.

The bread was super yummy. It was crusty on the outside, soft inside. We used it to sop up the butter sauce from the crab and was super happy with it.

They have a great selections of beer. The BF was extremely happy that they had some of his favs.

Overall, the experience was about a 4 out of 5. The service was ok. The girl seemed a bit overwhelmed, and it took forever to get our ticket.