Philadelphia Oyster House Named One Of The Best Seafood Restaurants

In Pennsylvania, seafood is certainly ordered at any point of year, especially along the coast. But somehow, it seems to taste better in the summer. It simply pairs well with eating outside, summer cocktails, and sunshine. The Food Network detailed the best seafood restaurant in Pennsylvania, and a Philadelphia spot that even allows you to bring their experience into your own home, made the list of the best ones.

"It boasts the city's largest selection of oysters, harvested from East Coast waters stretching from the nearby mid-Atlantic all the way up to Canada," Food Network explains.

Located at 1516 Sansom St. in Philadelphia, you will find the establishment called Oyster House. They are only open Tuesday through Saturday. They open for lunch hours and stay open for dinner late into the night. If you really want to indulge in their sea of oysters, their happy hour is from 4 PM - 6 PM each day they are open.

Oyster House is more than a one-stop dine-in experience. They offer shucking classes. These are intimate experiences that are limited to two people. They are limited to Tuesdays only. You will have one dozen oysters at your fingertips, along with two glasses of champagne for you to sip while you get your step-by-step instructions on how to shuck like a pro.

"Please join Oyster House as we present our bigger and better than ever annual oyster festival, Shuckfest 2024, at 12:00 pm on Sunday, June 2," they explain about this year's event. It will take place at the Seaport Museum on Penn's Landing. Tickets cost $80 per person if you are older than 15.

Although you can also bring Oyster House home to cook on your own via a clambake or lobster kid you can buy, let's focus on what goes on inside their doors.

Their history dates back to 1947 and is now run by a third generation. Now, the menu is a combination of old-time classics and new traditional takes on seafood. The raw bar starts things off with ten different options. You will find a mix of oysters and clams in various variations. Jumbo shrimp and a chilled lobster for $56 is also served at the raw bar.

The other starters offered are all seafood options. This is everything from grilled sardines and crispy fried oysters. In fact, the main plate area is the only place you will find a non-seafood order. That is the burger with bacon jam. It does, however, include a crab mayo.

"For over 40 years, Oyster House is Philly’s destination for everything seafood," Oyster House states.

Ben and Jerry's new flavors couldn't be more different from each other. The popular New England based ice cream brand has added three options to their creative family so far this year, and here I will rank them all.

Coincidentally, I tried each of these in one sitting. This was an unplanned taste test. With a house full of young kids, a visiting friend recently stopped by and knew the way to quickly win over the youngsters. Pints of ice cream.

Before I get into explaining which was best, I should note I am not an ice cream (or dessert) enthusiast by any means. Dare I say, I hardly seek out ice cream, even in the summer months. However, if it is put in front of me, I will eat it if it's one of my favorite varieties.

If I'm going for ice cream, though, Ben and Jerry's is easily my brand of choice. Being a New Englander, I have toured their Vermont location a handful of times. Their half-baked in a cone is my go-to choice.

If you are not familiar, these are the Ben and Jerry's new flavors that have rolled out in 2024. Impretzively Fudged, PB S'More, and Marshmallow Sky. Now, it's important to note that Marshmallow Sky is new just to pints. Meaning, it was available in their scoop shops only.

Another flavor entitled Strawberry Cheezecake was also unveiled earlier this year. This did not qualify here as a new flavor ranking because it had been an ice cream flavor (branded "cheesecake). The new "cheeze" version is a vegan dairy-free dessert.

Upon seeing these at my house, I realized they were new. So, instead of selecting one pint to scoop, I took one for the team and realized I needed one proper scoop of each.

My process was to try one at a time and not have all three in the same bowl. Blending flavors might compromise the intended taste.

As a result, there was a flavor where one bite was enough. Another where I couldn't get enough, and the third was somewhere in between.

Here is my official ice cream ranking of Ben and Jerry's new flavors.

It's chocolate ice cream with fudge covered pretzel pieces and pretzel swirl. The problem here is that I do not like chocolate covered pretzels. Oddly enough, I love pretzels alone. Dip them in sugar and ice cream and it either compromises the flavor or classifies as "too much." So, this was my least favorite.

Here we have toasted marshmallow ice cream with peanut butter cups, graham cracker pieces, and marshmallow swirl. The graham crackers are the star of this show. They pair better with the ice cream and chocolate than the typical marshmallow of a S'More. This was certainly a tasty delight, but I feel if the marshmallow swirl did not need to be invited to the party.

Admittedly, I was a little cautious about the blue ice cream color thinking it could suffer from cotton candy syndrome (where too much equals upset stomach city). That is not the case here. It's marshmallow ice cream with swirls, and then chocolate chip cookie dough and chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough. The latter of the cookie dough bites just brings this to another level. Some sweets get forced together and some just belong together and make each other better. That's the case here. It's no wonder Ben and Jerry's decided to promote this flavor. It tastes as cheerful as it looks.