Splash
Raw Oyster Bar
 Splash
Raw Oyster Bar & Fish Market
303 Locust St.
Daily 11 a.m.-10 p.m. (open Sundays
only when Civic Center has an
event).
For the local hospitality industry,
the real New Year hits Jan. 4.
That’s when the celebrations end,
the out of town guests leave and
post-caucus reality glares like
cold turkey withdrawal. Two wide-open
races and an earlier caucus date
brought more fourth quarter business
to town than in any previous election
campaign. Other than local TV
stations, no one benefited more
than restaurants. A coincidental
boom of downtown openings preceded
the caucus rush. Dos Rios opened
while still under construction
and Miyabi 9 after consultation
with astrologers. Nothing, though,
suited celebration and new beginnings
like Splash’s new raw bar.
Splash is Des Moines’ top seafood
restaurant — gorgeous as its Saley
Nong murals, sophisticated as
its caviar menu and intimidating
as its wine list that tops out
at $1,440. Splash Raw Oyster Bar
& Fish Market (SRO) is its
unattached and unreserved little
sister. Every seat in this cozy
corner café has a view
of the Crusoe Umbrella and Nollen
Plaza. People walk by, notice
who’s inside and come in to join
them. Every oyster on the menu
is displayed behind glass. Fish
and seafood are displayed in a
grocery style cabinet. What you
see is what you get and that’s
a rare comfort in the modern day
dining.
It also makes the caviar menu
and wine list less threatening
than at big sister’s place — as
it should. Russian beluga caviar
is on the menu at $400 an ounce
for entertainment. So is Russian
golden osetra for a few dollars
less. More affordable fish eggs
begin at $33 an ounce for American
golden whitefish. Prices reflect
extremely limited supplies — it’s
been illegal to export Russian
beluga into the United States
for more than two years and also
for any American purveyor to trade
prized Iranian beluga across state
lines. I was told that big sister
sells maybe two or three ounces
a year. At little sister’s place,
it’s a yuck, as in “We ordered
beluga for everyone while you
were talking on your cell phone.
What else do you want?”
SRO is designed to be fun like
that. Eating raw oysters is akin
to drinking wines in that each
variety has unique characteristics
that subtly appeal to everyone’s
unique set of taste receptors.
After trying every oyster on the
menu on two different occasions,
I was confused about their sizes,
let alone other characteristics.
The menu described Connecticut
Blue Points as being 3 to 4 inches
and Whitney Points as being “small.”
On my plate, the Blue Points were
barely 2 inches wide and the Whitney
Points were the largest of five
varieties. I quit reading the
menu and enjoyed everything more.
All oysters tasted fresh and the
oyster shuckers worked hard opening
them, which is important. If shells
aren’t clammed up tight, the oysters
aren’t good to eat raw. I also
enjoyed oysters Casino (bacon
and green onions), “Rockefeller”
(herbed Hollandaise) and Moscow
(horseradish and caviar).
Most diners don’t bother with
raw oysters or caviar because
little sister deals in comfort
food with most dished falling
in the $11-$14 range. Smoked salmon
and trout were served with goat
cheese, blini and artful garnishes.
A calamari salad was spectacular
— whole baby squids grilled and
served with roasted peppers, Spring
mix and Parmesan wafers with a
lemon-oregano dressing. So was
an order of Big Eye (ahi) tartare
with chili ginger dressing. Deviled
eggs came with a caviar halo while
BLT’s were made with Niman Ranch
bacon and tuna. SRO’s New England
clam chowder and the crab bisque
are local soup royalty. Dinner
salads can be ordered with ahi,
salmon, chicken, crab, shrimp
or lobster. An ahi sandwich seemed
overpriced at $27 and a French
dip was too busy to be comforting,
with Remoulade sauce and melted
cheese messing with expectations.
Side dishes
Sheree Clark’s raw food group
will meet Jan. 7 at East Village
Book Store. Info at 279-2922.
… Food Dude’s next open food discussion
group meets Jan. 14 at Gateway
Market Café at 5:30 p.m.
CV
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