Oyster Festival

Celebrating a fine old tradition with a brand new festival, the inaugural Oyster Festival at The Shelbourne runs for the entire month of September – Dublin’s five-star Oyster Festival!

The Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin’s iconic five-star, brings its significant expertise in all things oyster to bear on a brand new festival next month – the very first Shelbourne Oyster Festival, which runs throughout the hotel during the entire month of September.

Drawing on the talents of Shelbourne staff – award-winning sommelier Nisea Doddy’s sophisticated wine pairings with oysters, Executive Head Chef Garry Hughes polished and delicious menus, expert shucker Toni Yap’s remarkable and unusual talent of opening oysters back to front – and blended with the best oyster selection in the country, fantastic live music, and daily events, The Shelbourne has created a vibrant and sparkling new festival celebrating a fine old tradition.

Adding to the glamour and bustle of this always-busy grand dame, the packed programme of events during the inaugural Oyster Festival at The Shelbourne will give oyster-lovers of all levels the opportunity to enjoy the country’s finest at their peak of perfection.

A five-course oyster tasting menu is available every evening throughout the month of September in The Saddle Room Restaurant for €65 per person, or with wine pairings for €89, selected by award-winning sommelier Nisea Doddy.

Every Thursday during the Oyster Festival will see jazz and oyster evenings in No. 27 Bar and Lounge, with live music from 8 pm. The always popular weekend jazz brunches will have oysters added to their appealing menus too, becoming an Oyster Jazz Brunch for the run of the Oyster Festival, featuring Cary Posavitz and The Players from 12 pm – 4.00 pm each Saturday and Sunday in September.

In partnership with Laurent Perrier, the classic Champagne house, there are daily specials to be enjoyed – a simple half-dozen delicious oysters with two glasses of Laurent Perrier is available for €45 or a complimentary half dozen oysters come with every bottle of Laurent Perrier during September. The fresh white fruits, full of lightness and elegance of this particular Champagne make for a magical fresh oyster pairing.

The Oyster Festival is bookended by music from the appropriately nautically named 4-piece live band, Fusion Wave, who will play live outside the hotel from 1.00 pm – 2.00 pm and 5.30 pm – 6.30 pm on September 1st, day one of the inaugural Shelbourne Oyster Festival, with The Roaring 40’s, a popular swing band, playing on the 30th of the month to close the Oyster Festival.

Along with the more elaborate tasting menus, The Shelbourne serves a selection of oysters simply iced and on the half shell – Irish oysters, of course, the best in the world, from Carlingford, from Sligo and Dungarvan, and Galway Natives – served over crushed ice with the traditional accompaniments of shallot vinaigrette and Tabasco. There’s also an interesting choice of hot oyster dishes, ranging from the classic Oysters Rockefeller to the signature Oysters Shelbourne, a fricassee of a half dozen freshly shucked oysters, Liscannor crab meat and lobster glazed with Hollandaise and Gruyère.

To be enjoyed with the perfect pint of Guinness, or with one of sommelier Nisea Doddy’s selected wines and Champagnes by the glass, carefully chosen to complement the fresh, clean taste of the finest seafood, one of the great pleasures to be had from a visit to The Shelbourne is the option to enjoy an oyster, or six, or a dozen… Guests to Dublin’s favourite five-star hotel certainly do love their oysters and consume dramatic quantities of this pearl among seafood, with over 35,000 of them sold at The Shelbourne last year! That number is sure to skyrocket with the introduction of this excellent new Oyster Festival at The Shelbourne – Dublin’s five-star Oyster Festival!

For further details on oyster menus available at The Shelbourne and events during the Oyster Festival at the Shelbourne, running at the hotel from September 1st to 30th, please see www.shelbournedining.ie/shelbourne-oyster-festival