Select Oyster Bar

          There aren't many places I'll wait in line for, but last night I waited in a line to try Select Oyster Bar for about a half hour before they opened. I was glad I did - about half hour after opening the doors, they were on an hour and a half wait. 

          Select is the newest restaurant from Michael Serpa of Neptune Oyster, and I've been excited to try it since I heard about the opening months ago. It was even better than I hoped. 

          The wine list included some great and unusual selections, including this amazing orange wine which was perfect with our first two courses. 

          

          First was a special salmon crudo with lime, smoked maldon salt, nanami tograshi, and olive oil. The seasonings were delicious but subtle, and really allowed the fresh clean flavor of the salmon to stand out.

        
          Next was the flash seared hamachi with avocado and cucumber salad and grapefruit dressing. The fish had just a tiny bit of sear on the outside with a perfectly rare center and I loved the combination of the citrus and avocado.

          The giaveri siberian caviar service is probably the best value I've seen in Boston.  An ounce was only $75 and was served with an ounce of vodka and made to order blinis. The caviar was so good, the simple presentation was perfect - you didn't need any other accompaniments.

           We finished with a shellfish tower which was quite impressive! The smaller tower included six Island Creek oysters, six little necks, six jumbo prawns, dressed lobster with fine herbs and lemon and the ceviche of the day: scallops with sweet peppers, red onion, cilantro and lime. Everything was amazing, but my favorite was definitely the lobster and ceviche.

          I'm really excited Select is finally open and will definitely be back soon!