THE SHELBOURNE OYSTER FESTIVAL


Iconic destinations don’t come much more grand than The Shelbourne Hotel in Dublin. right across from St. Stephen’s Green, this hotel epitomises all that is elegant in five star hotel accommodation and hospitality. But not a place to sit on its haunches and bask in old glory, The Shelbourne is always striving to move forward and bring new things to the capital. The first ever Shelbourne Oyster Festival will take place during the whole month of September.

The inaugural festival will feature the remarkable skills of Toni Yap, an expert oyster shucker who can even get into these notoriously hard to open  shellfish back to front! That alone is worth seeing! Award winning wine Sommelier Nisea Doddy will be pairing oysters with the best wines. The Shelbourne Head Chef Garry Hughes has devised some appropriately highly polished menus which will feature throughout the hotel during Oyster Festival month. There will be live music and daily events celebrating the king of shellish, at one of the world’s best loved hotels. If you’re in the capital, not to be missed! 

The Oyster Festival is bookended by two shucking contests too – always an exciting spectator sport! – and 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.  
 
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!