Oyster happy hour at Fort Defiance is one of many things about this Red Hook bar that’s a little off the radar.
Red Hook is a Brooklyn neighborhood that’s legendarily hard to get to. The closest subway stop is maybe a 15 minute walk and bus service can be spotty, even on a night when it’s not pouring rain on top of heavy fresh snow, creating giant slush rivers. But we’ve done it enough to know that MTA’s text service, in which you send your bus stop number and get back a real-time report of how far buses are away, is pretty accurate, so we aren’t daunted by the travel.

Meanwhile, there’s no mention of oyster happy hour on Fort Defiance’s newly redesigned website, featuring my husband’s artwork on the front. But if you’re a regular, you might have seen it mentioned on a sandwich board out front or heard it mentioned — $8 for six oysters 5-7 p.m. weekdays.
We slogged through the snow, rain and slush Thursday because once a week, bartender Zac hosts the Sunken Harbor Club, a tiki drink night at Fort Defiance. I ordered oysters and asked Zac for a tiki drink that goes with oysters. He paused to think about it, then went to work. The result was the balsa raft, an Aquavit-based drink with cucumber, celery, pineapple and lemon, garnished with mint and of course an umbrella. A tiki drink by way of Scandinavia.

John opted out of oysters so I dined on Island Creeks on my own.  From their website:

Island Creeks hailing from Duxbury, MA With a highly segmented flavor profile, these are the quintessential East Coast oysters.  Strong salinity up front gives way to vegetal, mossy, buttery flavors of eel grass and seaweed which crescendo into a robust, sweet finish. 

I definitely got the salinity, along with firm texture and a robustness. These were milder than the Blue Points at Delmonico’s, still with a bit of a fishy/seafoody taste, unlike the light, clean Shemogues at Blue Ribbon.

They were served with lemons, some of the best mignonette sauce I’ve tasted, deliciously tangy, and fresh shredded horseradish, but no cocktail sauce. The stronger oyster flavor paired nicely with the intensity of the mignonette.

I’ve been at this for a week now and have yet to get saltine crackers with any of my oysters. They are so common in oyster bars in New Orleans, though I almost never avail myself of the bland white crackers, which always seemed a distraction. After several days of oysters, I’m getting the appeal of saltines. Last night after my bivalves, I came home and chowed on a bunch of crackers and toast to balance the rich protein in my belly. Tonight I scarfed fries and sweet potato fries, along with a veggie burger, at our favorite dive, Ice House. I’ve done the South Beach diet and I remember my stomach feeling acidic from all protein, no carbs, and that’s how I felt last night. A big pile of fries helped tonight, but when doesn’t it?
During Month of Oysters, I am eating a half dozen oysters every day at a different oyster happy hour. I’ll share my thoughts on the oysters, the service and the vibe, as well as observations on how I feel. I’ve read so many articles about the physical and emotional benefits of oysters and I’m curious to see if I notice anything in a month.
Fort Defiance did not discount my oysters or our drinks. We have gotten freebies at Fort Defiance before but not on this night. They didn’t have advance notice of what day I was coming, and Fort Defiance did not have prior review of the content of this post.