• Venue: The Wayland
• Location: 700 E. 9th St. (corner of Avenue C), in the far East Village, also known as Alphabet City, Manhattan
• Phone:  212-777-7022
• Website: http://thewaylandnyc.com/happy-hour-menu/
• Oyster happy hour:  Monday-Friday, 5-7 p.m.  oysters are $1 East Coast of the chef’s choice,  $4-5 beers, $6 wine, $7 cocktails, $5 oyster shooters

One of the sad facts of life is that happy hours are more common during the week than on weekends. Apparently venue owners assume sleeping in or having brunch or whatever other weekend rituals you engage in make you plenty happy and they don’t need to entice you to show up to imbibe. John and I reviewed our options for oyster happy hour partners and aside from the Mermaid, found only weekday choices.
Fortunately the folks at the Wayland had offered to have us come by any time so we bent the rules and trudged through wind and snow between 5-7 p.m. Sunday. It was happy hour time, and though no happy hour deal was available, our bartender, Pete, told us Sunday is his favorite night at the bar so we still felt we’d made a good choice.
I’d loved the Wayland on my last visit, when we were in the neighborhood for John to hang his art show at the nearby Ninth Street Espresso. This time got off to an excellent start as we brushed off the snow and two kind patrons scooted down to make room for us at the bar.
We ordered a dozen and I asked Pete what drinks he likes to pair with oysters, this being a creative cocktail bar, and he dismissed any pretense by saying anything can go with oysters. Then in careful detail he described more than a half dozen options, including a couple beers, a couple wines and several cocktails. I opted for cava while John got a Tecate with the works, the Wayland’s take on a michelada, adding lime juice, hot sauce and chili salt to a Mexican beer right in the can.

The oysters are listed demurely on the menu as Blue Island, but after Pete brought us Naked Cowboy hot sauce, he added that Blue Island sells these bivalves under the Naked Cowboy brand. They arrived with little pretense. No decoration, no fancy stand, just oysters on ice with cocktail sauce. A minute later, a runner brought mignonette sauce, too.
The oysters had a fishy smell, which John said reminded him of Long Island Sound where they’d come from, so I took it as reflecting their origins, not seafood past its prime. Pete later told us they order small batches of oysters four times a week to make sure they run through them quickly.

The shucking was clean and the oysters retained some liquor. I didn’t like them plain as much as the oysters at Blue Ribbon or Mermaid, but with the mignonette, they were divine, both in taste and texture. During happy hour, this dozen would have been $12, but on Pete’s favorite night (and no happy hour discount) they run twice as much, $24/dozen.
When we visited the Mermaid Oyster Bar Saturday, I though it was novel they offered oyster shooters. The Wayland had not one but two kinds of shooters available, one with shallot-infused mezcal and pickle brine, the other with tequila, housemade sangrita and smoked chili salt. I asked Pete for whichever he liked better. Instead he set up three of these productions, so he could do one with me and John. They featured a full shot of tequila, a shot of their tangy sangrita, a lime wedge and an oyster. We asked what order to do them in, and in keeping with his easy-going vibe, he said he likes to do it different from everyone else at the bar, so just do whatever sounds good. I went tequila, lime, oyster, sangrita and had no regrets. So fun and tasty.

John and I have eaten a lot of oysters over the years and I don’t know that we’ve ever found a pearl. A few oysters in, John spit out this perfectly round little surprise. Since I was a little sad we’d be leaving before the Wayland’s live music started at 10 p.m., maybe the oyster was giving us a consolation prize?

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.
The Wayland comped our oysters and beverages, including a round of oyster shooters after our dozen. They didn’t have advance notice of what day I was coming, I did not disclose I was doing a review until after we were served and Wayland did not have prior review of the content of this post.