Harbour Oyster + Bar: Boozy happy hour on Commercial Drive
I am a big fan of happy hour because I am a corporate slave π and it acts as a girl dinner because after happy hour, I am usually full. But what makes a good happy hour?
It needs to meet these requirements for me:
- Has to have drink AND food specials
- Has to actually be a deal (save $) vs. if you order the same item for dinner service
- Accessible hours – ideally every day, including weekends and at least 2 hrs in duration
Recently, I checked out a happy hour at Harbour Oyster + Bar on Commercial Drive. Here is everything we ordered!
Harbour Oyster + Bar
1408 Commercial Dr, Vancouver, BC V5L 3X9
The vibe
Harbour Oyster + Bar has a great location on Commercial Drive. It is a small little oyster bar with a casual vibe – high wooden bar tables, an oyster shucking bar where you can see them shuck live, and fun decor like a bucket hanging from the ceiling with a sign that encourages you to fill up the bucket.
The restaurant is very small so it would be quite cramped and awkward to move tables together to accommodate groups of 4+ comfortably. I also don’t really love bar seating in general because I am on the shorter side and am afraid of falling when getting on/off bar height chairs π¬.
But overall, it has a cool inside-outside living situation where the restaurant opens up to the street and is not 4 enclosed walls. They also have a small patio area and a cool stand giving away dog treats π!
Food and drinks review
Here is everything we ordered for 3 adults off the happy hour menu. Prices are in CAD and rounded to the nearest dollar for simplicity.
Tequila shots ($7)
I hate tequila π€’ but if shots are $7 then I guess I’ll have one.
No review for this. Still tasted nasty.
On other news, they also have red or white wine for $7 also and they pour it to the brim so I would recommend that instead.
They also have cocktails available on their regular menu.
Oysters of the day ($2 each)
We are here for oysters π! I truly do miss the days when we had raw oysters for a buck a shuck during happy hours but we are no longer in 2016 and so I guess settling for $2 is ok with me.
Most of these oysters are Fanny Bay and I prefer larger oysters to smaller ones. The team at Harbour shucked them really quickly and they were fresh and sweet!
Steamed mussels ($15)
You can choose steamed mussels or clams for the same price, $15. I prefer mussels over clams so we went with mussels and a white wine broth.
I was happy to see it came with a big slice of garlic bread because I love to dip bread in the leftover broth. Mussels were decent even though the portion is kind of small, but each one had mussel meat inside and none of them were dead.
Garlic prawns ($15)
I love garlic prawns but I really don’t know why they are so expensive π. $15 for 5 garlic prawns just isn’t hitting the spot for me.
Tasted good but not worth the price tag in my books.
Crisp fried oysters ($4 each)
My partner is really into deep-fried oysters so whenever we see it on the menu, we always try it. For me, it’s a hit or miss because sometimes fried oysters are just too much for me – too oily, too slimy, etc.
$4 each is pretty expensive but I see they used really large oysters so I think the price is reasonable. The batter is fried decently and I do like all the toppings they added like the corn, tomato and sauce – helped break up some of that oiliness.
If you like deep fried oysters, you will like these.
Boston chowda ($16)
This soup is not on the happy hour menu but again, my partner is so into chowder that we got it anyways. I am starting to feel like this happy hour menu was designed for him π€¨.
The Boston chowder has a pretty good flavour and consistency. I liked seeing the mussels in there as well as the crunchy croutons – overall, a decent chowder!
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: βββ
In terms of happy hours, Harbour Oyster + Bar’s is pretty good because it ticks off most of my requirements.
Their happy hour runs from 11am – 5pm… this is a pretty long amount of time and is easy to fit into your schedule. Drinks are pretty cheap and food prices are definitely cheaper during happy hour compared to regular lunch or dinner service. I think the best bang for your buck are the raw oysters and the shrimp po boys, which we didn’t end up ordering because I was full already. But for a place that prides themselves on raw oysters, they certainly delivered.
Sincerely, Loewe