While I haven’t had them all, I’d venture to say this is one of the best happy hours in our neighborhood of Brickell. And while any place can be a happy hour spot if you try hard enough, the fact that River Oyster Bar has great deals every day from 5-7 PM makes it worthy of taking the title. In Miami’s overinflated economy, 1/2-priced oysters, $5 beer, and $8 wine/cocktails? Sign me up.
The atmosphere is also perfect for a post-work drink or catching up with friends. A bit more elevated seating, a full bar, beautiful ambiance, but still relaxed enough to make you feel comfortable. While we opted for outdoor dining, if I were looking to see and be seen, the inside bar and lounge is where it’s at.
Looking at the menu, the offering is fresh and clearly crafted with care. According to the founder, “we go to great lengths, working with several purveyors, fishermen, and farmers to source the finest sustainable, local when possible seafood available, we purchase only whole fresh fish and butcher in-house, which allows us to maintain the highest quality. Our oysters are flown in from all over the United States in many cases directly from the farm where they are raised in pristine waters, tagged with the harvest area and date to ensure the highest quality and safety.”
That’s the stuff you like to see in the establishments you put your money in. And of course, we had to try just a little bit of everything, starting with the namesake oysters. We made it just in time to get a cool dozen at half off, served with mojitos on the side. Is there a picture that screams 5 PM on a Friday more than this:
The Chef’s Selection featured 6 West Coast and 6 East Coast oysters.
East Coast oysters, known for their brinier and more robust flavor, tend to have a slightly firmer texture and a crisp, clean finish. This reflects the colder, saltier waters of the Atlantic, and what you should expect with East Coast oysters. On the other hand, West Coast oysters are famous for their creamier texture and sweeter, melon-like flavor. These oysters are typically smaller and more delicate, with a smooth finish that reflects the more temperate Pacific waters.
Both oysters were delicious, although I always prefer East Coast. The fact that you can almost taste the sea that they come from gives an extra oomph to enjoying oysters. Perfect with a touch of the mignonette sauce they come with. Mignonette sauce is a classic French sauce made with minced shallots, cracked pepper, and vinegar (often red or white wine vinegar) that adds a sharp, tangy flavor and brings out even more of the brininess of the oysters.
The sweetness of the West Coast is still very appreciated, an oyster I would gladly enjoy more of as well. Plus both were so fresh being local with a restaurant committed to high quality. I don’t need to go into this much about the oysters, just know this is the place to order them at a reasonable price, simply add a nice dry white.
Moving on to another happy hour offering, Duck Tacos:
The tacos were topped with a sprinkling of herbs, onions, and feta creating an appealing contrast of colors and textures. While I approached the dish with an open mind, the taste of duck just isn’t one of my favorites, so take it with a grain of salt when I say I did not enjoy these.
For those who enjoy the rich, gamey flavor of duck, this dish will likely be a hit. You can tell the duck is cooked well—juicy with a deep, savory flavor that stood out against the acidic notes of the onions and the subtle spice of the seasoning.
However, as someone who isn’t fond of duck, I found its’ flavor still too overpowering for my palate. The inherent gaminess, which I know is one of the most appreciated aspects of the meat, ruins the other flavors for me. The other elements of the taco, while well-executed, weren’t enough to offset the strong duck flavor for me. I would pass on this if I were to do it again but my partner was more than happy to get to have my half.
Duck tacos also don’t match the taste of oysters, like our next dish does, the Octopus:
More specifically, grilled tentacles served alongside a hearty Corona bean salad, all brought together by a vibrant salsa verde. The dish looked as enticing as it tasted!
The octopus was incredibly tender—no hint of the chewiness that sometimes accompanies it. Instead, it’s melt-in-your-mouth perfection, with a smoky, charred exterior that adds depth and a little welcome complexity to the flavor. I think we even said, “this is the best octopus we’ve had in Miami,” at first bite.
The Corona bean salad was the perfect earthy counterpoint to the octopus. Corona bean salad is a dish typically made with Corona beans, which are large, white beans known for their creamy texture and mild, slightly nutty flavor. These beans are often used in Mediterranean and Italian cuisine and are great to cook with since they hold their shape so well. Here the beans were cooked just right, firm yet yielding, absorbing the flavors, and lightly covered in dressing and herbs for a subtle kick. I’m already looking up recipes to include it in my cooking at home.
Add a salsa verde and you’ve tied everything together beautifully. Its bright, zesty notes cut through the richness of the octopus and beans, adding a refreshing layer of flavor that kept the dish balanced and exciting. Plus vibrant, with that deep green color!
On to the next item, Red Snapper Curry:
Curry with pieces of red snapper, bok choy, shimeji mushrooms, covering a bed of sticky rice.
The first thing that struck me about this dish was the freshness of the red snapper. Red snapper is a prized fish known for its firm texture and mildly sweet flavor, which makes it an ideal choice for a curry. The fish chunks were tender yet firm, with the natural sweetness shining through the layers of spice in the curry. It’s important that the fish remains a firm texture to hold up well in the sauce, which this one does. And its mild flavor pairs beautifully with the bold spices in curry.
The curry itself had a deep, complex flavor, likely built on a base of ginger, garlic, and shallots, with a blend of spices like turmeric, cumin, coriander, and possibly a hint of cardamom. These spices gave the curry a warm flavor with just the right amount of heat—a kick that was both bold and balanced, lingering on the palate without overwhelming the delicate snapper. We asked for bread to soak if all up in, that’s how good it was.
Then, the addition of bok choy and shimeji mushrooms was a brilliant choice, adding both texture and depth to the dish. The bok choy provided a crisp, slightly bitter contrast to the rich curry, while the shimeji mushrooms brought a subtle umami flavor that complemented the fish perfectly. All on that perfect bed of stick rice, absorbing the curry and adding a satisfying, chewy texture to compliment it all.
Add a side of Wood Oven Artichokes, dusted with bagna cauda and parmesan, and you’ve created a tasty night trying a bit of everything across the entire menu. The Red Snapper Curry is a dish that I’ll be thinking for some time. The octopus I already know is going to be my happy hour stable. And I will tell anyone who is willing to listen about the half off oysters at the most perfect time.
Almost everything at River Oyster Bar is a dish I would return to again and again. In case the title is not obvious, this is a spot I recommend (happy hour or not) for anyone looking for that 5 PM on a Friday feeling.
