Dining Out: Eating seafood at CW's Chops 'N' Catch in Manchester

CW's Chops 'n' Catch

706 Hartford Road, Manchester, (860) 783-5545, chopsandcatch.com

We're right in the middle of a stretch of months containing the letter "R." If that doesn't mean much to you, then you're probably not an oyster fan. Those yummy bivalves are supposed to be at their best from September through April. Or, put another way, oysters harvested from May to August are not ideal. Different people will tell you different things about this. Some say that the old months-with-R thing was meant to steer diners away from oysters during the hottest part of the year for fear of inadequate cooling. Others, slightly more convincingly, point to the life cycle of those tasty mollusks, and the fact that the warm months are breeding season for them. So — how to put this? — the reason we don't slurp oysters during those warm-weather months is that the little creatures are busy being reproductive, and you can taste it.

But, knowing that we are in the middle of prime oyster season, and since I was seated (without Lisa) by myself at CW's Chops 'N' Catch in Manchester last week, I decided to gulp down a half-dozen raw oysters as part of lunch. CW's is a good place to have a seafood and shellfish blowout. The new restaurant is run by the same people who do Corey's Catsup and Mustard, and Pastrami on Wry, also in Manchester. Chef and restaurateur Corey Wry is assembling a restaurant dynasty in Manchester. He and his team are doing it by creating welcoming and focused eateries — each with its own specialty, each with a sense of fun that doesn't detract from the commitment to the mission of putting out good food.

The space is open and uncluttered, with bright and splashy fish-themed paintings on the walls and soft acoustic pop of the Jack Johnson variety playing on the stereo.

CW's mixes steakhouse fare with seafood, American comfort food, and touches of eclecticism. Blackening spice shows up on a few dishes on the menu, as do a couple of Asian flourishes. But the menu is more interested in establishing a local connection to the food, featuring mini CT map icons next items that are labeled "local products."

And, speaking of local products, those oysters were listed as CT oysters, which is cool for the locavore in you. But before diving into the goodies from the raw bar I enjoyed a plate of lobster cakes ($12) served with a little mound of chilled potato salad and remoulade sauce a colorful and sweet corn salsa flecked with bits of red onion. A hint of spice ran through my meal as a background note. Nothing was ever overpowered by blistering fire power, which was just as well, since the seafood was the main item of interest. And those lobster cakes were plenty lobster-y, not overcut with starchy filler.

The oysters ($9.50 for a half dozen) were big ones, a little bigger than I prefer — quite a mouthful. It's hard to deny the almost magical and slightly animal thrill of tipping a chilly and slippery oyster into your mouth from its shell. They're almost sweet and slightly salty, like an essence of the sea that packs the same briskness without the bite and sting. Brightened with a squirt of lemon juice or a splash from the cute little bottle of Tabasco, the oysters didn't need either cocktail sauce or mustard dipping sauces they were served with.

Wry's other restaurants all showcase the sandwich and/or the burger, and CW's doesn't slight those offerings either, with a house burger on a pretzel roll, a grilled salmon BLT, hot or cold lobster rolls, a grilled cheese with smoked ham and gruyere, and more. Kansas City strip steak, filets and boneless ribeyes make up the chops section of the menu. There are lobster and chicken pasta dishes and a variety of protein-loaded salads as well.

An order of blackened mahi mahi ($15) was perfectly cooked, very hot from the grill, and juicy too. I love pyrotechnic blackening spice — the kind that sets the smoke alarms off — but I appreciated the subdued approach to blackening at CW's. The food was completely flavorful, but not masked behind spice. A scattering of cucumber salsa delivered a pleasant note of color and coolness to the plate. A side of gingered cilantro carrots was huge, but the carrots were tender and tasty, just sweet enough.

CW's deserves credit for serving regional cuisine without turning the exercise into a heavy-handed lesson in sourcing and geography. The restaurant also does an admirable job of showcasing seafood that's not just fried. (Though they do that too.) And — until April at least — there are those raw oysters.

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