First, I just want to say that I now understand why people love raw oysters. If you get a good one, they are wonderfully delicious. I spent my New Years eve downtown at Hank’s for dinner then Circa for the countdown. Hank’s Oyster Bar is near Dupont Circle. This was my second time having raw oysters and these were so delicious, I’ve decided I actually like these slippery shellfish raw. I can’t recall what the other two varieties were but the Alpines on the left were very sweet. The ones with the ridges were the “fishiest” but I also thought they were the tastiest because of that quality. It was a pleasant fishy. Very fresh. I think the other ones on the top were called Rappahannocks. All three varieties were wonderful.
For dinner, I had these fish medallions wrapped in prosciutto and enoki and oyster mushrooms. The sauce is some kind of berry. I really liked the light flavor. You can taste the fish but it’s definitely not fishy. The prosciutto didn’t overpower the fish either.

Their lobster rolls had large chunks of lobster in them but they were a bit too generous with the butter. Based on reviews I was expecting the portion to be bigger too.

The fried oysters were not overly cooked and the batter was light and crisp. Overall, I thought the best part of the meal was the raw oysters. I would bring an oyster-lover or someone curious to try their first oyster here just for that.

Circa is located right at Dupont Circle. They had a red sparkling wine which I’d never had so I wanted to try it. I liked it a lot. It was a mix of Merlot, Shiraz, and Mataro from Barossa, Australia.