REVIEW CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

Parker House Rolls ($4) seemed simple enough, until we tasted the buttery, toasted potato rolls…and promptly ordered another round. The rolls soaked up the creamy lobster chowder beautifully.

Octopus ($15) tentacles were braised with red wine vinegar until tender, cooked until the cups achieved a nice crust, and plated in a cazuela with minced shallots and herb-flecked aioli, which was probably unnecessary, but still tasted good.

At John Dory Oyster Bar, there’s no such thing as courses. Instead, plates arrive in waves. In general, they were pretty good about bringing cool dishes before hot dishes. At some point, our Crab and Puntarelle Salad ($18) arrived. Lump peekytoe and Maryland blue crab appeared in a light salad with crunchy fennel, and puntarelle, a spicy green.

Our server originally forgot to bring our Oyster Pan Roast ($15), and after all the food, we were tempted to let it go, but quickly became glad that we didn’t. The rich, salt-charged “soup” contained plump whole Naked Cowboy oysters from Long Island topped with a crispy crostini slathered with briny sea urchin compound butter.

Even the beer had oysters in it. We almost all ordered local beers. My choice was John Dory Oyster Stout, a dark, malty beer from Sixpoint Craft Ales in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The Mayers scored pints of Bluepoint Toasted Lager from Long Island and Guinness. They primarily feature local beers, but Bloomfield is from the U.K., so that’s probably inevitable, which is more than fine.

We split three different desserts, none better than Eccles Cake ($7), a warm, sugar-crusted puff pastry filled with currants and served with a savory slice of Stilton. Apparently this is a riff on a classic British dessert.

Chocolate pot de creme ($7) with whiskey cream that was dusted with cinnamon and orange zest and tasted strongly of whiskey. On the side we got a firm oatmeal raisin cookie.

Since it was still the holidays, we found one dessert special, a warm, chewy dome of dark Christmas pudding ($7) soaked with Guinness, Johnnie Walker Black and cherry liqueur, plated with a fluffy gob of whipped cream.

Desserts were all pretty good, especially the Eccles Cake. Still, seafood stars at John Dory Oyster Bar, and there’s no room for second billing. Not that there should be when seafood is so shareable, playful and flavorful. After six days in New York, this remained my favorite meal of the trip.