Five Ways to Celebrate the Start of Bluff Oyster Season in Auckland

Found in the ice-cool waters of Foveaux Strait, Bluffies are often considered the finest oysters in the entire underwater kingdom for their succulence and clean, briny and balanced characteristics. The Bluff oyster season kicked off on March 1, and runs until the end of August or whenever the harvest quota has been reached. There are plenty of ways to enjoy the Southland aphrodisiacs this year, from all-you-can-eat long lunches to dedicated music festival and oyster cooking classes.

THE BLUFF OYSTER LONG LUNCH AT HARBOURSIDE

To celebrate the arrival of the Southland aphrodisiacs, the folks at Auckland waterfront restaurant Harbourside Ocean Bar & Grill are inviting you to scoff as many of the light and briny delights as humanly possibly. Two all-you-can-eat events will take place on Friday, 8 March. The feasting session will kick off with a flute of Champagne on arrival before the oysters are presented across two rounds. See the full menu here.

THE GREAT BLUFF LUNCH AT EURO

Every year Nourish Group executive chef Gareth Stewart treks to Bluff to welcome the first commercial catch of oysters, before shucking furiously back in Auckland to keep up with demand for the briny bivalves. Last year attendees consumed a whopping 62,000 oysters. As part of the Princes Wharf Oyster Festival, Euro's Great Bluff Lunch on March 20 will see the waterfront venue serve free-flowing Champagne and five oyster-filled courses. Bookings are essential.

THE BLUFF BANQUET AT REGATTA BAR & EATERY

Takapuna's Regatta Bar & Eatery will celebrate the launch of Bluff oyster season with its fourth annual banquet on Friday, 8 March celebrating all-you-can-eat natural oysters. The seafood restaurant's new chef Paul Cooper has also been hard at work perfecting different variations of the delicacy and a non-oyster sharing menu. Oyster shuckers will be put at work in the middle of the restaurant where you can walk up and slurp as soon as they're opened. There are 2000 new season Bluffies up for grabs across the three-hour session. Make a booking here.

THE OYSTER & MUSIC FESTIVAL

Also part of Princes Wharf's month-long oyster celebration, The Oyster & Music Festival will see 200 dozen fresh oysters given away for free at The Culpeper on Saturday, 30 March. You'll need to book in for lunch to take part in the sweet deal, and you can do so over here. From 12-4pm there will also be an oyster shucking competition and DJs Phoebe Falconer and Alice Rose on the decks.

AUCKLAND FISH MARKET SHUCKIN' EPIC OYSTER MONTH

Auckland's newly revamped Fish Market will be dishing up the fresh catch this oyster season. The month-long shellebration will kick off with a two buck happy hour every Tuesday to Friday between 4-6pm at The Wreck. The Seafood School will host an oyster cooking class on Tuesday, 21 March. For those who would rather have someone else do the hard work, the market's eateries will join forces for oyster pairing in the courtyard — think oyster bao with beer and tempura oysters with sauv. And if you'd prefer to stay at home, Billypot is offering one dozen Bluffies via Ubereats in less than 30 minutes.

Image: Regatta Bar & Eatery.