t Huis Clos, our tradition is the 5@8 or rather, the 5@huîtres since from Monday to Sunday between 5PM and 8PM you can eat  5 oysters for 8$ ! Come and enjoy them with a touch of lemon juice or nature, but above all, accompanied by one of our delicious cocktails or a white wine. Huis Clos is the place to go if you want to eat oysters in Villeray.

A Food of Choice

Oysters are high in protein but low in fat, cholesterol and calories, making it a food of choice for its nutritious input. It also contains a lot of zinc, magnesium, potassium and calcium and is naturally rich in vitamins B, D and E.

Oysters in Canada

The two most popular oyster varieties in Quebec are Caraquet, produced in New Brunswick, and Malpeque from Prince Edward Island. It is the French who hold the first position in oyster consumption since on average, each inhabitant consumes 2kg per year. China is the world's largest oyster producer with nearly 4 million tonnes annually. The size category of the oysters is governed by an interprofessional agreement. Thus, oysters may be of category No. 5 (30g to 45g), No. 4 (46g to 65g), No. 3 (66g to 85g), No. 2 (86g to 110g), No. 1 (111g to 150g) and finally category No. 0 which weigh more than 151 grams.

Precautions to Take if You Eat Oysters at Home

The optimal moment to eat flavourful oysters is between the 4th and 9th day after fishing. Over more than 10 days, the oyster is not fresh enough. If you eat oysters at home, their freshness must be maintained from the sea to the plate. Never eat oysters that are dead and pay attention to contaminants, including the presence of phycotoxins, bacteria or enteric viruses. As a result, commercial supply chains are extremely cautious in raising oysters in areas classified as A or B while areas classified as C and D are not clean enough to produce oysters suitable for human consumption.

A bit of history and semantics

At the time of ancient Greece, in emerging democracies, some votes were made with oyster shells which will give us the term ostracism. So we can imagine that at one time, people were excluded from their community following a popular vote made with oyster shells. The French word oyster originates from the Latin ostrea, which has become in ancient French oistre,where the origin of the English word oyster is also found. In art history, the oyster has a connotation of hermetism, but also and above all a carnal and erotic connotation because it suggests the pleasure of the senses.