Sweet of the Week: Coconut Cake at Oyster Bah

As a New England expat, dining at Oyster Bah is an immersive stroll down Memory Lane. Almost everything about this nautical newcomer from Lettuce Entertain You and Shaw's Crab House screams of East Coast beach culture, from the decor to the menu. But while much of Oyster Bah reminds me pointedly of my childhood and the food I was reared on, much of the restaurant actually improves upon that nostalgic template. The fried clams are better than any I've had back East, ditto the lobster roll. Perhaps nowhere is this improvement more evident than dessert, where a humble slice of coconut cake ends a memorable meal on an exceedingly high note. I can say, without debate, that this is the best way to end a meal of seafood comfort food. 

 

Although I didn't regularly have coconut cake with my seafood growing up, it's an innovation I'm quite smitten with and whole-heartedly approve of. Oyster Bah knows that a light-as-air piece of cake is the most apt way to cap off a meal of fryer-fresh seafood, buttery lobster rolls, chorizo-packed stuffed clams, and whole fish. The dessert excels by toeing the line between indulgent and light; almost like a richer rendition of angel food cake, with much improved flavor. Layers of fluffy vanilla cake are interspersed with coconut-laced frosting, building up to a hulking slice. One thing I especially loved was how the frosting layers tasted like a Boston cream pie custard, which is one of my all-time favorite desserts. The addition of shredded coconut flakes only ups the ante.