Delicacy on the Oyster Bar Menu: Shad Roe Arrives at Grand Central

The historic Grand Central Oyster Bar will have the long-awaited delicacy of Shad Roe arriving on the menu beginning today (Tuesday, February 23) from the waters of South Carolina, according to executive chef Sandy Ingber

Shad filets have not yet arrived but are expected by mid-March.

Ingber attributes the delay on shad filets to “bad weather all over the region,” as well as “a lack of qualified shad fileters to cut the filet.”

Shad roe is priced at $32.95, and is served with stuffed tomato and crispy bacon.

For further information and reservations, call the Grand Central Oyster Bar at (212) 490-6650. The Oyster Bar is open for lunch and dinner, beginning at 11:30 AM with final dinner reservations at 9:30 PM, every day except Sundays.

Connoisseurs of caviar regard Shad roe as a delicious and tasty alternative.

More on Shad: Shad is related to herring, the American shad is classified as “anadromous” because it spends the majority of its life in salt water but returns to its birthplace to breed in freshwater. Because the shad loses body fat as it labors upstream, the most prized are those that have journeyed the least. The Oyster Bar monitors the movement of shad schools through its suppliers.

The Lenape American Indian tribe called shad the “inside-out porcupine” because of its many bones. The reason it is such a delicacy, and very few restaurants serve it is because of the expertise it takes to filet and de-bone.