Oh, man. I was so ready to love, love, love The Walrus and the Carpenter, the teensy, white-walled Ballard oyster-bar/restaurant that has been hyped by everyone from the New York Times to Bon Appetit, which named it their third-best new restaurant of the year. 1) I love oysters. 2) I love the new Bon Appetit, which has styled itself, mostly successfully, as a worthy successor to the late Gourmet. And 3) I'm a sucker for culinary experimentation, and The Walrus and the Carpenter is all about experimentation.

So. First. Here are the things that I didn't like about The WaTC (the abbreviation I'm going to use here on out), followed by the things I did.

Did not like:

The excessively aggressive and/or weird flavors that defined many of the small plates. The tomato slices would have been perfect if not for the vanilla salt that accompanied them (seriously: Tomatoes and vanilla?) and, though I loved the concept, the salami with pickled chanterelles and (also pickled) apricots was simply too assertive to enjoy more than a couple of bites.

Liked, with reservations:

The grilled sardines, which arrived miraculously boneless, and tasted more meaty (almost like pork!) than fishy. The shallots, walnuts, and parsley were, alas, kind of an afterthought.

The salmon roe, an intimidatingly huge plate of julienned radish topped with an equally formidable pile of salmon roe. The roe and radishes would have been perfect on their own, but the addition of a massive pool of brown butter made it almost too rich for two to split.

Absolutely loved:

The oysters! My god, the oysters. We had three varieties --- tiny baywater sweets and larger Eagle Rocks and Eld Inlets. All were perfectly sweet and fresh and served with a piquant cocktail sauce and grated horseradish.

The smoked trout---huge pieces of smoked fish, topped with sweet pickled onion and sitting on top of a mound of lentils with walnut and creme fraiche so crunchy and delectable I would have happily ordered it for an entire meal.

Would I recommend WaTC? Sure, but this is special-occasion food, the kind of thing you eat when you want to be surprised and challenged, not comforted. For comfort, go to Sitka and Spruce. For excitement, check out the Walrus and the Carpenter.