i'm pretty sure i've waxed poetic about my love of seafood in the past already, but can i just say again how much i freaking love seafood? A LOT. now that that's out of the way, we recently made the trip out to west hollywood to finally eat at connie and ted's, and i'm kind of sad we haven't been sooner. there's something lovely and transatlantic about its fare that isn't quite captured at the many other amazing seafood places we frequent. maybe it's the steamer clams, or the three different types of chowder. whatever it is, it's great!

raw and chilled seafood menu; a dozen oysters to share.

we started with a dozen oysters, including wild belon oysters from maine. we've only had wild oysters a couple other times. i love how different they are in shape, size and color, as well as texture and flavor. followed of course, by live santa barbara sea urchin, which was beautiful and so, so fresh and delicious. it came with some toast points (not pictured) which i didn't spread the uni on since i'm a purist, but i did dip them inside the urchin after eating all the "tongues" to make sure i got every last bit.

we each ordered a bowl of their wicked good chowda, and it was wicked good! they have three styles on the menu, the classic new england, manhattan, and a rhode island clear. i've never heard of rhode island style clam chowder, so i had to try it. i'm guessing it's the base for both the new england and manhattan, before adding the cream or tomatoes, so it's not as sweet, but still very, very tasty.

beer dipped cod sandwich with shredded lettuce and pickles, side of fries. — *beer dipped cod sandwich* with shredded lettuce and pickles, side of fries.

for the main course, james had the battered cod sandwich, and i went with the new england boiled dinner, which had lots of goodies in it. both were simple, but delightful - the way good seafood should be!

the london fog ice cream we shared for dessert was nice and light. sweet, but not too sweet. a perfect way to finish.

new england boiled dinner with mussels, steamers, lobster, linguiça, potatoes, steamed corn. — *new england boiled dinner* with mussels, steamers, lobster, linguiça, potatoes, steamed corn.

outdoor seating and london fog ice cream for dessert (earl grey and vanilla). — outdoor seating and *london fog ice cream* for dessert (earl grey and vanilla).

everything we had was really great and really fresh. honestly, the hardest thing was deciding what to order between the two of us. i wanted to order everything, and can't wait to go back and try more of the menu - lobster rolls, fried oyster sandwiches, whole lobsters by the pound, live scallops, clam cakes, oysters rockefeller..! i'm drooling just thinking about it..