There are certainly fancier seafood spots in town than L&E Oyster Bar in Silver Lake. There are places with huge seafood towers, marble bars and impressive displays of ice and shellfish behind glass for your ooohhing and ahhing needs. But after trying all those places, L&E still stands out for one thing in particular: the oysters. L&E's oysters are served colder and its selection is wider and more interesting than the competition's. Sweet, saline, creamy, funky — it's all here. You can't get a half lobster and a bunch of cold mussels on a tin tower here, but you can get oysters from Canada, Mexico, Massachusetts and New Zealand, all on the same day. The wine selection is modest, but much of it is geared toward one thing. You guessed it: the oysters. The fact that the place is an unassuming neighborhood sidewalk bistro makes it all the more endearing. 1637 Silver Lake Blvd., Silver Lake. (323) 660-2255, leoysterbar.com.

—Besha Rodell

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