There's really nothing quite as simple yet sublime as a raw oyster. Although the squeamish may turn up their noses at eating something that looks and feels like what you try to get rid of during a bad cold, the tasteful know otherwise. The only real requirement for a good raw oyster is that it's fresh. All other accouterments are secondary, and this is where Nick's Inner Harbor Seafood succeeds. Right by the Cross Street entrance to the Cross Street Market, you'll find yupster-hipster types mingling with regular-joe South Baltimore denizens at Nick's bare-bones bar. There always seems to be a bountiful pile of bivalves sitting out, right next to the bottled domestic beers on ice. The décor consists mainly of baseball memorabilia and newspaper clippings, and the seasonings for the oysters aren't much more complicated--cocktail sauce in jumbo plastic bottles and fresh lemon slices. Dapple the mollusks with one or the other and let one slide down your gullet, taking care not to get any of the sediment from the shell in your mouth. If you like, master shucker John Anderson can bring you a packet of saltines to chase the briny treats. As always, the price is right--a buck per shuck; or one dollar for each oyster on the half-shell. Cooked seafood enthusiasts take note: The grill, which serves up all manner of fresh fried sea-things, keeps somewhat irregular hours, staying closed Monday and Tuesdays.

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