If you want to experience fine-quality seafood, come here. The freshest catches arrive daily and a new menu is drawn up based on that day’s local offerings.
Even the bread basket was tasty and impressive.
This was the award-winning chowder and it was well-deserved. It had the traditional approach with creamy soup and lots, lots, lots and lots clams.
Chilled Lobster Salad – lobster salad in the shell with romaine, shaved fenneland red onion, toasted almonds and a citrus orange vinaigrette. It was so light and refreshing, a great dish for hot summer.
Jumbo Lump Crab Cake – with coleslaw and tartar sauce. Jumbo. Lump. Crab. Instead of coating in bread crumbs and frying, the meat was mixed with a bit of mayo and pan-seared.
Eggs Benedict – served with fresh fruit, home fries and fresh Maine crab cake. Perfectly poached egg, on top of crab cake, on top of English muffin. What a treat!
The Captain’s Platter – deep fried shrimp, clams, scallops and fresh cod with coleslaw, hand-cut fries, tartar and cocktail sauce. Deep-frying super fresh seafood, and all of a sudden, it tasted healthy.
Maine Lobster Roll – lightly-dressed with white bean salad and fresh greens. The bun was nicely grilled but too buttery. The lobster chunks were simply boiled and tossed with mayo.
Open-Faced Soft-Shell Crab Sandwich – daily special.
Peppermint ice cream pie – with an Oreo cookie crust and chocolate ganache. I don’t even like mint, but I think I can eat the whole pie as a meal. It was actually refreshing and not heavy. Oh heaven!
For more information, visit http://www.atlanticfishco.com/.
Island Creek Oyster Bar
Next to Fenway Park, this restaurant opened just last year with the farm-to-table concept.
Ethel’s Lobster Roll – kettle chips, cole slaw, rosemary roll. Mmm... Lobster Roll... Mmm... The homemade rosemary bun was warm and doughy. Fresh chunks of lobster meat gently coated with mayo+celery dressing were delicious. Cole slaw and kettle chips were the perfect sides. I have to add that the cole slaw made quite an impression on me. It was not to sour but a bit more creamy.
Clam Chowder – hand dug clams, buttermilk biscuits, house-cured bacon. This was probably the non-traditional version, but boy it was good. It had more of a smoky flavor and was not too creamy. The biscuits were awesome!
Lobster Roe Noodles – grilled lobster, braised short rib, pecorino, chanterelle mushrooms. What a combination!
For more information, visit http://islandcreekoysterbar.com/.
Mike’s Pastry
Size matters. Because it doubles or triples the happiness. The cannoli here are not only tasty but also big in size. Each one is about six inches long and probably constitutes a meal itself. There are so many flavors available: pistachio, yellow cream, lemoncello, chocolate chip, just to name a few. Pistachio was my favorite one. The crispy shell was amazing and tasted so fresh!
Lobstertail is my favorite Italian pastry and Mike’s did not disappoint. Its shell was made of layered and crusty baked pastry, filled with white cream or yellow custard. YUM!
Eclair was huge in size as well.
For more information, visit http://www.mikespastry.com/.
Flour Bakery + Cafe
This is a popular spot. It is located in the financial/business area, but still packed on the weekends. The sticky buns are famous and featured on Food Network. It was soft and sweet but did not impress me that much. The currant scone was a bit dense and dry, not the best I have had either.
However, the almond brioche was very nice! It was rolled and filled with a citrus-like cream, topped with almond and powered sugar, and TWICE-baked. The balance of the flavor was heavenly delicious!
The homemade raspberry spritzer was awesome! Light and refreshing. For more information, visit http://flourbakery.com/.
Qunicy Market
People generally refer to this area as Quincy Market, but it is really named Faneuil Hall Marketplace which consists of Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, North Market and South Market. It is famous for shopping and dining and has gotten very touristy and crowded over the years.
I got this lobster bisque from Walrus & Carpenter Raw/Oyster Bar. The bread was crispy outside and soft inside, not bad. The soup was creamy but not heavy, very delicate.
For more information, visit http://www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com/.
