Boston By Food

Boston has been deemed a walking town. Who would call it this?  Probably all of the residents walking there and now my mom, my sister, and me! I overheard one man in an Italian restaurant say that he drove to the city, parked, and then walked 20 miles to get to there.  He may have been exaggerating, but probably not by much.   There was no parking in the Italian district and really no parking anywhere now that I think about it, so it is good thing that we didn’t bother to rent a car.  It was definitely worth the walk for the homemade pasta, homemade gnocchi, and, of course, the polpette (meatballs) at the Cantina Italiana in Boston’s Northern End.  And so we took our walking shoes and walked everywhere we went.  I loved it!  We developed a routine of walking, eating, and walking. Perfect!  There are a number of tours out there – Boston by Foot – but I’m calling my Boston experience Boston by Food.

When in Boston, you should have lobster or some kind of seafood, right?  We decided to splurge after our trip to the New England Aquarium and eat at Legal Seafood on the harbor.  It had great ratings on Trip Adviser and a few other sites, so we thought it would be a safe bet.  I ordered the Louisiana Gumbo, my sister ordered a Fried Clam Sandwich, and my mom ordered the Crab Roll.  Out of the three, the gumbo was the only thing tolerable. It was good – spicy, with meaty shrimp, fried okra, and LOTS of rice.  I would have liked more okra and less rice.  Because the other two dishes were so bad, we decided to share our food.  The clams in the sandwich were too greasy, slimy, with an oily taste.  It came with seaweed salad, which tasted exactly what I imagine the bottom of the ocean tastes like.  The crab in the Crab Roll was odd, very cold on a hot roll.  It tasted like cold fish that shouldn’t be on a sandwich.  For the cost of lunch, the food should have been superb and the service exquisite.  It was neither.  To make the experience even worse, the waitress was rude and ignored us as soon as we ordered water instead of alcohol.  I guess Boston isn’t known for its hospitability.

Just when we thought the food of Boston was a lost cause, we found a quaint, cozy, Irish pub called The Black Rose.  It had a green door and a green stair case that led to extra seating on the second floor.  Our waitress greeted us with a smile and in a thick Irish accent gave us recommendations, which we took.  I ordered my very first Fish and Chips, my sister ordered the Guinness Beef Stew, and mom ordered Shepherd’s Pie.   This time we all shared our dishes because they were so good! 

Fish and Chips- All I can say is delicious! Two haddock filets fried to a perfect crispiness and accompanied with fried potatoes that were cut perfectly - not too thin and not too thick.  I don’t like Tartar sauce and usually opt for Ketchup, but these fries were seasoned so perfectly that I didn’t even need it! All fish and chips will now be compared to this.

Guinness Beef Stew – Hearty is the best word that describes this dish.  The beef was thick and so tender that it hardly had to be chewed.  It was accompanied by potatoes, carrots, in a rich gravy-like base.  This is comfort food at its best. I would definitely order this for myself.

Shepherd’s Pie – This was made with ground beef and ground lamb.  I’m not a big fan of lamb, but because it was mixed with the hamburger, the taste wasn't as wild to me.  The combination was interesting.  The peas and carrots stood out to me as a yummy compliment to the mashed potatoes that topped the dish.  The best part to me was that it was served with broccoli.  The broccoli was slightly salted, but not overpowering.

We also tried Sam LaGrassa’s for lunch one day.  It was on an episode of Diners, Drive-ins, & Dives, so we couldn’t resist.  The menu of sandwiches is extensive and it was difficult to choose, especially in a line that was meant to move fast in a busy downtown lunch environment.  We decided to share the Pastrami Sandwich and the Club Sandwich.  Both were delicious.  They were so big that we decided to split them and share.  Of the two I enjoyed the Pastrami the best – thick cut slices of meat with tangy mustard.  However, the bacon from the club sandwich added just enough saltiness to keep me eating the club too.  The pictures speak for themselves.  

And so that was our trip to Boston by foot and mostly by food.  There are so many pubs and resturaunts there that we barely sampled them.  And I can't close this post without mentioning Duncan Donuts. There are over 107 Duncan Donuts in Boston and we couldn't pass up stopping in a few time for donuts, tea/coffee.  Yum!