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Good Seafood restaurant in Boston & Cambridge


mascarpone

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I am looking for a good seafood restaurant in Boston and Cambridge with healthy options (I am not interested in deep fried seafood). I had steamed clams at Tony's in Wollestan, and felt like I was eating a sandbox, and so if you could advise on a different track, I would appreciate it.

 

Also, please let me know your thoughts on the following list:

 

Select Oyster bar

Mooncusser Fish House

Summer Shack

Legal Seafoods

Legal Oysteria

Legal Harborside

Courthouse Seafood

Waypoint

The Hourly Oysterhouse

Harvest

Abe and Louie's

Alive and Kicking Lobsters

The Red House

Ostra

Shaking Crab 

McComick and Schmicks, Faneuil Hall Marketplace

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Eventide at Fenway. New location opened last autumn by award winning Portland Maine-based crew. Lobster rolls served on Asian steamed buns baked in house with browned butter. Terrific oyster bar too.

"I took the habit of asking Pierre to bring me whatever looks good today and he would bring out the most wonderful things," - bleudauvergne

foodblogs: Dining Downeast I - Dining Downeast II

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  • 5 months later...

I did not see this when it was originally posted.  Sorry!  Just in case it might be helpful to someone else, from your list I would recommend Select Oyster Bar.  Summer Shack has a very good pan roasted lobster.  The rest of the menu is OK.  I am not a huge fan of Legal Seafoods in general, though their raw bar is good.  That said Legal Harborside has a great bar on the third floor with awesome views and a small menu--mostly lobster rolls and sushi.   I very much dislike McCormick and Schmicks.  

 

My favorite for cooked seafood in Boston is Island Creek Oyster House. They have terrific oyster sliders and everything is impeccably fresh. They are known for their lobster and short rib pasta,.   Service is top notch.  Another little gem is Saltie Girl, which specializes in tinned seafood.  Finally you cannot go wrong with Neptune Oyster.

 

For sushi, my favorite is Douzo.  I ate there recently and took some photos and thought I would share them here

 

XO Toro with sturgeon caviar and aioli XO sauce

 

5955533_douzotoro.thumb.jpg.46e0e16a53c837c29ef029edd5767f7c.jpg

 

Tamari scallop with cilantro, diced mushroom and sesame

 

1129403348_douzoscallop.thumb.jpg.e8aa5b7c99c3f15cb10fdb09b4d1ef8b.jpg

 

Tuna tataki with spicy ponzu

 

1949393475_douzotataki.thumb.jpg.4ae1a3e6714307e60071392f6661bff9.jpg

 

Yellowtail usuzukuri with yuzu sauce, jalapeño and "red spicy sauce"

 

1672153945_douzoyellowtail.thumb.jpg.c79f02efc0732e21130621307ae7cb95.jpg

 

Assorted sashimi (and a couple of nigiri for my niece)

 

847227206_douzosahimi.thumb.jpg.6b969d98e25af985020e8ac70e40ff93.jpg

 

Maki rolls: toro jalapeño (cucumber, onion and asparagus wrapped with layers of torched toro and jalapeño), crunchy (cucumber, spicy tempura crumbs wrapped with tun and salmon, topped with mango sauce, inure and tobiko), backbay (asparagus, cucumber and avocado wrapped with seared tuna, wasabi mayo), and torch (avocado, cucumber and spicy mayo wrapped with seared yellowtail, yuzu sauce and tobiko)

 

665308862_douzosushi.thumb.jpg.c294b312937ab2de34df81bfb0560bdf.jpg

 

 

 

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Legal Seafood is the only current ' Fish House ' Ive been to.

 

a firend has tried them in BOS and Cambridge

 

we went to on in the 'Burbs.

 

we get the fried items as I don't choose to fry at home.

 

the Clams w bellies was as good as you are gong to get in Essex MA

 

the PopCorn shrimp came w a Bufallo like dipping sauce that was excellent.   they put a few crumbles of BleuCheese in there which I feel w ' fish ' is a mistake

 

but we go for the Fish and chips :

 

the F&C is smaller Haddock , locally caught Im told

 

and the Haddock F&C is larger Haddock.   Ive only had the Haddock F&C a few times.  fries are  thin light and not greasy.

 

My friend thinks the 'burgs Legal is better than those in town.

 

Im sure if you are in-town or in Cambridge   you can do mighty fine w other selections there 

 

so no need to go out to the ' burbs.

 

its < 1o minutes from hy house

 

so if I want fried fish , I do very well there.

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We tried Ostra for my birthday. I really liked it and would go back in a heartbeat.

 

We go to Legal Oysteria in Charlestown on a regular basis. It's pretty good. You will never get a bad meal at Legal but you will never get a great one.

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  • 3 years later...

We spent two days in Boston last week. Stayed at the seaport, because we were going to a show at the seaport (our hotel was literally across the street).

 

So on night one, we went to what I hoped would be a great place - freshly made pastas being the draw...Bar Volpe. The first dish we had led me to believe we might have a great meal in store...

 

image.thumb.jpeg.65986fea4515d6eb1b7977b9f74d557c.jpeg

 

Both the shrimp and squid were very good, delicately fried, nice sauce, etc. Had I only known the rest of the meal would go downhill, I would've ordered two of these and a salad and been done with it.  But NOOOO. Significant Eater's Rigatoni all'Amatriciana was...perhaps the worst version of this dish we'd ever tasted. Not that the pasta itself was bad, but everything else about it, from the tasteless weirdly ground up sauce, to too much of said sauce - oy.  My spaghetti alla vongole was just as bad. Too much butter in the sauce turning it into a gloppy mess, not that less butter would have saved it...and who uses Manilla clams (or cockles) when you're making seafood pastas in Boston?!?! Oy vey.

 

Then, to top it off, and I made sure to let our waiter know that "even though the chef prefers the customers to put in the whole order at one time" (when did restaurants become about what the "chef prefers" as opposed to what the customer prefers?) our meal ought be coursed properly, and we were assured it would be...here came a runner over with our main course, while the pasta plates and all the rest of the dirty dishes were still on the table. As runner leaned over to put it on the table, I said - take it back. Just fuck you, morons, and I tried to give a dirty look at the expediter, who refused to look our way. Where was I supposed to put that dish - in my lap? Does anyone have a brain?

 

Next night, pre-show at the pavilion at the seaport, Legal Seafoods Harborside. The pavilion is right next door...

 

DGSZ0640.thumb.JPG.b75f8f5d0c46460b2a7b24f3f8cf4e5d.JPG

 

And as we were eating our oysters, we were listening to soundcheck. Lovely space. Decent oysters (though nowhere near as wonderful as the oysters we ate earlier in the year in Portland). However, my lobster roll...

 

895002507_LobsterrollLegal08-15-22.thumb.jpeg.b087ed8dbcca430c756d7cb578d1c0ca.jpeg

 

was a bit weird. The roll itself  - nicely buttered and toasted. The lobster inside (almost 1/2 lb.!) was strangely lacking in the texture I want from lobster. Most likely, giant batches of the lobster salad prepared ahead allows the acidic component of the dressing to break down the lobster. Or it's frozen and defrosted. Not great...and not cheap either. Had the lobster salad been made a la minute I'm sure it would've been fine, as the use of a tiny bit of celery was the only other component, and it was barely there - just a little crunch.

 

On the way to Northampton, I wanted to bring sandwiches to eat in the car (not a great move, but it was going to be lunchtime, so...)

 

image.thumb.jpeg.cfae18c0d7e5f421944980adfc2fb5f5.jpeg

 

Bob's Italian Foods, in Medford.  These were some really fine sandwiches, salvaging our Boston eating experiences on this trip.  But not meant for eating in the car, as they're big, messy, and delicious.

Edited by weinoo (log)
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Mitch Weinstein aka "weinoo"

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