The Daily Catch / Boston

[Jason Perlow]

Daily Catch

2 Northern Ave, Boston, MA

(617) 772-4400

I'm up in Boston this week doing some consulting and I was able to meet up with some computer journalist friends attending Microsoft's TechEd conference that's been going on. Upon the reccomendation of our dinner's organizer, a local, we headed over to The Daily Catch, an Italian seafood restaurant located in the large Courthouse building right on the Harborwalk, across the street from The Barking Crab, a more well-known touristy kind of place.

The Daily Catch's Harborwalk location has been around since 1985, and it prides itself on being a squid specialist, having a number of dishes on its menu that feature the tentacled creatures. They claim to have popularized fried calamari into the United States, as well as fresh squid ink pasta since the early 1970's, at their original North End location.

Fried Calamari, made with fresh squid. It's probably one of the best ones I've ever tasted in any restaurant.

Fresh Squid Ink Pasta, appetizer portion, with ground Squid Meat in a Garlic Aoli. Excellent, but it makes you, ah, shall we say, release black waste matter for several days after eating. My dining companions noted that the dish resembled the Klingon dish gagh. Having not dined a la klingonoise (we don't have good Klingonese in Jersey or in Manhattan yet) I'll take their word for it.

Fresh Dry Scallops with Spinach Pasta in a Cream Sauce. It was deemed excellent by one of my foodie friends who ordered it.

This was a Tuna Viniagrette special.

Monkfish Marsala

Cold seafood appetizer platter

The squid combination platter, featuring fried calamari, stuffed calamari, scallops, calamari meatballs, and fried fish.

Carrot Cake

Home made cannolis, with a creamy marscapone and ricotta filling with just the hint of orange peel in it. If they were served in NYC, they would be a serious rival to my favorite, Madonia's in the Bronx on Arthur Avenue.

Edited June 16, 2006 by Jason Perlow (log)

[slkinsey]

Cool! I remember this place from back in 1981 or so. It was tiny and all in one room... including the kitchen and the dishwasher. I remember one day my mother came home from eating dinner there and she had to hang her coat outdoors for a week to get the squid smell out of it!

And yea, these guys were selling squid (in the early days, that's practically all they cooked) long before it caught on in America.

[9lives]

The original on Hanover is unchanged from 1981..and still great.

Not to nit pick, but just an FYI, the Court House branch is only a few years old. The Court House itself is only about 5 years old. Daily Catch did have a branch in the area since 1985..across from Jimmy's Harborside in the block that is now the seaport Hotel.It was quite a bit larger than the NE branch and had easy parking...unlike Hanover. It was great spot to bring larger groups.

Great pics! I'm long overdue for another visit.

Edited June 16, 2006 by 9lives (log)

[johnnyd]

Those plates look stupendous - thanks Jason. Now I'm craving squid...

[LindaK]

I've never tried this new outpost. Whenever I have the craving I walk to the original tiny restaurant on Hanover Street, which is close to my office. Your fried calamari looks excellent. I have to say, the last two times I've been to Hanover St, the calamari was mediocre at best, though other dishes were great. There's another Daily Catch in Brookline, near Coolidge Corner. I haven't been there either, but it's been around for a while.

[9lives]

The Brookline DC has been closed for at least a few months. I feel like the Daily Catch historian