Name your favorite....

[blkgsxr]

food here, Ok so im super bored and wanna know what people like to eat- Ill start off by posting a pic from my lunch last week :D
I love Vietnamese rice noodle soup-Pho :D Loven it spicy :cool:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y107/XZIBIT07/PIC_0014.jpg

[kalina]

A New England lobster roll... mmmm!!!

[blkgsxr]

troll mode-that does not look anything like me kalina :p
lol looks interesting

[kalina]

troll mode-that does not look anything like me kalina :p
lol looks interesting

Pure goodness between buns ;)

[BeardedOne]

General Tso's Chicken, sans broccoli.

Whassup wit' da broccoli?

[Ecstatic]

Hold the damn veg!!!

My faves include steak tartare (mmm, that Vietnamese restaurant in Philly's China Town), seared scallops abstract, strange flavor chicken, and a 2 1/2 lb boiled lobster.

I may be camping in NH at the moment, but I just finished a rather fine repast (thanks to my Coleman double burner gas stove): saag aloo (camping version: 1 small can spinach, 1/2 can potatoes, and a blend of spices including Portuguese hot peppers, black pepper, cumin, and whatever else was handy); soldier beans sauted with onions, hot peppers, black pepper, and fennel seed infused extra virgin olive oil; beets (ok, nothing special there); corn sauted in fennel olive oil; and quick campstyle mac & cheese (made with 4 year old Grafton Village cheddar, the best). All washed down with a pint of locally brewed McNeill's Pullman's Porter.

[kramtime1]

Hold the damn veg!!!

My faves include steak tartare (mmm, that Vietnamese restaurant in Philly's China Town), seared scallops abstract, strange flavor chicken, and a 2 1/2 lb boiled lobster.

I may be camping in NH at the moment, but I just finished a rather fine repast (thanks to my Coleman double burner gas stove): saag aloo (camping version: 1 small can spinach, 1/2 can potatoes, and a blend of spices including Portuguese hot peppers, black pepper, cumin, and whatever else was handy); soldier beans sauted with onions, hot peppers, black pepper, and fennel seed infused extra virgin olive oil; beets (ok, nothing special there); corn sauted in fennel olive oil; and quick campstyle mac & cheese (made with 4 year old Grafton Village cheddar, the best). All washed down with a pint of locally brewed McNeill's Pullman's Porter.
So much for Beanie Weinies, Damn E, your camping in style

[Ecstatic]

I'm the original backpacking gourmet, though these days I take it easy and base camp where there's electricity, water, and hot showers and day hike and kayak during the day.

[orion]

A New England lobster roll... mmmm!!!

dam i miss that.
whats ur fav seafood place here in mass kalina may i ask.
please list in order.

[kalina]

dam i miss that.
whats ur fav seafood place here in mass kalina may i ask.
please list in order.

I would say circa 1989 Legal Seafood. Back then, it wasn't the chain it is today. I was 21 back then and my taste buds were still developing, but the crabmeat-stuffed shrimp were very good. I didn't appreciate them as much as I do now. I still love their clam chowder and prefer it over the Noname Restaurant's fish chowder.

The thing is I left Boston at the right time because back in 1989 there really weren't any Mobil Travel Guide 4-star or 5-star restaurants in Boston. There was one in Philly, Le Bec Fin, which I've enjoyed time and time again. It wasn't until recently that Boston's haute cuisine restaurants began to surface with a couple of places in the top 20 of, I think, Gourmet magazine. Sadly, I haven't been to either. I've been to every restaurant imaginable in Philly, though.

[orion]

I would say circa 1989 Legal Seafood. Back then, it wasn't the chain it is today. I was 21 back then and my taste buds were still developing, but the crabmeat-stuffed shrimp were very good. I didn't appreciate them as much as I do now. I still love their clam chowder and prefer it over the Noname Restaurant's fish chowder.

The thing is I left Boston at the right time because back in 1989 there really weren't any Mobil Travel Guide 4-star or 5-star restaurants in Boston. There was one in Philly, Le Bec Fin, which I've enjoyed time and time again. It wasn't until recently that Boston's haute cuisine restaurants began to surface with a couple of places in the top 20 of, I think, Gourmet magazine. Sadly, I haven't been to either. I've been to every restaurant imaginable in Philly, though.

yikessssssssssss:eek::eek::eek::eek:
legal what.
premade food.
yuckkkkkkkkkkkk.
legals is premade in once place then sent around.
like the 99.
two places i will never eat in.

kalina you need a intoduction to woodmans in exsex.
they have pick ur own lobsters precooked -reheat lobsters is ok it what i do at claim bakes allways cause there too many too cook to order.
there long lines there thats why.
best claims in new england sence the drepression and that quite a record.
the fried lobster is good too if you dont wanna mess with the wet lobster mess.
some dates have claimed the chicken finger there are the best anywhere.
dont ask ok.
orion rings well yikes but everyone says there good.
it a shack like place and if ur in a dress and not doing a walk on the beach well go across the street for a sit down dinner.
place is allways not busy.
there a upstair raw bar but i not sure if kalina should eat oysters and have a few glasses of wine.
lol'
you guys know a better place for seafood becides corp run jewish places like legals where some mexican make ur food 3 days ago in a where house in boston.
ewwwwwww.

[kalina]

yikessssssssssss:eek::eek::eek::eek:
legal what.
premade food.
yuckkkkkkkkkkkk.
legals is premade in once place then sent around.
like the 99.
two places i will never eat in.

I still like their clam chowder :) I used to order it online when Philly didn't have a Legal.

[Ecstatic]

yikessssssssssss:eek::eek::eek::eek:legal what.
premade food.
yuckkkkkkkkkkkk.
legals is premade in once place then sent around.

I remember the original Legals restaurant in Innman Sq in Cambridge which opened in 1968. The Berkowitz family opened it next to their fresh fish market and served the food on paper plates. It was fresh and sooo good, either fried or broiled. Those were the days.

you guys know a better place for seafood becides corp run jewish places like legals where some mexican make ur food 3 days ago in a where house in boston.
ewwwwwww.

Since then Legals has become "corporetized" and yes, the quality isn't nearly what it was back then. It's still worlds better than Red Lobster or other chains.

I was born and raised in Maine. We know from fresh seafood there. My first restaurant job (I was a professional cook in another life back in the 1970s) was in a lobster shack on Mount Desert Island outside Acadia National Park. I used to go down to the pier to pick up a bushel or two of fresh lobsters from the lobstermen as they came into harbor. You couldn't get fresher. We served chicken lobsters (the little guys you get at most restaurants and pay up to $30-$40 in some places, weighing in a 1 1/4 lbs), up to 4 lbs (lobsters can't be caught legally above a certain size, which isn't determined by weight but rather by length). The best eating lobster is 2 1/2 lbs: big enough so there's enough meat to make it work the effort but small enough to be really tender and delicious.

I laugh at fancy restaurants like McCormick & Schmick's (which is one chain that is superior to Legal Seafoods imho) which charge so much for a simple lobster dinner or clambake. All along the Maine coast and the Maritimes in eastern Canada you'll find superior food at a fraction of the cost, IF what you want are the basics: boiled lobster, steamers, clam chowder. None better.

I still like their clam chowder :) I used to order it online when Philly didn't have a Legal.

Speaking of clam chowder, as a Mainer I depise (well, tolerate) Boston style (far too thick with added flour so it's almost liquid paste), NY style (uggh...tomatoes in chowder?), or other variants. In Maine and the Maritimes, chowder is milky and buttery, with lots of whole clams (actually quahogs, which are large steamers--pronounced koh-hog, not kwaw-hog if you're from Maine) and no flour; the thickening comes from the potatoes, cream and clam juice. Here's a typical recipe:

1 (8 ounce) jar clam juice
3 large russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
8 slices bacon, cut into small pieces (traditionally salt pork)
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
2 quarts shucked clams, with liquid
2 cups half-and-half cream

I leave out the pork/bacon, though for the authentic flavor you need that.

[kalina]

I'm sure Woodman's of Essex is fine, but there are some points to consider in my case:

1. I would never drive 45 minutes away from a the major city I want to visit in the first place.

2. There are very few people I'd want to share a 45 minute car ride with. Some of you, like Ecstatic, I could talk on and on with for hours.

3. The menu appears to be 80% fried food. I'm not into fried food. Maybe I should order a bowl of clam chowder and a lobster to avoid the fried food?

4. While good food is very important, of equal importance is a great atmosphere. The places I've listed on my restaurant list are not all 4 and 5 star upscale restaurants. They are places you take a girl to if you want to impress her. If I see yuckies in the bathroom or dining room, I will not feel good about eating there, no matter how good the food is.

I'm a city girl, born and raised in the city. Perhaps Essex is a nice little town, but it's too far away from Boston.

[Ecstatic]

Indeed, we have talked on and on for hours. I love a good conversationalist whose interests are enough like mine to attract but different enough in range and scope to be stimulating.

As for the best seafood in Boston these days, I'd have to go with either McCormick and Schmick's or Skipjack, or go ethnic: there are many really fine Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese and other varieties which offer cuisine as fine as the top ranked restaurants and great ambiance (though not 5-star style) for far less expense.