Boston

A couple weekends ago, J and I headed up to Boston for the weekend to visit my cousins. This was really J's first experience with a New England Autumn, so I really wanted him to be able to see the leaves and get some good seafood. My cousins were awesome hosts, taking us around the Boston area and off to get some really excellent seafood.

I've included some random photos from our jaunt into Rockport for your viewing pleasure.

The first night we got into town, they took us to East Ocean City (25-29 Beach Street, 617-542-2504) in Chinatown. Always completely willing to give up the ordering to someone who speaks the language, my cousin did all the ordering. The feast that ensued is one of the best I've had.

Salt + Pepper Shrimp: These shrimp were probably lightly battered on flour before being deep fried and then sauteed in garlic and red pepper flakes. They were light and super crispy, as well as being a little too spicy for me! I indulged anyway, chomping off the heads and crunching all the tasties inside.

Snow Pea Tips/Dau Mew: Sauteed snow pea tips. One of our classic favorites.

Steamed Black Bass, Hong Kong Style: If you aren't familiar with it, Hong Kong style is a steamed fish topped by sauteed ginger and scallion slices. The ginger, scallions, and oil are poured over the fish and then that is topped with soy sauce. It's really one of my favorite ways to enjoy fresh fish. This fish that we had was so amazingly sweet. I have to imagine that it had just been killed when we ordered it.

Lobster with ginger and scallions: One of the classic Chinese preparations for lobster. The lobster is cut up in pieces and then sauteed with ginger and scallions. It's a lot of work to eat, especially with chopsticks, but it's totally worth it. This lobster was no exception. It was awesome.

Roast duck: One often sees roast duck hanging in the windows of Chinese restaurants. You can typically walk into one of these restaurants and request a whole or half is cut up so that you can bring it home. I actually particularly love watching roast pork or duck being cut up on those whole wood chopping blocks. You can always see the dip in the wood from years of use. Anyhow, living in Atlanta, I've gotten used to the roast duck that has probably been hanging in the window for a while. But this duck was so tender and juicy. It was wonderful.

I was really sad when this meal was over. I think that if I had a place like this nearby, we would go all the time. Actually, I think we do have a place like this nearby. I wonder if I can get J to go there once a ... month.

One night, we headed over to the Legal Test Kitchen (LTK) in the Seapork district (225 Northern Ave.). I was pretty excited at the concept of a test kitchen where they try out new recipes before moving them over to their restaurants. The ambiance was far more formal that I expected, probably along the same lines as one could expect in a regular Legal Seafood restaurant. Admittedly, I have very high standards if a restaurant is going to try to go for the fine dining angle but I was somewhat disappointed at the service and food that we got at the LTK.

We started off with some Cape Cod oysters which were ice cold -- probably the coldest oysters I've ever been served -- which were briny and delicious.

J and I both ordered bowls of Clam Chowder. Being at a Legal restaurant, how could we resist? However, they completely forgot to bring them and tried to bring them to the table after the main courses had already arrived. Yeah, you better take those off my bill!

We decided to share our dishes, family style, since this was a test kitchen and we wanted to be able to try everything. Here is what we got:

Orecchiete with Shrimp, braised garlic, white beans and broccoli rabe: We were all excited by this dish but the broccoli rabe was so bitter that it completely killed the entire plate. There was more left on this dish than on any other when we were done eating.

Wok Seared Lobster, boy choy, thai curry broth and cellophane noodles: This dish was actually my favorite of all the dishes we had. I thought the flavor was very good and there were lots of good sized pieces of lobster. There was some orange zest too that was a nice contrast. However, these were not cellophane noodles as advertised but rice noodles. Still, they were good but would have been better if they hadn't been clumped together in stacks of five or six.

LTK Paella, fish, shellfish, grilled chicken and chorizo in a roasted tomato broth over saffron risotto: This paella wasn't bad but the taste of alcohol was a bit overbearing. I don't think it had all been cooked out. Although this dish was 70% seafood and 30% rice, I found that it lacked any real depth. In complete blasphemy, I prefer the paella I get at La Fonda down the street.

Sauteed Day Boat Sole, sauteed spainach and lemon caper butter: This dish was pretty good but I think they forgot the lemon caper butter. There was a weak showing of a tomato-based salsa on top of the fish, but overall, I thought this dish was too dry.

Overall, I was disappointed that we weren't able to comment on the success (or lack thereof) of the dishes that we tried. That's what a test kitchen is for, isn't it? Still, I thought it was decent meal. We went home and watched the Red Sox pummel the Rockies.

We took a jaunt into Rockport to absorb some classic New England air and atmosphere. We visited Motif #1, that red fishing shack, which is noted to be the most painted/photographed building in America. Hey, that's what the brochure said. We wandered the streets of Rockport and stopped in at the Greenery Cafe and Restaurant (15 Dock Square) for lunch which is noted by locals to be the place where they go to eat. J and I indulged in a bowl of New England Clam Chowder each. Pretty tasty, though I have to admit that I like more of a creamy chowder, myself.

We also stopped by Helmut's Strudel (69 Bearskin Neck), which had a divine flaky apply strudel. My cousins mentioned that they always stop into Helmut's to get a strudel when they are in Rockport, and I would agree with that ritual.

I also had the opportunity to catch this shot on the streets of Rockport.


We decided to spend our last night in Boston with a homecooked lobster dinner. On our way out to Rockport, we stopped in Gloucester at a small place on the water to pick up some fresh lobsters. I'm fairly certain that the lobster guy thought that I was insane when I was taking pictures of him, but my money's green and he took it in stride. The crate is full of chicken-sized lobsters (1 1/4 lb), but I opted for the 1 3/4 lb ranged onces since compared to Atlanta prices, these were a great deal!

We boiled the lobsters and had them with drawn better and also had some roasted potatoes and a green salad. I think we had something else, but I have to admit that I was focused on the tastiness of my lobster!

J and I had an awesome time in Boston, soaking in some New England air and stuffing ourselves with seafood. Delicious!