Visiting Boston

[redherring]

I'll be in Boston tomorrow night and would like to know about distinctly 'Boston' restaurants. What's Boston known for? I'm looking for an inexpensive but decent meal near the downtown area -any recommendations?

[redherring]

Hi everyone,
Thanks for all the suggestions. Unfortunately, I was stuck inside the World Trade Center at a conference for two days and didn't get a chance to see much of Boston. But we went to the No Name Restaurant for dinner because it was close to the wtc and it was raining hard that night...the food was okay (nothing special but not bad either) and it was packed with two tour buses, but we still had a nice time.

[mwk]

I agree with the Durgin Park suggestions. If you want a unique Boston experience, go there and have some Clam Chowder, maybe a New England Boiled Dinner , and then Indian Pudding with vanilla Ice Cream. Or, if you are more adventurous in your dessert selections, you can try coffee Jell-O, which is about as New England as it gets.

Here's their website:

http://www.durgin-park.com

[emilief]

If you want distincly Boston go to Durgin Park in the Quincy Market area. Very historical. They have Boston Baked Beans,wonderful prime rib , and as others have stated Indian Pudding for dessert. For a truly Boston Experience, stop at the Union Oyster house first an have some oysters at the raw bar (the restaurant is not great but the raw bar is good and both Union and Durgin are very old Boston restaurants.

[B. Savarin]

Redherring, if you're after lobster rolls and chowder and such, I would try (1) Summer Shack in the Back Bay (2) B&G Oysters in the South End, or (3) Kingfish Hall downtown. Maybe Durgin Park or Union Oyster House, also downtown. I can't think of much else that's quintessentially Boston.

[drewames03]

Union Oyster House is definitely Boston. So is B & G, Summer Shack, and Neptune Oysters (though pretty expensive). I don't really like Durgin.

[tallullah]

Don't go to Union Oyster for anything but oysters. And only sit at the raw bar. Everything else is dismal.

[bachslunch]

I would definitely not go to Summer Shack or Union Oyster House. Neptune Oyster and B&G Oysters would be significantly better options for these.

[hiddenboston]

Hmmm, distinctly Boston yet inexpensive (and good). Here are a few:

Antico Forno on Salem Street in the North End--excellent pizza and Italian dishes on one of Boston's most interesting streets.

Pizzeria Regina on Thatcher Street in the North End--one of the best places for pizza in Boston, with lots of history, too!

King Fung Garden on Kneeland Street in Chinatown--a top Chinese restaurant with no atmosphere, if you like duck, this is the place to go.

There are many more, but these are three that come to mind right off the bat. Have fun!

[redherring]

Coming from Brooklyn, I get pretty good pizza and Italian food often enough, so I was wondering if there's a dish or specialty that's unique to Boston/New England, like lobster rolls or something like that?

[bachslunch]

Indian pudding with vanilla ice cream. Best place for it is Durgin Park.

[redherring]

What's Indian pudding?

[onefineleo]

Indian Pudding, says Wikipedia is a more elaborate form of hasty pudding, with added ingredients such as molasses and spices, and is a traditional New England dessert.

Hasty Pudding (thought you might ask), in its simplest form, is corn meal cooked slowly in water until it thickens.

[ChefJune]

justa bout my favorite "winter food!"