your favorite????

[Roswellgirl]

My husband and I are looking for the best foodie restaurant in Boston. We only get one night, February 17th, and we love any type of food. Anything that is original, outstanding, or truly A "Boston only" find. Looking forward to reading all my chowhounders local favorites!

[Roswellgirl]

Y'all have been wonderful. I love how much you love your city and it's food. I've already had the best time researching. I see on the news that you are suffering quite a bit from the cold and snow. I do hope it warms up soon. Thank you all so much for your enthusiastic recommendations.

[PinchOfSalt]

The Red Sox start spring training in a matter of weeks. So there is light at the end of the tunnel. In the mean time the cold and snow is nothing new to us. We are just getting a bigger than normal dose this year. When you visit I hope you will enjoy Boston dining as much as we do. There is nothing about the weather that the roast chicken at Hammersley's will not cure, and there are few cityscapes that are prettier than the South End or Back Bay after a snow.

[dr.e]

Go to Clio. You will thank me.

[scotty27]

As long as you are paying. The food and service and atmosphere are a huge cartoon.

[tatamagouche]

?? How so? I mean, how are you using the word "cartoon"?

[samsoon]

Maybe he means gimmicky? ?
Had tasting there once. There were certainly hits and some misses but the conversation never got dull thanks to food.

[tatamagouche]

Maybe, but I don't see why. The space itself (atmosphere) is fairly staid. While when Clio opened Oringer was a local pioneer, and the food has evolved some over the years, for the most part it doesn't strike me as any more or less over the top as that of many a well-known, high-end destination.

As for the service, I don't remember anything that wasn't par for the course.

[Matt H]

O Ya does sound like the most obvious.

If you can do Lunch and Dinner.:

Lunch: Neptune Oyster (North End)
Dinner: O Ya (Leather District) with Pre-dinner cocktails at Drink (Fort Point)

That would be one hell of a day.

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O Ya
9 East Street, Boston, MA 02111

Neptune Oyster
63 Salem St Ste 1, Boston, MA 02113

[cambridgedoctpr]

o ya is very expensive; think 150 to 300 dollars per person just for the food. and eat a salad before going.

[Mike5966]

Has anyone ever eaten at O Ya and gotten full? I hear something along the lines of this comment all the time when lurking on O Ya-related threads (I only lurk because I have never gone, but mainly because of this very reason). How much would it cost at O Ya to get the same "volume" of food as a normal Boston-esque three-course meal like at Bergamot where the dishes are reasonably sized? I think most average people would be satisfied but not uncomfortably stuffed with a meal of that size.

[sdwr98]

I certainly wasn't stuffed when I left O Ya, but I was more than satisfied. Full disclosure - we did have the tasting menu, which involved I think 15 dishes. It wasn't cheap, but it was amazing food.

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O Ya
9 East Street, Boston, MA 02111

[Matt H]

I think you described it perfectly. Not stuffed or Full but Satisfied. If cost is no object for that day/evening to the OP, O Ya is a fantastic experience.

[scotty27]

I agree. $500 for a white guy's idea of Japanese food? Serious?

[hiddenboston]

I think it was David Wade (WBZ) who recently said that when he ate the food there, he said "O, Ya....." and when he got the bill he said "Oh, no...."

[lipoff]

I fail to see how the ethnicity of the head chef and owner should factor into one's assessment of the restaurant. Why not try the food first?

[barleywino]

for a meal equivalent to 3 courses at Bergamot, one person could do say 7 sashimi/sushi courses at O Ya for about $130, before tax and tip. If two people split the tab, you could each do half of 14 courses for the same price, which is a pretty complete meal. I'm assuming you don't order Kobe beef or an expensive bottle of sake.

[Gabatta]

Sounds like Island Creek Oyster Bar would be a good fit. You can take a taxi from the W.

I dislike the f word though.

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Island Creek Oysters
296 Parks St, Duxbury, MA 02332

[Prav]

I second Island Creek, if you want the seafood experience.

Gabatta, I assume you're referring to the one in Kenmore? The stupid auto-link always messes me up, too.

Island Creek Oyster Bar
500 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
[phone]

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Island Creek Oyster Bar
500 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215

[bobbert]

Might as well join in on Island Creek. Get down to Boston once every 3 months or so and as of two days ago, my new favorite place for seafood. The owners were actually shucking and, well everything was great. Neptune is also great but even a 20 minute wait in February can lead to frostbite. Eastern Standard for a cocktail then walk the 50 feet to Island Creek. It worked for me.

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Eastern Standard
528 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215

[Prav]

Hi, can you please give us more parameters? What kind of price range are you thinking?

Is there any cuisine you DON'T like?

There are so many places we'll have in mind, knowing additional details will help folks point you in the right direction.

Hope you have a nice stay in Boston!

[Roswellgirl]

alrighty. We are flying into Logan and possibly staying at the W. No price point. We could do lunch and dinner. My husband went to law school in Boston and knows the area. I've never been.
We adore asian food ie. korean, japanese, thai. Looking for something to remember. The best chowder or new restaurant that people are talking about.

[cambridgedoctpr]

japanese o ya; uni bar expensive in boston
thai ron dee - very good but really cheap street food; it is not "fine dining." cambridge and brookline locations; no reservations; can be busy on weekends
korean: nothing that i can recommend.
chinese: sichuan gourmet in Brookline on the green line; golden garden in belmont; peach farm and east ocean seafood in chinatown; also in chinatown little Q for mongolian hot pot.
indian: tamarind bay in harvard square, cambridge
not new: craigie on main seems to please people who want new american/french
seafood: Neptune no reservations and very popular; be prepared to wait
italian Coppa good charcuterie; no reservations and very popular; be prepared to wait

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Coppa
253 Shawmut Ave, Boston, MA 02118

[Bob Dobalina]

Coppa is a great recommendation - within walking distance of the W (on a non -0 F day).
I really like Rod Dee, but it's basically a take-out joint. A really good take-out joint mind you....but also not really near the Dubya. I like the Little Q recommendation for Chinatown.

If I were you, I would grab early lunch at Neptune Oyster in the North End and early dinner at Coppa in the South End.

Also, my SO is from Atlanta and she LOVES Oleana in Cambridge.

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Neptune Oyster
63 Salem St Ste 1, Boston, MA 02113

Coppa
253 Shawmut Ave, Boston, MA 02118

[tatamagouche]

Is Tamarind Bay really still any good?

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Tamarind Bay
75 Winthrop St, Cambridge, MA 02138

[lipoff]

Yes. Tamarind Bay is the best overall Indian restaurant in the Boston area. I like Udupi Bhavan even more, but it is a speciality vegetarian restaurant and not quite in the Boston "area".

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Tamarind Bay
75 Winthrop St, Cambridge, MA 02138

Udupi
378 Maple Ave, Shrewsbury, MA 01545

[tatamagouche]

Glad to hear it.

[sdwr98]

Well, the obvious answer is O Ya. I rank their tasting menu as one of my all-time most amazing meals. They're sushi-esque, although they do have some tremendous non-sushi options.

I'd also recommend Cragie on Main, which is in Cambridge. They do some of the best quality food in Boston, I think. They're more traditional (French techniques, etc.), but no less wonderful.

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O Ya
9 East Street, Boston, MA 02111

[hiddenboston]

Thai: Dok Bua in Brookline
Japanese: Oishii in Boston/Chestnut Hill
Good new restaurant: Bergamot in Somerville