Best restaurants in Boston?

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by Cantabridgienne

If by "best" you mean high-end, highly-regarded fine dining restaurants, I'd recommend

-Craigie on Main
-Clio
-Menton
-O Ya
-No. 9 Park (though I prefer eating at the bar here)
-Rialto
-Sorrellina

If you mean something else, you'll need to be more specific. How much $$$ and what kind of food? These aren't the kind of places that will have clam chowder on the menu...

I find Sorrellina to be the most over rated restaurant in the city. I was actually talking to a client once and he was telling me about this dinner his boss took him to and how over rated the restaurant was. He couldn't remember the name though so I asked was it Sorrellina? Yup! It sure was.

Also, for a great dessert go to Modern Pastry in the North End and get a Lobster Tail. It doesn't have any seafood in it but rather it's a flaky pastry with a cream filling (sort of similar to whip cream). Delicious!

[DawnMTL]

I had one of the best meals -- if not THE best meal of my life -- here last night:

Trattoria Il Panino : Italian-Mediterranean Restaurant in Boston's North End : Menu

I had the rigatoni in tomato sauce (which was simply San Marzano tomatoes, oil, and BUTTER!) with the 1.25 lb. lobster floating in the sauce next to the pasta. The pasta was divine. The sauce was heavenly. The lobster was scrumptious. Quite simply: a perfect meal.

By the way, it's market price (because of the lobster). It was $30; not the $16.95 listed on the link's menu. Well worth every penny.

[lrfox]

A lot of good info already posted so I'll just add my two cents.

Legal Seafoods' chowder is actually produced and packaged by Blount Seafoods out of Fall River, MA. Blount's chowder is good, but it's far from the best. The funny thing is that Blount sells their chowder (the same recipe, mind you) to tons of restaurants all over Boston and beyond. For example, Panera Bread's chowder is also Blount and as a result, the same exact chowder you get at Legal Seafood. I always get a kick out of my friends in the Fall River area who insist that Blount's chowder (they have a restaurant in Fall River) is better than Legal Seafoods'. It's the same thing.

On chowder- I love a traditional creamy chowder as much as the next guy and could debate on any number of places. The reality is that it's hard to find bad chowder at any even moderately respectable restaurant in Boston. A tourist will probably be happy with chowder from most places (and that includes Blount which is good). However, one of my favorite clam chowders is from Marliave. It comes with a whole quahog (in the shell) and is mixed right in front of you. Tasty and different. Marliave is also great with a number of their dishes. Their Hot Pastrami is excellent, though again, not traditional (served on a fresh bun instead of rye).

If price is no object, O Ya is the best dining experience in Boston bar none. It's different. And looking at the menu online is confusing when you try to price it out. Their "entrees" are about 2 bites of food. So you see "entree" for $25 and go, "wow, that's not so bad." It is. You can expect to pay at LEAST $200 per person but it's worth it. The ingredients and the methods of preparation make it an experience unlike any other. Consider it like really high end Japanese tapas. You'll likely need at least three of those entrees to make a filling meal so it adds up quickly.

Speaking of Tapas, Toro is very good. However, I prefer Tres Gatos in Jamaica Plain for price and atmosphere. A little hipstery, but not off-putting.

For Italian, I love Terramia on Salem Street. The food is outstanding. Maybe not the BEST in the world, but very, very good. It's also very small and intimate which makes it perfect for couples. They now serve dessert (they didn't in the past), but it's worth it to walk over to Mike's, Modern, or Maria's on Hanover St. for dessert. I'd be lying if I didn't say that nostalgia plays a role in this call for me, but the food is really good and I doubt you'd be disappointed.

If you want a real taste of Boston's current ethnic food, try Ali's Roti in Roxbury. Some people prefer Singh's, but I like Ali's. Real Trini cuisine.

There are a handful of Portuguese places in Cambridge and Boston, but the best are found south of the city. Antonio's in New Bedford is probably the best known, but it's merely OK and it's a novelty because of it's large portions. I recommend Sagres on Columbia Street in downtown Fall River. Outstanding food, fresh bread from a local Portuguese bakery, and a surprisingly comfortable atmosphere. Their mozambique sauce is out of this world. Try Caravela on S. Main Street in Fall River for their Portuguese Steak Plate. It's a thin steak served over round fries, roasted red pepper, fried egg and an awesome red garlic sauce. It's HUGE.

Back in Boston, I like Menton for super high quality French cuisine. L'Espalier didn't impress me as much when I went back a few weeks ago.

I've never been, but I've been told that the pizza at Santarpio's in East Boston is the best. Regina is good, but it doesn't blow my mind. Providence has better pizza by a mile (and if you're going there, you might as well go on to New Haven which is even better).

In my neck of the woods (JP), Ten Tables rocks. I can almost reach out and touch it from my APT so I frequent it more than I should. Outstanding food, not unreasonable prices. My roomate took a date to Vee Vee and raved. Haven't tried it yet.

[muffincake]

Legal Seafoods is so overrated, FYI. Not worth it at all.

[3piecechickendinner]

We have been here (Cambridge) since January and find the food blah!!! The best places we have been to so far are Teranga(Senegalese restaurant), Slades(great fried chicken and live jazz), Bertucci's(chain but ok food)...We have had more bad to so so food in Boston than good...But we are still optimistic..We have visited 2 Italian restaurants in the north end Giacomo's(expensive and nothing to write home about) and Cantina Italiana(horribly overpriced for basic and i mean basic tasting food

[MikePRU]

Originally Posted by lrfox

Legal Seafoods' chowder is actually produced and packaged by Blount Seafoods out of Fall River, MA. Blount's chowder is good, but it's far from the best. The funny thing is that Blount sells their chowder (the same recipe, mind you) to tons of restaurants all over Boston and beyond. For example, Panera Bread's chowder is also Blount and as a result, the same exact chowder you get at Legal Seafood. I always get a kick out of my friends in the Fall River area who insist that Blount's chowder (they have a restaurant in Fall River) is better than Legal Seafoods'. It's the same thing.

That's a strong statement to say that all these chowders are exactly the same. Large scale production companies are fewer and fewer especially within the US. There are many that make several similar products for various clients but they're not exactly the same. It's quite possible the chowder for Legal's is made with a recipe they have dictated and to their specifications while the Panera chowder is slightly different and made to meet their demands. Simply because two products are made under the same roof does not automatically mean that they are exactly the same.

I'm not trying to defend anyone's chowder just trying to point out a common manufacturing practice.

[Cato the Elder]

Originally Posted by 3piecechickendinner

We have been here (Cambridge) since January and find the food blah!!! The best places we have been to so far are Teranga(Senegalese restaurant), Slades(great fried chicken and live jazz), Bertucci's(chain but ok food)...We have had more bad to so so food in Boston than good...But we are still optimistic..We have visited 2 Italian restaurants in the north end Giacomo's(expensive and nothing to write home about) and Cantina Italiana(horribly overpriced for basic and i mean basic tasting food

I work in Cambridge and rarely dine off campus these days - maybe Rialto and a couple other places. Otherwise, when we have visitors, we cross the river. It's definitely not the same as it was twenty years ago when I was in college. Rent is too high and it's too gentrified. David Square has glimpses of the old Harvard Square, but I think some of the best bang for the buck finer dining these days is done in Waltham. For Italian, try Il Capriccio. Sushi? Ponzu. There are a dozen other places that we frequent.

Cambridge was the funkier, less expensive, more adventurous alternative to Boston twenty years ago. Now it's just as expensive while the food is generally inferior and the atmosphere too contrived (similar to what's happened to Berkeley and don't get be started on Palo Alto). We either go into Boston or Waltham for dining these days. Both are convenient for meeting friends from throughout the metro.

[Cantabridgienne]

I disagree, lots of good places to eat in Camberville:

Bondir
Craigie on Main
Salts
TW Food
North by Northeast
Gran Gusto
RendezVous
Russel House Tavern
the Druid
Helmand
Hungry Mother


Somerville:

Casa B
Highland Kitchen
Bergamot
Journeyman
Posto