Commute and seafood restaurants (Boston, Cambridge: 2009, house, to buy)

[floridadreamer]

I have two questions really.

We are looking for an "out of the way" type seafood restaurant somewhere along the coast within about an hour an a half of Boston or Cambridge. I am just looking for blow your mind awesome seafood that isn't too overhyped or overpriced. Great food, decent portions, on the coast preferrably.

Also, realistically, where could I live on the coast that is less than an hour from Cambridge or Somerville area. Is Portsmouth doable or is Salem in that amount of time? What about Cape Cod?

[Cart24]

Originally Posted by floridadreamer

I have two questions really.

We are looking for an "out of the way" type seafood restaurant somewhere along the coast within about an hour an a half of Boston or Cambridge. I am just looking for blow your mind awesome seafood that isn't too overhyped or overpriced. Great food, decent portions, on the coast preferrably.

Also, realistically, where could I live on the coast that is less than an hour from Cambridge or Somerville area. Is Portsmouth doable or is Salem in that amount of time? What about Cape Cod?

In Boston try Neptune Oyster in the North End. I consistently have some of the best seafood meals in my life every time I eat there. It is not cheap by any means, but the preparation, selection, freshness and wine list are out of this world.

Neptune Oyster: Neptune Oyster Boston

Edit: I just realized that you said "out of the way" on the coast, so Neptune would not fit that bill, since its right in the heart of Boston. Worth checking out anyways.

[HenryAlan]

I mostly stay in town, but the one exception I make for seafood is Woodman's in Essex, MA. The menu is limited, but for what it does, it is probably the very best restaurant anywhere. It overlooks the Ipswich estuary, which is generally thought to be the best clamming spot in the world. Naturally, Woodman's has fantastic clams, fried or steamed, your choice. They also do a great job on lobster, and have a wonderful atmosphere.

As for your second question, Portsmouth is a great place, but probably too far for what I'd consider a reasonable commute to Cambridge. Salem is definitely a possibility, though.

[CityGirl52]

Believe it or not we drive down from NH a lot of times along the coastal route from Newburyport to get ourselves to either J.T. Farnham's Seafood & Grill in Essex, MA OR to the Village restaurant located at 55 Main Street on Rte 133 also in Essex:

Here's the site for the Village to check out their menu. It's delicious, quality cuisine here, especially wonderful seafood so remember that. It's cozy here too, we like it a lot. A lot of regular local yocals go in their bar area. They have plenty of tables or booths so you're not waiting. Whenever we go here we must time it right, we always get in the door and are seated right away, here's their site to see what I mean about it:

Boston Area's Best Seafood Restaurant - Village Restaurant in Essex, MA

There's SO many wonderful seafood restaurants up and down the coast. We hit Bob's Clam Hut up in Kittery, Maine a lot of times and right across the street this same owner now has Robert's Maine Grill & Market. It's got a great repuation these days.

Some day you could go to Finz at Pickering Wharf too, that's good especially in the winter months with theire fireplace going.

My Place By The Sea is another place, it's in Rockport, MA., I've gotten their Fisherman Stew here before, it's SO good....the key here is to GO early around 6PM to enjoy it, then as the sun sets around 8 or so you leave and walk around...so remember that tip!

Have a wonderful time experiencing New England's seafood, we're so spoiled, we are all over the map for it! We even go to Kelly's Roast Beef for their lobster rolls, I kid you NOT, they're awesome there!

Have fun!

[CityGirl52]

In my previous post below, I forgot to tell you that FINZ is in Salem, MA. It's located at Pickering Wharf. It's quite good actually. Like I said, the key is to go there in the winter months. The summer is way too packed due to their awesome outdoor deck seating. We'd rather wait until the off months to go there, that way we can chill out near their fireplace, here's their menu to check it out:

www.hipfinz.com


For seafood in the Portsmouth, NH area, we really like Newick's in Dover:

Newicks Lobster House Great Seafood at a Great Price!-=Home Page=-

Some people don't like the fact that they use paper plates and red and white checked table cloths on long tables. Well we don't mind it one bit, if anything it adds to the cuisine's style any way. Forget the fancy smancey nonsense! It's always been one of our favorite places to go for lobster or fried seafood. Lately there sons have added to their menu by changing it around a bit. It's actually even better now than ever before. Let's put it this way, for years we've been going to Newick's it's always been very consistant & the quality of the seafood is very good, well it's even better than before these days.

A lot of people really like the Fish Shanty in Dover. I've never been there in all the years living on the seacoast. BUT I'm always hearing about it from different people as to how good it is there:

The Fish Shanty...Dover's Best Fresh Seafood!

We love Bob's Clam Hut & Robert's Maine Grill & Market right in Kittery on that same strip of road where the outlets all are. Forget the Weathervane, it's a tourist trap & a rip off, in my mind any way:

www.bobsclamhut.com
www.RobertsMaineGrill.com

Chauncey Creek located at 16 Chauncey Creek Road at Kittery Point in Maine is a fun place to go. Try to go there during the week when it's not as crowded. Grab a table outside and throw on a paper table cloth that you bring along and put your cooler down on the bench and go to town with your lobster dinner or fried seafood plates! Some people will even bring their own center pieces for the picnic table they hi-ohzied (remember that word!)

www.chaunceycreek.com

Brown's Lobster Pound is really good. It's located along Rte 286 in Seabrook:

Brown's Seabrook Lobster Pound

There's Markey's across the street too. You can go to either one of them. I'm a fan of Brown's myself. Here you have to buy there soda's, but you can bring beer or wine in a cooler and set it up the way you want to. A lot of people go here with coolers and have a party with their lobsters, steamers and fried seafood plates:

Markey's Lobster Pool is the ultimate summer dining place with fresh lobster from an on-premises lobster pool, incredible clam chowder, delicious corn on the cob and some of the best fried clams (and onion rings) in New England. The lobster roll is packed with Markey's signature lobster in a tasty toasted roll. The atmosphere is unpretentious and brings in everyone from young women with big hair and bigger shoes to senior citizens enjoying the great seafood and fair prices. Markey's also offers outside dining on the deck with a nice water and marsh view. It is the perfect place to enjoy scenic New England while the sun goes down.
Markey's Lobster Pool, Route 286, Seabrook, N.H. Tel. (603) 474-2851.

Markey's is open year round too so it's nice off season when we take rides along the coast we will stop here or at Brown's across the street, as they're open all year round to, but weekends in the off season months like the winter time! Markey's from Columbus Day are only open friday, saturday, and sunday too until they open 7 days a week on Patriot's Day. They're hours at Markey's are 11:00-9pm---in the summer, I think they're open til 9:30, 10ish on Friday and Saturday's.

We're all killing ourselves aren't we. Well some times living here we break it up and just get the fresh, broiled seafood you know, in fact we get it a LOT! That's the reason why we really enjoy the Village Restaurant so much in Essex, we're served by marvelous waitstaff and you can get your seafood broiled here. We will get it broiled a lot of times here. It's terrific here, it really is yummy! Okay, I'm done, see you some time, may be we'll bump in to you guys at one of these wonderful spots, you never know!

[floridadreamer]

CityGirl, Thank you. I think we'll be busy for awhile checking out all these great places you've named. Hope to see you around.

What's the town of Essex like as a place to live, any opinions?

[lrfox]

Ok, I have to chime in here.

I've mentioned this on other threads, but the Waterfront Grille in New Bedford (check out the menu... their daily specials are usually great too) is my pick for best kept secret among the "blow your mind" seafood places. It's relatively new (about 1 year) and is fantastic. It's right on the city's historic waterfront downtown and the prices are incredibly reasonable (again, check the menu). It provides an excellent view of the harbor and the famous fishing fleet (New Bedford is the highest grossing fishing port in the nation for 9 years running) which specializes in groundfish (flounder, monkfish, etc) as well as scallops. Make sure you check out the video on the website from a channel 7 piece on the Waterfront Grille (the recipe he's cooking is what the food looks like all the time). They literally buy their fish and shellfish from a boat that docks in back of the restaurant. It can't be any more fresh.

It's around an hour South of Boston. within an easy walk from the restaurant is the Whaling District National Historic Park. The park is 16 blocks of cobblestone streets in downtown New Bedford along the harborfront. It's home to the Whaling Museum, Ocean Explorium, Art Museum, Rotch-Jones-Duff House and Garden Museum and many other historic sites (including the Seamen's Bethel from Herman Melville's "Moby Dick"). It would be worth an afternoon to get lunch or dinner and then explore the area near the restaurant. I doubt you'll find better seafood at many places in New England (trust me, I've tried).

As far as where to live within an hour, Salem and Plymouth are doable. It's just around 1/2 hour from Salem to Boston (of course traffic effects this, but commuter rail is an option) and about 45 from Plymouth (traffic is a concern again, but there is still rail service). Fairhaven and Dartmouth are wonderful coastal communities that are on the fringe of that commute too. They're very affordable in comparison to other Massachusetts coastal towns but don't lack any of the charm.

[CityGirl52]

I have a friend that lives in Salem, MA. I personally don't like it along that part of the coast, due to the commute in to Boston, it's the pits from that angle. Don't go by me though alot of people like it. When I say Salem, I'm including the towns all the way from there up to Ipswich and Essex. I'm partial to the towns inland, I just like them a lot better. Towns like Wakefield, Melrose, Tewksbury, Andover, North Andover. Georgetown is also a pretty nice town. Newburyport and Newbury are pretty nice too. Groveland is another pretty area that you could check out. The 3 towns such as Tewksbury, Andover & No. Andover would be roughly 25 minutes or so from Boston, where the Newburyport, Newbury & Groveland towns would be further north, about 45 minutes or so. You should check Newburyport out, it's got good schools, it's charming, there's a few ways of getting in to Boston if you had to. There's the commuter rail stop right in Newburyport that a lot of people take, it's a pay daily parking lot but who cares, it's well lit, it's clean and your car is safe there. There's the J&T bus company on the opposite side of town near I-95 that's ideal, with free parking to boot.

There's a lot of towns on the north shore that you could look at. I think you'd like living in any of these towns mentioned. Good luck wherever you decide to live. It's a big decision you've got on your hands.

I lived in Sharon, MA the southeastern part of the state south of Boston. I didn't mind that commute one bit in to the City. The commuter rail was really convenient from there. We took it at Stoughton or Canton Junction a lot of times right in to South Station. The red line is right there for getting to Cambridge in minutes. So that's a possibility if you end up going south of Boston to check out places to live. It was about 23 miles from Boston, not a bad deal at all for commuting. We have some good friends that live in Braintree and they love it there and always did, it's ideal all around, the schools, the community, the commute. You can get down to Cape Cod in no time from there too and just take the MBTA red line in to Boston's South Station in no time for Boston or stay on it for Cambridge.

Good luck whatever you decide!

[maxxoccupancy]

I live in Seabrook, New Hampsha, and I can tell you that there are plenty of great seafood restaurants here--most of which are reasonable. Brown's offers good portions of food, but one of my favorites is Jasmine's Roast Beef and Seafood on Route 1 by Town Hall. Also on Route 1 (moving Oct 1st) is the well known Butcher Shop and Seafood place just in Hampton. Still, if you come up 1A, you'll find dozens of fantastic places with fresh seafood, and some of the best on the East Coast. Seabrook folks are very value conscious, and the restaurants here do not disappoint.