Eating Boston
You think Boston can't satisfy
the foodie in you? Maybe you don't know
where to look. We'll help you out.
Boston is a lot of things to America: the Cradle of Liberty, Boston
Brahmins and
Harvard Yard, Cheers, and the Curse of the Bambino.
But one thing it isn't is a restaurant mecca. Except for its uneven
cluster of Italian restaurants in the North End, Boston is
surprisingly thin as a restaurant city. At least, that's how it
seems at first glance.
Look a little closer, though, and you'll find hidden gems, the
city's secret treasures. Boston doesn't have a very pronounced food
culture; people there don't spend as much time talking about food
as do citizens of
New Orleans,
New York, and even
Philadelphia. But
get to know the city, and you can eat here as well as you can
anywhere in
America.
First, you'll have to leave the North End. (But before you do that,
indulge at Neptune Oyster, the city's best raw bar and easily the
best place for oysters.) Boston is a spread-out city of
working-class neighborhoods, and while you can and will eat well in
its tourist sections, a truly special feed requires getting out and
about. It's rare that tourists visit Revere Beach, for instance,
but when they do, they're rewarded with the Floating Rock, one of
the country's best Cambodian restaurants. It's a tiny place, with a
kitchen approximately the size of a
Honda Civic's interior. But the
food is eye-openingly vivid and fresh and extraordinary. Tiger
Tears - a salad of tender beef strips, fresh basil and mint, thinly
sliced lemongrass, and a fragrantly dressed mix of chiles, red
peppers, and onion - is a blast of summer from the street markets
of
Southeast Asia. The pork with hot chiles is likewise
transporting. A whole fried fish with pork-and-ginger sauce is
completely brown and crispy outside, so much so that even the rich
sauce can't soften it; the utter white moistness of the fish
beneath, then, is equally surprising. There are a few
disappointments on the Floating Rock menu - dishes that are
resolutely authentic but no more likable for it. That said, the
place is so affordable, and the rewards are so great, it's worth
ordering more than you would normally eat.