seafood

The Urban Mechanic gladly pays the tunnel tolls to get to Belle Isle Seafood in East Boston, adds:

... While locals may not give much thought to the ignorance of their fellow Hubsters on the mainland, any half-serious, self-respecting foodie in Boston should pay serious attention to this neighborhood. Seriously! ...

Good Morning Gloucester interviews a Gloucester fish inspector. Click on the "movie poster" and be prepared for some graphic scenes of fish guts.

The Young Sophisticated Foodie explains why she won't be returning to the Chart House.

Boston Restaurant Talk reports the seafood place at Kenmore Square's Hotel Commonwealth is closing this week.

Earlier:
Aujourd'hui deviendra Hier.

Capt. Joe posts a photo of a Gloucester boat's submersible herring pump attachment, which:

[G]gets lowered into the water over the side of the boat to suck the herring out of the net and into the hold of the boat where the fish is refrigerated in cold water to keep it fresh and the best possible product it can be for packing.

No, not James Hook, they've been re-open for awhile now, albeit in trailers. Sam Baltrusis dishes on the Atlantic Fish Co., the Boylston Street restaurant gutted in a three-alarm fire in November.

Amy Kane reports on a day of shopping at the Prudential Center Mall, which included lunch, of course:

Lunch at Legal Sea Foods, where we were entertained by brown-eyed Chloe, age 3, sitting at the table next to us, who ate all her chowder and then stood up on her seat and danced.

That's the proper way to celebrate a good chowder.

Oh, right, because the restaurant owes Boston $822,000 in back property taxes, making it the largest delinquent on the books. Regan says it was a simple "bookkeeping issue," won't happen again and the bill will be paid in full by the end of the week.

According to the city assessor's office, the restaurant is supposed to be paying roughly $550,000 a year in property taxes, which would seem to indicate the "bookkeeping issue" has been going on for more than a year now (interesting side fact: The city values the actual restaurant at only $212,000, but the land it sits on - and its parking lot - at $24.3 million).

Whalehead King introduces us to Oyster Stew, a Dorchester man who has been tucking into oysters at the Union Oyster House every Wednesday night for 15 years:

... He doesn't take vacations or leave Boston on Wednesdays which means he is the longest continuous customer. He has no business that takes him out of town during the week. ...

On the way back from Forest Hills this evening, I stopped at Blowfish, the new seafood take-out place (which does have a few tables, though), 4025 Washington St (across from the Yucatan and its giant bilingual "BURRITOS TO GO / Tacos y mas" sign).

For the most part, it's your basic fried flaky fish place. I haven't had a fried-clam platter in years (not since DeNo's in West Roxbury expanded into an old seafood place next door, in fact), so it was time. It was great, the strips were crispy and not oily, and it was plenty of food for two. And, yes, they floured the clams right before plopping them in the fryer - no frozen stuff here.

Just as cool: They have gyro - on a spit, with a tomato on top - which I think makes it Roslindale's first gyro joint (which is kind of odd given how many Greeks live in the neighborhood). They also have chicken, broccoli and ziti, which is the kidlet's favoritest dish ever, so I'll be back. For dessert, they have cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.

The Square Corner Cafe, a sub shop on Washington Street next to Robyn's in Roslindale Square, and Blowfish, a take-out seafood place closer to Forest Hills, across from the Yucatan, are both now open.

IScream on Centre Street has taken down its Friday the 13th banner and put up its new sign.

Over in Roslindale, Washington Street is getting a new seafood takeout place - in the same general vicinity as Yucatan Mexican Grill and BBQ Town, but on the other side of the street:

On Boston Food and Whine, Tammy reports that even as Vintage exits, a seafood place could be opening up where Fern's used to be.

Meanwhile, ParkwayBoston.com reports the Continental dog grooming place next door to Tai Ho has re-opened - and that the owner is also looking to put a new ice cream place in some of the gleaming new space where the restaurant used to be. This would be Centre Street's first ice-cream place since Yoo Hoo's and Friendly's closed in 2005.

Tammy also says Jeff Fournier, the suddenly ex-chef at Vintage, is close to opening a new upscale eatery on Fairmount Avenue in Hyde Park (right across from Albert Winestein). On the one hand, cool, on the other hand, it makes you realize how long it's taking C.F. Donovan's to open on Hyde Park Avenue.

Pam reports on the open house at the Oceanaire, a new upscale seafood place (part of a national chain) opening up at 40 Court St. downtown:

... The appetizers - both passed and stationary- were delicious and, hopefully, an accurate representation of the care that will go into the dishes at the Oceanaire. Mahi mahi ceviche, served in little tortilla cups, was light and zingy from the lime juice. The clams casino and oysters rockefeller were hot and fresh. ...

But what really got her going were the mojitos.

They're the ones with the bemused looks on their faces when the lobster comes at the No Name.

A Flickr collection of seafood-shack photos.

Via Irish Elk.

A few months ago, we were driving along the South Boston waterfront on the way home, when we decided to try dinner at Anthony's Pier 4. The kidlet fell in love with the thing - from the view to the popovers to the general ambiance - and she decided she wanted to go out for her birthday dinner there.

So last night, with grandparents in tow, we did just that - and learned an important lesson: Anthony's has exactly two ways to grill a salmon: Charred and overdone or Barely cooked and raw on the inside. Didn't help that the waiter disappeared after he brought Nancy's salmon the first time (then again, he seemed constantly irritated with us; I had some nerve asking for the rice I'd ordered instead of the potato he gave me). Finally, after the third time, when the rest of us were all done, she just gave up and sort of ate around the edges and had some of my sauteed halibut (which was just fine).

Ah, but what of the kidlet? Read more

Language not suitable for certain environments, such as cube farms in large financial-services firms or kindergartens.

Via John Daley, who read about it in the Herald.

Earlier:
The naked truth about local advertising.

When you host a visiting professor of marine parasitology from Dusseldorf, you learn to stretch your definition of fun, Helen writes:

... We packed a cooler and headed out to east Cambridge in search of butterfish. Luckily, we snatched the last 4 little fish from the New Deal Fish Market. The reason Harry was looking for them is that they are a host to a very unique parasite and this time of year, the chances of seeing parasites in this fish are extremely high. "Would you like them cleaned as usual?" asked Carl. "Not this time," I said. ...

Do not click on the link if you don't want to see photos of what you can find growing on and in butterfish this time of year.

Speaking of icky stuff, I just got this e-mail from some PR person: "How about a blog post about sauerkraut?" How about: No. God, imagine doing that for a living: Trying to convince bloggers to write about sauerkraut. I think I'd want to kill myself.

Third Decade says the meal at Legal Test Kitchen was so bad (both food and service) it took a good meal at JP's Dogwood Cafe to help get rid of some of the taste.

Titanjockey says Chipotle in Medford is worth the trip for its to-die-for fajita burritos.

Andreas Matern asks: If you haven't been to the All Star Sandwich Bar in Inman Square, what the hell are you waiting for?

Mark writes that Bengal Cafe in North Cambridge is OK, but that there are better Indian options in the Boston area.

Chris and Erin say that Taste of Thailand in Dorchester Lower Mills is much better than you'd think from its plain exterior.

Anna Kushnir reviews five restaurants in the Longwood Medical Area.

Rachele Rosi-Kessel says the food at Salute in Roslindale changed from excellent to disappointing when the chef changed.

The old Finian's Picadilly Pub is now a seafood place called Finz. According to the Web site for the Salem one, it was supposed to open last week; it didn't look quite ready this morning, though (although Sunday morning is hardly the best time to judge whether a seafood restaurant is open, I suppose).

Update: It's currently open for dinner only; read the comments below.

On the Blue Line, Adam reports he had his first lobster last night:

... My dining companion Andrew said I embarrassed him when I picked up the crustacean and made it dance on my plate, but I think he was just blushing and covering his face with merriment and not mortification. ...

Marc: Classic India in Quincy still rules!

Seth Gitell compares Punjabi Dhaba Roadside Restaurant in Inman Square and Mantra in downtown Boston. He finds Punjabi Dhaba serves good food at good prices, but writes that Mantra is overpriced and seems more concerned with setting a scene than serving food worth the extra cost.

Marc also says Dolphin in Natick has good food but absolutely atrocious service.

Stang8s says the dim sum at Hei La Moon in Chinatown is awesome:

We found everything to be great today, much better then we had remembered even.