Fun Playing With Food Trucks and Seafood in Boston

Since life has slowed just a bit, it seems like a good time to continue my report on our Boston trip. July seems like another lifetime ago, with warm sunny skies and a whole city at our fingertips! We moved to a downtown hotel to attend a convention the day after visiting Gloucester. A first order of business was to go on a whale-watching cruise. We encountered a number of humpbacks and enjoyed a very satisfying tourist experience.

Of course, we'd need to eat before embarking on the trip. A series of food trucks alternate at a traffic loop just across from where the boats go out; when we arrived, none of them was quite open yet, so we had time to ponder our choices. Though really, when you have a choice called "The Bacon Truck," pondering isn't really necessary.

Benny's crepes looked good - but not as good as BACON!

The Grilled Cheese: bacon, tomato, cheddar, havarti

The Hangover: Bacon, Hash, Fried Egg, Cheddar, Havarti

Our dinner that evening was less successful. Though recommended by local Chowhounders, Tapeo disappointed on almost every level. Perhaps our small appetites and lack of alcohol consumption had something to do with it, but food, and especially service, were lacking.

Paella

Our lunch the next day at Atlantic Fish Company went much better. 

Clam Chowder

Soft Shell Crab BLT w/Avocado, salad, dressing

Bob's lunch made me jealous! Mine, below, was good, but his was exquisite!

Grilled Local Scallops, corn cake, broccoli w/butter

It was a mistake to get the scallops grilled; they wound up a little dry.

The corn cake was marvelous, though. 

We really went over-board (so to speak) on being touristy for the Fourth of July. My history-buff husband wanted to go out on a lunch cruise to watch the USS Constitution come into the water, cruise the harbor,turn around and make a 21 gun salute. Normally, this occurs every July 4, but immediately following the 2014 edition, the Constitution went into drydock for a multi-year repair project, so this one was special. 

The weather was dreary, but the lively crew kept our spirits up for a fun afternoon! After the turnaround, they proceeded to give a detailed harbor tour that was interesting and entertaining.

The USS Constitution as she floats

We didn't expect much from the lunch buffet, but we were pleasantly surprised.

Clam Chowder

Lobstah Rolls!

Lobster Roll was the feature of this better-than-I-expected lunch buffet. The potato salad was also freshly made and pretty good, and the chowda seemed like a good quality food service product. The beef tips were kind of meh, but I wasn't really there for the beef, anyway. I skipped the salad, tortellini, chicken fingers and chicken salad rolls. 

A fun time in Boston Harbor playing with food and history despite the soggy weather, and some tasty eats!

Fun Playing With Seafood and the Glouster Fisherman

Continuing our Boston odyssey, we were on our own on Monday, as our hosts in Jamaica Plain had to work. With the sun shining, what could be more fun than to play with Ipswich clams and visit Gloucester? I had always hoped to someday see Cape Ann, the setting for the Harry Chapin song "Dogtown." And I had no clue what a "clam belly" was - aren't clams just, clams?

Our first stop

Fish/seafood chowder

J. T. Farnham's is an old-school shack overlooking the Essex Salt Marsh. This sweet broth was chock full of scallops, clams, lobster, fish and potatoes. Every bite, except the two bites of lobster, was pristine and melted in the mouth (the lobster was ok, just not so perfect as the rest). 

Clam belly plate with fries and housemade onion rings.

Because we were "food touring," we were going to stick with the smallest plates to share. But the counter lady strongly recommended that we get the "dinner" plate, so we could try their freshly made onion rings and sample both the "strips" and the coveted claim bellies. A great call! And now, I know what a clam belly is!

The onion rings stayed together (don't you hate when you bite into an onion ring and the middle comes out leaving you with a fistful of fried batter?) and screamed with both freshness in the cooking process and great flavors. As good as they were, they did not overshadow the plump clam bellies which were impeccably fresh and perfectly fried. I wished that they had a better quality of tartar sauce, but that is a minor quibble. 

We had fun with the clams, onion rings and seafood chowder at J.T. Farnham's, but beware that they are cash only and not a cheap date. Beer and wine are available, though we stuck with freshly brewed ice tea. 

J.T. Farnham's

88 Eastern Ave

Essex, Massachusetts 01929

(978) 768-6643

Gloucester MA Lost Fisherman's Memorial

We spent some time walking around Gloucester harbor and the monument here.

Lobster Pool Restaurant
Rockport, MA

We were still so full by the time we got to Lobster Pool that we almost just used the restroom and passed on the food. Then, we saw their menu hanging by the door:

A "no-nonsense, no-celery" lobster roll? This, I had to try.

They do catch the lobsters right off their back porch.

Best lobster roll evah - fresh, fresh, fresh lobster, a little mayo and a slice of lettuce. At $18, not cheap. But so worth it!

The cole slaw, on the other hand, was right off the Sysco truck; we didn't even taste it. (It "came with" the lobster roll.)

Our last stop on this crawl would be The Clam Box. This was the most touristy looking and feeling of the three places, but Bob felt they had the best clams. I liked Farnham's a little better, but different strokes for different folks!

Fried Clam Bellies

Clam Box of Ipswich
246 High St
Ipswich, MA 01938
(978) 356-9707

So, who offers the best Ipswich clams? Like mom's meatloaf, that may depend on your taste. But both Clam Box and J. T. Farnham's offered fresh, well prepared food with a smile. And dining in Gloucester ain't cheap. But it is fun!

Fun Playing With Fish in New York

We began playing with New York food in earnest on April 11. The first order of business was shopping - Makinajian Farms for soup chickens and eggs, then Stop and Shop for groceries. But the fish and seafood were among the highlights of our trip.

Our last stop Friday was Northport Fish & Lobster, set in an old shack on Route 25A in Northport. I'd never been there, but my parents had heard good things and wanted to try them. Northport Fish is a locally owned full service fishmonger. No fewer than four locally sourced fishes were available that day, plus many seafood options. We picked up our Gefilte Fish bag, and couldn't resist buying some lunch items also. Mom had ordered 5# of ground fish (whitefish, pike and carp) with onion, plus the heads and skeletons. For our Gefilte Fish recipe, please look here.

It all looked so good! Mom had requested that we get her one of their advertised $5 Lobster Rolls, but what else would make for a quick and easy lunch?

Fresh Montauk Flounder, Fried to Order

This fish was so pristine it took my breath away. Delicious and perfectly cooked!

Lobster Roll

Ok, I saw the kvetching on Yelp about this. There is real lobster in the mix. There is also a lot of mayo. There may be some filler fish. But for $5, it was plentiful and tasty so what's not to like? I'd probably pick something else, but I wouldn't complain, either.

Clam-Stuffed Garlic Bread

I don't think I've ever nibbled such soft and tender clam meat as the morsels generously stuffed into this garlicky bread (same roll as the lobster was stuffed into). These are sold needing to be baked down for about 15 minutes at 350. The clams were so tender and fresh that they maintained deliciousness two days later after being re-heated as leftovers. It was a little too oily when hot, but oh-so-tasty!

Fish Mix - A Tad Under-ground

I took this photo to document how gefilte fish mixture should not look. It needed to either be passed through the grinder again or ground with a finer die (the onions were still in a dice, also). Fortunately, I'd brought my food processor, so it took only a few minutes to correct the texture.

Gefilte Fish

And here's the final product, served up at our Seders Monday and Tuesday nights with garden horseradish. Absolutely delicious!

But there was more fish to savor! Our favorite local purveyor of smoked fish, Bagel Boss would close for Passover early on Monday, so Dad made a fish and bialy run on Sunday to hold us until it was time to burn the Chometz (or otherwise get rid of the bread). There is nothing like Jewish Soul Food!

Bialy with Bagel Boss Cream Cheese,
Belly Lox
Baked Salmon (Kippered Salmon)

Baked (or Kippered) Salmon

Loaded with the proper sustenance, we went to work on playing with food for the Seders!