Neptune Oyster
63 Salem Street
Boston, MA 02110
I recently took a trip to the fine state of Massachusetts to attend a yoga retreat (aka Yoga Camp) at Kripalu. Kripalu is in the Berkshires and is kind of tricky to get to if you’re not driving. I had the option of travelling through New York City or Boston to get there and chose Boston because a short trip to NYC would be such a tease. Plus I wanted to check out Boston again because the last time I was there was for work where I was holed up in the JFK Library for 2 full days.
The way my travel options worked out I only ended up being able to have two dinners and one breakfast in Boston. Not a lot to work with. One dinner I allocated to my nostalgic choice, Legal Sea Foods and the other to Neptune Oyster which supposedly has the best lobster roll in Boston. Goodness knows I love a lobster roll AND they are hard to find in Toronto, so I was off.
Neptune Oyster is a pretty small restaurant situated in what appears to be a predominantly Italian neighbourhood. I decided to show up on the early side on a Friday night and my wait (as a single for the bar) was quoted as being 45 minutes. When I showed up at 6pm literally every spot in the restaurant was taken. It’s definitely a hot spot.
Once I was seated at the bar I of course needed a beer and asked for a local recommendation. The bartender recommended a from Cisco Brewers out in Nantucket. I’m not a beer connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination but I loved this beer. It had a nice fruitiness (but not too fruity) and spiciness to it. Of course it’s not available at the LCBO so it will just remain a memory to me until my next trip to Boston.
To start I opted for Neptunes on Piggyback ($13) which featured crispy oysters on top of Berkshire pork with golden raisins and a pistachio aioli. The whole thing sat on top of crispy bread and was topped with some greenery. This dish was a great mix of textures and flavours. Now, I HATE raisins but I loved the contrast of the sweet raisins with the spicy greens and how they both played with the fattiness of the pork and richness of the oysters. A really great start to the meal.
Now for my beloved lobster roll ($25). I knew I was in for a treat when the bartender asked if I wanted my lobster roll hot with butter or cold with mayo. Hold up! Wait a minute! I get a choice? I have never been anywhere where I’ve had a choice around how my lobster roll was served. To me, this was magical. I opted for hot with butter. The lobster roll was so simple, just HUGE chunks of perfect lobster gently coated with butter and served in a fresh lightly toasted roll. It was really no frills and the simplicity allowed the lobster to shine. It was also huge. By the end I was just eating the lobster without the roll. Without a doubt this was one of the best lobster rolls I’ve had, period.
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I was lucky enough to get uncover this Little Italia place for any late lunch. Not huge oyster aficionados we appreciated the description from the oysters and also the waitress recommendations. We had multiple people ordering large platters. We’d about 6 oysters and also the lobster roll and vitello tonnato. We sitting in the bar and loved some whitened wine along with the scrumptious food. I imagine it’s could possibly get very crowded because of the little size but when you’ve got a chance you need to visit. They’re limited around the non-seafood products just FYI.