Boston Food Guide: Clam Chowder, Lobster Rolls & New England Classics

Boston's food identity is anchored in New England's extraordinary seafood tradition — the cold Atlantic waters off Massachusetts producing lobster, clams, scallops, and oysters of exceptional quality that have defined the region's cuisine for 400 years. The New England clam chowder is the first and most important order of business: a cream-based (never Manhattan-style) soup of quahog clams, potato, and bacon, best at Legal Sea Foods (the city's institution since 1950) or the Barking Crab on the waterfront. The lobster roll debate — hot with butter or cold with mayo — has no correct answer: James Hook & Co near the Financial District keeps it simple with fresh claw and knuckle meat; Row 34 in the Innovation District elevates it with exceptional sourcing. Quincy Market's food hall in the Faneuil Hall Marketplace offers an accessible overview of Boston classics. The North End, Boston's Italian-American neighbourhood, is the city's best restaurant precinct: Mike's Pastry and Modern Pastry both produce superlative cannoli in a neighbourly rivalry that has defined the street since the 1940s.