Boston Restaurant Rec- Wine more important than Food

Headed up to Boston for 1 day on a Saturday. Need a lunch recommendation since a friend has already booked Grill 23 for dinner.

I know BYO isn’t allowed due to the Liquor Board. Are there any recommendations for restaurants with a deep burgundy list and great pricing due to MA pricing being lower in general as a result of the alcohol laws?

So far, we have tentative plans for The Butcher Shop for lunch.

Staying at the Liberty Hotel. Not adverse to cabbing it. Closer to the hotel and not in the suburbs is a plus.

Thanks!

Troquet - excellent list, reasonably priced for some gems, great food and Chris is a great host. Go, you will not be disappointed.

Considered it but it’s not open for lunch and I don’t know if that price point will be okay with friends.

Any recs for lunch?

Jud knows more than me, but my youngest son is in the Boston area several times a year and always talks highly about Legal Seafood.

I’ve never had a memorable meal at Legal’s save for two that were remarkable only in their awfulness. But the wine, hmmmm… My experience is unfortunately dated and they don’t publish their lists.

I believe, however, that this is likely still true: only the flagship Park Square location has (had?) a cellar of any note. Decent price points, or at least there used to be. But I hasten to add that I haven’t set foot there in at least 7 years. Every other location - and especially the shit show that is the Prudential location - have little to offer and nothing otherwise to recommend them. You might find an acceptable muscadet or second rate burg.

I would love to know whether the Park Square Legal’s still brings it with the wine . . . anybody have any recent experience?

A good number of restaurants that come to mind that would have a suitable wine list are only open for dinner or would do a Sunday brunch. Maybe check out Eastern Standard or Neptune Oyster bar?

outside of troquet, i can’t think of any deep, great wine lists in boston that are reasonably priced.

i’d do neptune oyster. probably my favorite restaurant in boston, with truly excellent food, a place that could only exist in new england, and it has a well-chosen wine list.

Neptune Oyster is a definite recommend (better than Butcher Shop for me). I would certainly say it’s more about the food than the wine, but the list is acceptable and I’ve always found something nice.

You’d be going on a Saturday, so here’s what to expect: enormous lines. But don’t fret, here’s the strategy: get there earlier than you plan to eat. You might luck into a table, but more likely you’ll put in your name and they will call you when they can seat you. Might be an hour and a half wait before you get that call. But, hey, you’re in the North End.

While you wait, you could explore one of Boston’s best neighborhoods. You could hit some of the fine Italian shops like Salumeria Italiano, Monica’s Mercato, or Bricco’s bakery and new grocery (both down the alleyway next to the Bricco restaurant). You could check out The Wine Bottega. You could go to Caffe dello Sport for a capuccino, Italian football, and local color, or Caffe Paradiso for better coffee, pastry, and the only decent gelato I’ve found in the area (but a bit less of the North End vibe that you’d find at dello Sport). You could grab a seat at Monica’s Vinoteca and have a glass and a small nosh.

sorry Fred - read too quickly with poor comprehension! Legal seafoods in the park plaza does have a nice list, but not a lot of burgundy. Neptune oyster is awesome, but I hate lines.

I think Les Zygomates near South station serves lunch and they have a nice list and good French bistro fare.

sorry Fred - read too quickly with poor comprehension! Legal seafoods in the park plaza does have a nice list, but not a lot of burgundy. Neptune oyster is awesome, but I hate lines.

I think Les Zygomates near South station serves lunch and they have a nice list and good French bistro fare.

Yes, I do, and it does. The food is really just okay, the big exception for me being the crab cakes, which I love. Overall, if you’re expecting fine dining, the food will disappoint, but it’s intended for the masses. The wine makes it worth going, though. It’s best for wine people as the staff isn’t usually familiar with the more interesting stuff on the list, but the pricing is excellent on everything. I think the staff being as they are is great because the cherries don’t seem to get picked based on suggestions, the only downfall being that I haven’t talked to anyone who could tell me how any of the older stuff is drinking. There’s something really funny (to me, anyway) about drinking aged GC Burgundy or Clos Ste Hune with a paper placemat.

I should mention that the list doesn’t have the breadth of those that look really impressive, but if you like white wine (I haven’t even looked at the red list in quite some time), there are plenty of good options in a huge range of prices and everything is extremely reasonably priced.

Also, I find something to like at every one of the other locations I’ve been to, always at excellent prices. I’ve been to several, and even the smaller ones have had things like Zind-Humbrecht single vineyard Rieslings and Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne. I’ve never been to the Prudential location and wouldn’t want to since it’s just as easy for me to go to Park Square, so I have no idea about that one.

Thank you everyone for the recommendations! Will look into them all.

Pass on Grill 23. Neptune Oyster is where it’s at.

Troquet fits the subject line perfectly. Neptune is my favorite lunch in boston. There are a few other threads if you do a search. Grill 23 is good, but by no means anything you cant get outside of boston.

Thanks, Doug!

I’m in the neighborhood, so I should swing by that location and take a look at the list. Last year, my wife and I were enjoying a Nicolas Joly at Island Creek and the (then) wine director stage-whispered “it’s $15 cheaper at Legal’s!”. Very glad to hear the pricing is still good - might be enough to convince my wife to eat there (or at least drink there!). Crab cakes sound very good, and I recall that I also liked the bluefish in mustard sauce. Any idea if the oysters are generally edible? I really just need a little nosh to accompany the wine!

And I think you make an excellent point about the staff not really knowing/recommending the real plums on the list, and I suspect a good portion of the crowd are tourists not there for the wine.

These items are truly very good as are the East Coast oysters The rest off the menu is OK for me as a neighborhood
restaurant as I live a couple of blocks away from another location and have a ‘do not wait’ courtesy card.

The guy that recommended Grill 23 has really dug his heels in on this one.

The plan is to go to Troquet and open a nice (hopefully aged) bottle at the bar beforehand and then join the rest of the party at Grill 23.

give him the korean high five, make him change his mind

Grill 23 has a pretty decent list (for Boston), and it does fit the bill of being more about the wine than the food. Not that there’s anything wrong with the food, just that it’s a typical steakhouse menu.