A recent trip to Boston was nothing like a trip to an Australian city. Snow squalls, horizontal sleet, and black ice-covered footpaths. But that’s what you get for visiting a city in the Northeast of the United States during February. The upside however was that we didn’t feel guilty spending hours indoors sampling the local cuisine and draft beers. And boy, does Boston have a lot of local produce to sample.
A small city by US standards, Boston offers quite a selection of fine dining, casual eateries and many bars. You could easily picture how bustling the city must get in the warmer months, particularly when Fenway Park Ballpark hosts a Red Sox game.
It felt like everything was a stone’s throw away in Boston. We walked most of the time. Strolling through the Commons, along the Freedom Trail (albeit backwards and out of sync, but it didn’t matter!) including across the footbridge to Bunker Hill.
A short list of obvious and not so obvious sights in Boston:
- The Commons: in snow it’s a winter wonderland, in summer it must have glorious grass and the space is footy ground sized!
- Bunker Hill is worth walking to, even in the cold. It’s a lovely view back to the city and offers a view into history too! For movie fans, watch The Town right before you visit and feel like you’re one of the gang as you stroll the streets of Charlestown.
- The Barking Crab located in the Seaport District reminded me of seafood joints in small coastal towns in Australia. That is until you see the wood fire in the corner.
- Parla is a quaint little cocktail bar in the North End that a few locals recommended. This bar offers a cute little offering where you ‘roll the dice’ and depending on the roll, you get a house selected off-menu cocktail. The game is based on Dungeons and Dragons for those in the know.
- Night Shift Brewing located on Lovejoy Wharf (next to the footbridge you use to get to Bunker Hill) is a good afternoon beer spot. Modern brewery with great food.
- Saltie Girl is a cutesy lil’ restaurant on the other side of the Commons. Fresh fish and great cocktails!
- Neptune Oyster is tiny, so book if you can! But the food is fresh and comes highly recommended.
Aussie treats:
A fellow AWNY member had a hot tip on where to find Aussie treats including a slight variation on an Aussie classic, Pavlova found at Tatte Bakery & Cafe. At first we thought Tatte (pronounced Tatte, as in latte) was a small cafe with amazing food and the greatest selection of treats but we soon discovered that it’s a very well known, and popular, Boston favorite with stores in most neighborhoods. And… no wonder, look at that Pav (below)!
We did locate several Australian owned cafes, Flat Black Coffee Company, located in the business district near Waterfront, CuppaCoffee in the West End, and Bluestone Lane in Waterfront and Cambridge.
If you’re missing seafood like home; no fuss, fairly reasonably priced, and paired with a craft beer from a local brewery, I’d strongly recommend a weekend trip to Boston. Just jump on a train from Penn Station, embrace covid working flexibility (for those of us still not in an office) and meet us in Boston in four hours. We’ll be back when it warms up a tad and the baseball season is in full swing!
AWNY | Australian Women in New York 