Boston Food Hit List

Update to my Boston Food Hit List: Although you must scroll down to see my posting on our trip to Japan, I suddenly realized that I did not post about the BEST DOUGHNUTS IN THE UNIVERSE available at Betty Ann's Food Shop in East Boston (where I'm from, holla!). So, I added Betty Ann's to my list below.

So, I am going back to Boston for 2 weeks over Christmas. I haven't been back in a whole year so I am pretty excited about it. I thought I would give you my hit list for places I simply MUST go when I am back. Check it!!

• Betty Ann's Food Shop
  I'm having a hard time finding a link to this place, but I did find it mentioned in a Boston Globe Article and The Boston Pheonix. Click there to get a photo and the shop's hours.
  This tiny little heavenly smelling shop has practically no sign and is only open on weekend mornings, so I don't think anyone from outside the neighborhood would even notice it. But trust me, it's there. It's on a corner of Bennington street right across from Carlo's (who has the BEST Italian subs) and near Saint Mary's church. I only go there for one thing; piping hot jelly doughnuts. They also have plain, lemon, crullers, and some other baked goods, but the jellies are really the draw. I actually can't stand jelly doughnuts anywhere else, but here they are soft, coated with sugar and explode in your mouth, so do NOT eat them while driving even if you are worried about them getting cold. I've tried this and it is sure to results in globs of jelly jumping out onto your nice clean shirt, not to mention sugar-coated fingers that make it difficult to drive. I mean, you do have to enjoy them hot, so you'll need to maybe drive down to the nearby beach, park, and then enjoy with your dunkies coffee. Oh, I'm reading that they also make the best Boston Baked Beans, and I don't know why we've never gotten them, but I'll make that a point to ask about when I go home.
  
• Ernesto's Pizza
  This is my absolute favorite pizza place in Boston. Their pizza has a nice chewy crust and they have a lot of creative toppings. My favorite, and a favorite of pretty much everyone I know who goes there, is Chicken Rancho. Don't ask what's on it, just eat it! I must tell you that my parents prefer the more traditional,crispy, saucy pizza found at Pizzaria Regina and Santarpios, two long-time Boston favorites. Ernesto's doesn't usually hit the top-ten lists for some reason.
  
• Kelly's Roast Beef
  OK, without even getting into the whole roast beef thing, this place makes the best fish and chips in the world!! Picture big pieces of flaky fish with the lightest, thinnest, not greasy at all breading. Large, thin onion rings with the same light breading, and soft steak fries. Get extra tartar sauce 'cause you'll want to dip everything in it.
  Now, Kelly's is also one of the many fine places in the area who make roast beef sandwiches the way I grew up with them: smothered in BBQ sauce. They're great, but I just can't stop getting the fish..
  
• Dimino's Sub Sandwiches
  I can't even find a website for this place. Basically, the only place I feel makes the true melty steak and cheese subs I grew up is well... where I grew up. I get a steak bomb with no peppers. Why is it so hard to get it like this elsewhere? Most places treat this sandwich like any any other, throw some steak on a roll, then a slice of cold cheese, if you're lucky they melt it. They way it's supposed to be done is all chopped up with tons of melted cheese completely distributed throughout on a nice toasty, buttery sub roll. YUM!
  
• China Pearl
  This is where I usually get my dim sum.. the nice traditional way. Families sit at large round tables eating things you wish you knew how to order. Nice ladies walk around with steaming carts of dumpling delights! My favorite: the TRIPE!! It is delicately braised in garlic ginger broth. I also love the eggplant, shumai, the rice-noodle cannoli things, and for dessert: mango pudding.
  
• Legal Sea Foods
  Legal's fish tastes so fresh, you can almost feel it flapping in your mouth: just a fresh flavor explosion. I love the wood-grilled dishes , particularly the scallops. But what I am really planning to do is plop myself down at the bar and get a bowl of clam chowder, their taster of white wines, and a pound of steamers. I am talking about the big fat clams you rip out the shell by the neck, dip in broth and butter, and let their squishy stomachs pop in your mouth. They don't even sell them out here and I miss them so!

As you can imagine, there are many many more great places in Boston to chow down, including Red Barn Coffee Roasters for an iced chocolate chai and muffin top; Emack and Bolio's for a seasonal ice cream flavor like pumpkin; Maria's Pastry for Lobster Tails, Neopolitans and Amaretti; and tons more fancy places you can find online. Oh, I also want to try the new cupcake place, Kickass Cupcakes!