Side Trips from Boston Restaurants

Massachusetts invented the fried clam, and it's served in many North Shore and Cape Cod restaurants. Creamy clam chowder is another specialty. Eating seafood "in the rough"—from paper plates in seaside shacks—is a revered local custom. On the Cape, specialties from the Portuguese community like kale soup and linguiça sausage appear on some menus. At country inns you'll find traditional New England dinners: double-cut pork chops, rack of lamb, game, Boston baked beans, Indian pudding, and the dubiously glorified New England boiled dinner (corned beef and cabbage with potatoes, carrots, turnips, and other vegetables).