Lobster With a Side Of American History

• Review
• Friday, October 10, 2008

Boston has its share of "Ye Olde"  restaurants, but the Union Oyster House is the real deal. This is the oldest continually operating restaurant in the country - the Union Oyster House has been in service since 1826- and positively oozes with history. The wood floor is worn and slanted, the ceilings are low, and the interior has a dark and cozy feeling that is characteristic of New England.

Located directly on the Freedom Trail, the restaurant is extremely popular with tourists who file in just after noon, when the morning Freedom Trail walking tours end.  They visit the Union Oyster House for their New England seafood specialties-lobster, oysters and seafood platters served in an authentic colonial-era building. The building is  actually the oldest brick building still standing  in Boston- in 1742 it housed a dry goods shop.

Many customers order one of Union Oyster House's many lobster dishes. If you are not a New Englander, you may want to get the "Lazy-man's Lobster"- it's the meat of a whole lobster baked in a casserole topped with a buttery bread crumb crust. Best of all, you don't have to wrestle with those lobster claws! Broiled Scrod is a popular choice too. You've never heard of scrod? Scrod is an acronym for "small cod received on dock"- and is a very typical New England dish.

The real action at Union Oyster House though is at the semi-circular oyster bar on the first floor.  This is the same fabled bar where American statesman and orator Daniel Webster was once a frequent patron.These oyster shuckers  are masters-  they expertly extricate the  shellfish meat to serve to legions of customers who down plates of raw oysters and cherrystones washed down with a pint.