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There is good food to be had in Boston, but it's definitely the junior varsity league up there. Some of the best Chinese food I've ever had was up there, at he now closed Ducky Wok. If you avoid the red sauce slinging tourist traps there are some excellent Italian restaurants in the north end. There are some crusty old institutions like Locke Ober that are fun to go to, if not for the food which is pretty stodgy, just for the feeling of walking into a time machine and being an old boston brahmin. Of course there are the crab and lobster places. There are some tapas bars. There's Clio. Honestly I havent been there in too long to really speak to the current scene with much authority, but in my 6 years there, I felt that Boston was not really a destination, food-wise. A much smaller town (and it's surrounding region), Providence RI, by comparison is an off-the-charts-great place for food.

No good food in Boston? You guys are nuts.

Now i'll concede the food of New York is pretty incredible, but you've got to admit that none of the foods for which New York is known are really New York-ian...New York-ier? New York-y?

In any event, hot dogs, bagels, pizza, NY steak (come on, Ed, let's talk about marketing schemes), these are ethnic foods to be had the world-round.

But Boston? Where else can you find a delicacy so delectable and simple as a hot dog roll with lobster and mayonnaise?

Being a native New Yorker, although I must admit to leaving the city
more than 53 years ago, I fully agree with Ed about the superior varities
of food in NYC as compared to Boston or New England. BUT -
where do the N.Y. Giants play????? Isn't their stadium located in
new jersey??? Why the team's full name wasn't changed long ago,
as well as that of the Jets is a mystery to this California dweller and
partime football fan. I do miss authentic N.Y. food and that's the truth!

You are correct that NY outshines Boston in the food department, but you are incorrect to limit the Patriots to just Boston. If that was the case you'd have to limit the Giants to New Jersey and the only thing NJ contributed to cuisine is Taylor Ham. Those are *real* slim pickings!

I live near Boston and there are many things I don't understand about food here:

1. Hot dog buns split wrong.
2. "Regular" coffee comes with cream and sugar.
3. Why is there no good pizza here?

@chiff0nade There won't be any asterisk. Not this year, not any year. Not in football, not in any other sport.

Lobster and clam rolls come in hot dog buns so the bread doesn't take away from the flavor of the seafood inside. It's simple. But everyone's right. The Giants play in Jersey however if you've ever met someone from north Jersey, they always claim to be from "the city" so there's that...food wise, NY wins by a long shot but its a far more diverse city than Boston and bigger too. Go Giants.

I would have to dissagree with you. NE wins the hotdog war. numerous NY food writers have pointed at Flo's Hotdogs to be the best hotdog is the country. I've been to a lot of great steak house's in NY and Grille 23 trumps them all. I think I would rather have a Lobster roll or some Fried ipswich clams then a pastrami sandwhich which i will have to say is very good. And last time I heard eli's cheesecake even though not boston is much better then any thing you get in NY And boston creme pie is much better then any of them. Another one that we dominate is Chowdah. you can take your crappy manhatten chowder and shove it up yours while we savor the best chowdah in the Country. When was the last time Manhatten chowder was served at a presidentail inaguration. Also one more Thing boston has. Dunkin Donuts. 'nuff said

1. The Patriots are lucky they have won 18 straight - they've lost a couple of close games, including one to the Giants. Not that I'm a Giants fan....

2. Boston DOES have good Italian and Chinese food compared to most of the country, and I would say almost New York quality if not comparable can be found. Santarpio's Pizza in East Boston... that's great stuff right there.

3. Neither city wins the hot dog war, my hometown (Washington DC) wins that one - half-smokes from Ben's Chili Bowl - also great stuff. Other than that, Washington's culinary scene is rather pathetic, however, that's their one area to shine.

4. New York wins the deli and bagel war by FAR. I'm surprised, actually, at how bad these are in the Boston area - even where I live (Brighton/Brookline/Newton area) - there's not much selection and the only reason any of these places are good at all is because the pastrami is imported from NYC.

5. Boston cream pie, clam chowder, and lobster rolls - I would hardly call those "slim pickins'" - they're actually some of the best regional American cuisine there is.

SO - my final analysis - both cities have a lot going for them and I would say, along with Chicago and San Francisco and maybe another couple of cities (Providence included), they both have among the best food in the country,

So, Big Mike, how do you get from 18-0 to "lost a couple close ones"? Seems to me 18-0 means LOST NONE! :-) Think you mean *won* a couple close ones. Which leads to, the difference between a champion and the runner up is finding a way to win the close ones ....

Hotdoglover,
If you think that Papaya King serves Sabrett's franks, you are sadly, sadly mistaken. Never confuse Gray's Papaya with the KING.

Jules,

Both serve Sabrett hot dogs. This was confirmed to me not only by Sabrett distributors, but by the person in charge of private label at Marathon. Although they make franks in different sizes as well as either skinless or natural casing, there are only 2 recipes. All beef and beef/pork. The beef/pork frank is used at Jersey places such as Callahan's, The Hot Grill, and the Windmill. The beef dogs are used at pushcarts as well as Papaya King, Gray's, and Katz's. Papaya King and Gray's use identical 10 to a lb natural casing dogs while Katz's uses a slightly larger dog. But all from the same recipe. Papaya King likes to say that the dogs are made specially for them and that they have a different spice, but this is NOT true! The only difference between Gray's and Papaya King is how they are prepared at the individual restaurant. Gray's uses Sabrett mustard while Papaya King uses Admiration Dusseldorf Mustard. Papaya King is also one of the 10% of accounts where the dogs are delivered refrigerated, not frozen.

Each city/region has its strong points (and I lived 22 years in the New York area and 17 in Massachusetts). New York has much better bread and rolls (New England Italian and French bread and bulkie rolls are just different shapes of Wonder Bread!) I also never once found a decent chocolate cake in either a bakery or a restaurant there; they don't know how to make a decent milk chocolate, butter cream icing. And, in general, New York has better pizza, although Boston Pizzeria Regina is very good. Both do an equally good job with beef and good French food. Where New England excels, however, is with sea food. After 17 years in New England, I cannot eat seafood anywhere else without being disappointed! Great chowder, and in particular, fried clams.