Mission Boathouse
One of the best parts about living in New England is you can go to a restaurant so close to the ocean, you can grab a sushi roll and throw that fish right back into the water. Mission boathouse in Beverly is that kind of a spot.
“Mission Boathouse is obviously has a little bit of a nautical theme, but it's because of where it sits. But there's three different floors, and we call them decks. Like the bottom floor is called the lower deck. We're on the Middle Deck, and then the upper floor is called the upper deck.”
Marty Bloom has been a pal for a long time. He's been in the business for decades. He's owned dozens of restaurants. He's known as one of the top experts and operators, but I got to level with you. The guy is a little bit nuts.
“I'm not a little crazy. I'm totally stock raving mad. What are you talking about? I've been doing this for 45 years, and there's something seriously wrong with me.
It's 350 seats between all the different floors.”
For 50 years, this property was a McDonald's. And with all due respect to the great Ronald McDonald and his signature item, the Big Mac, I think this is a better use of the real estate.
The Cocoloco shrimp is a great appetizer. It's three colossal shrimp. It's got coconut flakes, a mango habanero glaze, lime sauce. It's lighter and more gourmet than most coconut shrimp.
“The coconut shrimp is, is one of the big hits on the menu, and it's been nothing but a home run since we opened. It's like a fourth of July in your mouth with the shrimp. It's like an explosion”
My favorite thing on this menu is the hot dog panini. It's a Kobe beef dog with a sweet sauerkraut, a sharp cheese, a spicy mustard, all in a pizza dough. This is served as an appetizer in five slices. So I think if you're here with a group, this is a must order.
I gotta try this dog.
“So I grew up in the restaurant business from the age of three, and so I've always been trying to find some way to pay homage to my dad's beginnings in the hot dog business, which was a long, long time ago, and that's it. It's just a new twist on doing a great hot dog. I mean, we're Boston's famous for their hot dogs, the pearl hot dogs and all. I mean, we've had probably more hot dog stands other than Chicago has been Boston. We like taking the mundane and really goose it up and turbo charging things.”
Sushi is maybe the best way to start any meal. It's just so flavorful and light. Get your taste buds ready for a fantastic dining experience. Here, they have a pretty big menu of sushi and sashimi.
The Beverly Maki is very popular in Tokyo. Well, maybe not Tokyo, but it's very popular here in Beverly. It's a crispy, spicy salmon. It's got a layer of cucumber, then a layer of shrimp, a spicy mayo and tobiko, I'm telling you. Dip this in some soy sauce with a little bit of wasabi. You are on your way to an incredible meal.
Mission makes a great pizza. It's a mission makes a great pizza. It's a crispy pie with that nice charred edge. The lobster pizza is definitely a house favorite. It's got a lot of lobster, corn, red peppers, potatoes, fig jam. It's just layers and layers of pizza flavor.
“New England. I mean, what's more ubiquitous and everywhere than lobster. I mean, we are the home of lobster. The whole world comes here to get our lobster, and they ship our lobster everywhere. Put pizza together, which is also a staple of our New England diet, and you put those two together, I don't know how you can make a mistake. “
The overboard pizza does have me going overboard. It has short rib meatballs, spicy sausage, ricotta, quattro formaggio and sexy scallions. I don't know what makes these scallions sexy. It's definitely not me stuffing my face.
“I remember as a kid going to the local pizzeria where you got, like, ham, you got bacon, you got you got a meatball. I mean, they threw a sausage pepperoni. So it's kind of our homage to that kind of pizza from the old with just more elevated ingredients that we use.”
This looks like a raw seafood tower, but it's actually a fried seafood tower served really different with the haddock on the upper level, the idea being it should be the star of the show and the flavor should stand alone. Below that, you have your fried shrimp, fried scallops, and my favorite, the fried clam, a big, full bellied clam. Here they really know how to fry them properly. You maintain that flavor of the ocean all served over a bed of French fries with a big side of tartar sauce, which some would say is the single greatest substance on this planet.
“Everything is all breaded exactly the way it's supposed to. Is this, you know, again, a traditional homage to a traditional dish in New England, but done with a little twist.”
Mission is a great place to watch a snowstorm or a lightning storm. And if you're here on a cold day, I say, get the carbonara. This is a really filling, soothing type of dish. It's got pancetta, peas, parmesan, black pepper all over that. amazing spaghetti. This is definitely a weekend go back to bed for a nap. Type of dish.
“Lots and lots of cheese, and just the right amount of pancetta to give it that little extra crunch…. you get that, that burst of flavor. “
I'm always on a mission to find cool restaurants with great food and amazing waterfront views, and I got it done at Mission boathouse in Beverly.
