Row 34 is a sister restaurant of Island Creek Oyster Bar (one of my favorites) and bills itself as the “workingman’s oyster bar.” As it was Hayley's last weekend in town, we decided to give it one more shot and just showed up at the restaurant around 6 pm on Sunday night. As usual, there was about an hour + wait for a table. However, they had a separate list for the bar seats and there was only one group in front of us! We grabbed some drinks and waited it out for about 15 minutes until two seats opened up. Woo hoo!
Let's talk drinks. Row 34 has a great beer list! I was really excited to try out the uber local Congress Street IPA from Trillium (the brewery is right down the street from Row 34). I loved this beer and have really got to get myself to Trillium for a tasting!
After a long day of hiking, we were pretty hungry and ordered some quick food to start: clam chowder for Hayley and oysters for me.
I'm like a kid in a candy store when it comes to picking out oysters. I just want to try them all!! I have the Oysterpedia App on my phone to check out oyster descriptions, but the app is pretty lacking. I was stuck on my own and decided to just pick at random.
The Moon Shoal and the Chatham oysters were my favorite. I like them plump and real briny with just a touch of sweetness at the end.
Hayley's clam chowder was amazing...definitely the best I've tried in a long time. It was the perfect texture and you could really taste the bacon mixed in.
When it was time to pick our entrees, I knew I had to go with fried clams. I somehow managed to go all summer without eating fried clams and figured this might be my last opportunity until next year (UGH!!). They did NOT disappoint. The clams were perfectly fried and I loved the batter. The big basket of fries wasn't bad either :)
Hayley ordered the house made bucatini with shrimp. I didn't try this but it looked great!
Our service was a little slow throughout the night, but the bartender totally made up for it with dessert on the house! I was so full at this point, but I think Hayley loved the butterscotch pudding that was brought over.
Overall, a great dinner and worth the wait! I'm not quite sure that this is a "workingman's" oyster bar -- prices were on par with Island Creek Oyster Bar and while the ambiance was slightly more casual, it still felt very modern and refined.
Row 34 is located at:
383 Congress Street
Boston, MA 02210
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