This Labor Day I decided a little staycation was in order. I never get to play tourist at home so I was pretty excited to wander around my favorite Boston sights. (You can read more about my staycation here.)
Of course, first things first for any vacation – I had to plan my meals. Where was I going to eat? What places have been on my To Eat list? What was I craving? Easy.
Pier 6 is a quintessential New England restaurant located right Charlestown Navy Yard. It has sweeping views of the Boston skyline – and has a killer menu. Sold.
My favorite wine-loving sister was visiting so we planned a little girls night out to kick off the long holiday weekend.
It was a beautiful, cool night in Boston and lucky for us Pier 6 had their windows open. There were sailboats in the harbor and the sun was about to go down. It was a perfect nautical setting for our Friday night out.
Once we sat down, we immediately opened the wine menu. I mean, priorities. I went with a Spanish Albarino. (If you haven’t had a Albarino, it’s basically a Sauvignon Blanc.) My sister tried two different wines throughout the night, a classic California Sauvignon Blanc and a French Sancerre, which is also like a Sauv Blanc but more “barnyard-y” in a good way.
The oyster selection for the night included the local big hitters – Island Creek and Wellfleets. There were two other options, but I’ll be honest, once I heard Wellfleets I forgot all other options. They are hands down my favorite oyster.
Oysters are served simply with the classic accouterments – mingionette, cocktail sauce, horseradish and lemon. I despise horseradish (yes, even in Bloody Marys) so I opted to pair my oysters with the remaining options. And maybe a dash of hot sauce. For the purists out there, I definitely did not drown these babies. Just adorned them.
Next up was the ceviche. Mmmm, I love a good ceviche. It’s like if summer was a dish. This ceviche was made with fluke, shrimp, mango, shallots, jalepenos, cilantro and lime. Yes, please.
It was served with plantain chips, which was a tasty and unexpected pairing. The plantains complimented the light, citrusy ceviche perfectly.
Up next was my favorite dish so far. The Heirloom Tomato and Watermelon salad. Tomato and watermelon are my favorite summer fruits so I knew I was in for a treat – and this dish exceeded my expectations.
The both the tomato and watermelon are in peak season (It’s late summer as I write this), and they were incredibly flavorful. The salad is rounded out by mozzarella, red onion and a balsamic drizzle. It’s divine. All of the ingredients mingled well together. It’s one of those dishes that you’ll try to recreate at home but you juuust miss the mark. I’m not giving up though!
At this point, you probably expect me to start talking about dessert. Nope… we’re still not done with the meal.
My sister and I couldn’t decided on entrees so we ended up splitting two. Scallops and paella.
The scallops were cooked perfectly. They were served with asparagus, wild mushrooms and parsnip puree. I loved this dish. I’m a big fan of going heavy on the veggies and this delivered. Everything was seasoned to perfection. I would actually like to eat this right now.
Paella was recommended by our awesome server, so we went with it. Not going to lie, I make a mean paella. After my trip to Barcelona in 2014, it’s my favorite dish to cook. I will spend all day making the sofrito (tomato paste) from scratch.
This paella didn’t disappoint. The rice was cooked really well, and the shrimp, clams and mussels were perfect. The chorizo added a great depth of flavor, as did the saffron. And there were peas! My favorite veggie to add to the dish.
I don’t have many complaints. I mean, look at that, would you?
Not that we needed it, but we split a chocolate lava cake for dessert. It wasn’t overly sweet, which I’m a big fan of. It was a perfect ending to the meal.
I have to say, it was a great night out! I couldn’t have asked for a better way to kick of my Labor Day weekend.
Check out Pier 6’s menu here, and you can visit them everyday for lunch, dinner or Sunday Brunch in the Charlestown Navy Yard.
Thank you to Pier 6 for generously hosting me! All opinions and images are my own.
