New England Boiled Dinner, or any tips, really

August 16, 2013 10:07 AM

I will be spending a few days in Boston and Burlington soon, using I 89 to get between the two. I need the advice of NE mefites on 2 fronts: 1) where can I get the best NE boiled dinner? 2)what are the best roadside attractions/eateries on I 89? thanks!
posted by CookieNose to Food & Drink (8 answers total)

Great New England diner off I-89 Exit 7: the Wayside. Ridiculously cheap, good and fast. Do not miss the cream pies.
posted by Andrew Galarneau at 10:13 AM on August 16, 2013 [2 favorites]

You could do a tour at the Ben & Jerry's ice cream factory just south of Burlington, or just stop for a scoop. It's pretty fun.
posted by karbonokapi at 10:33 AM on August 16, 2013 [1 favorite]

Bread and Chocolate on the Main Street of Concord, NH is a fabulous little pastry shop / bakery / café attached to a book store. If you need to come bearing gifts to any of your destinations or to contribute to a meal, a box of their eponymous treat is perfect.

I-89 through Concord also passes right by the Silk Farm Sanctuary, the headquarters of the New Hampshire Audubon Society, which offers some nice peaceful strolls through the woods and educational stuff that includes live animal exhibits.
posted by XMLicious at 11:34 AM on August 16, 2013

Best answer: You know, not too many places regularly do Boiled Dinner these days. I mostly see it as a special.

Random places I enjoy eating along the I-89 corridor:

1. Eaton's Sugarhouse, Bethel, VT. Old-school sugarhouse that serves up breakfast and lots of maple syrup.
2. Worthy Burger, South Royalton. Good burgers. Great beer tap list.
3. Tuckerbox, White River Junction, VT. Best damn BLT I've ever had.
4. Coffee Corner, Montpelier, VT. Great pancakes and diner food (Alton Brown did his flapjack recipe in their kitchen).
5. Chez Vachon, Manchester, NH. Quebecois food, and a gazillion varieties of poutine.

(Also consult my blog, Offbeateats.org. I do most of my traveling in VT and NH)
posted by kaszeta at 11:54 AM on August 16, 2013 [1 favorite]

Yeah - I have to admit that I've lived my entire life in New England and had never heard of Boiled Dinner until I found it in a cookbook. It certainly seems like something that would be archetypally New England fare but I'd imagine that the name doesn't sound refined enough to sell well on restaurant menus.
posted by XMLicious at 12:51 PM on August 16, 2013

Best answer: Doyle's in the Jamaica Plain area of Boston has it on Thursdays.
posted by brujita at 5:32 PM on August 16, 2013

Seconding the wayside. Very quick to get to from exit 7 and easy access to Barre or Montpelier for further touristing. I'm from Barre though and am not quite sure what boiled dinner is? Do you mean potroast or a lobster boil? The wayside will have potroast, but you're better off closer to the shore for a lobster boil.
posted by koolkat at 4:15 AM on August 17, 2013

Boiled Dinner is corned beef brisket boiled with a variety of vegetables and possibly other sorts of meat, but it's the corned beef that's the primary component in its flavor. Here's a recipe from 1903, for example.
posted by XMLicious at 9:51 AM on August 17, 2013