Welcome back to Urban Dating: Easy & fun date ideas from urban experts!
Here is the continued series from MC Slim JB.
After your first couple of dates have gone well, try something more adventurous! Here are some ideas:
Adventurous Date: Drinks on the Waterfront, water taxi to dinner in Eastie, water taxi back to the Seaport, nightcap in Fort Point. Pick a night from Thursday to Sunday (my restaurant choice is closed Monday to Wednesday) when you anticipate clear weather.
If you want to start the evening on a swanky note, begin with a pop at the Alley Bar at Rowes Wharf, the new patio bar at the Boston Harbor Hotel. (Don’t confuse this with Downtown Crossing’s similarly-named Alley Bar, a gay hangout.) The specialty cocktail list at this breezy outdoor bar features refreshing, summery long drinks like the Alley Cat (vodka, mint syrup, lime and cilantro). If you’re in the mood for something more casual, have a quick one at Biddy Early’s Pub just across the Greenway at the edge of the Financial District, a dumpy, loud after-work joint with big, cheap drinks.
Then walk to the dock behind the InterContinental Hotel a few doors down from the Boston Harbor Hotel and summon a City Water Taxi to Stop #11. Take it to the East Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina (Stop #68), and tell the captain you’re headed to KO Pies; you’ll get a nice discount off the fare. This short, romantic boat trip features absolutely stunning views of the Boston Waterfront.
At the other end, walk through a real, working commercial shipyard to KO Pies at the Shipyard, a rare outpost of Australian cuisine in Boston. The food here is nothing an American will find challenging, just fresh and nice-priced snacks, salads, sandwiches. Be sure to get at least one Aussie pie, a small pot pie with a terrific pastry crust and fillings like curried chicken or beef stew, and maybe get a beer, too. These are best enjoyed at the outdoor picnic tables.
Hail your return City Water Taxi, but this time, debark in the Seaport at Stop #8, at the Barking Crab. The Seaport is an undeniably hot dining and drinking destination these days, but most venues there are dull chains or tourist traps, middling and overpriced. You can do better: take a quick stroll down the Harborwalk, hugging the Fort Point Channel on your right (away from the Moakley Courthouse, toward South Station). Then take a left down Congress Street at the Boston Children’s Museum’s giant milk bottle and proceed a couple of blocks to Tavern Road. This hopping new gastropub has a cool industrial vibe, very good desserts (like housemade ice cream sundaes and cookies), and a fantastic bar program: just the place to put an exclamation point on your evening.
Adventurous Date Recommendation by MC Slim JB
- Alley Bar at Rowes Wharf, Boston Harbor Hotel, 70 Rowes Wharf, Boston, MA 617.439.7000
- Biddy Early’s Pub, 141 Pearl Street, Boston, MA 617.654.9944
- InterContinental Hotel, 510 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 617.747.1000
- City Water Taxi, 617.422.0392
- KO Pies at the Shipyard, 256 Marginal Street, Building 16, East Boston, MA 617.418.5234
- Tavern Road, 343 Congress Street, South Boston, MA 617.790.0808
