Over the weekend my husband's old friend from Japan, Tetsuro, visited. We walked through the lovely Tufts University campus and saw several kinds of flowers.
The three of us, seafood-lovers that we are, stopped by what is by many accounts the best seafood market in Boston. Almost every item sold is sushi-grade, just gleaming with sweet, deep-sea freshness. Taut-looking black sea bream, gorgeous crimson-colored yellow tuna, stately red-orange-colored wild king salmon, shiny swordfish steaks, shad roe and giant shrimp that looked so full and tight that a pinprick could release all the juice, practically live-looking fluke, the freshest Wellfleet oysters, and my favorite, sea scallops that are so fresh and sweet they, when eaten raw, melt like butter on the tongue and permeate your entire mouth with sweet umami, all stared at me intensely. They don't come cheap, but the selections here are to die for.
Tetsuro was a devoted customer when he was a student in Boston in the late-1990s, and we owe him a nice chunk of toro (fatty tuna) for introducing this place to us. No longer Boston's best kept secret, New Deal Fish Market draws customers from all over Boston who on weekends stand in line happily for 30 minutes or more. A very famous Japanese pitcher for the Boston Red Sox is among the regulars here. Highly recommended.
Fluke, sea scallops, and salmon sashimi. All were simply excellent--so flavorful and sweet.
The salmon skin and the layer of fat underneath was explosive on the palate. It was on the house, which was a nice gesture.
I've a feeling we'll be back at New Deal very soon. Thank you, Tetsuro!
