Barking Crab   

88 Sleeper St
Boston, MA 2210
617-426-2722
www.thebarkingcrab.com

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The closest you can get to the North Shore without battling gridlock on Route 1 is the Barking Crab, a modified lobster tent catering to urban pirates. Effortlessly perfecting the kind of salty, ramshackle ambience that Jasper White's Summer Shacks spend millions to mimic, this waterfront outpost invokes the coast with aged wooden floorboards, oilcloth-covered picnic tables, carved mermaids, slate menus and clam traps wired with Christmas lights. The dining room offers front-row seats to the Financial District skyline and a soothing soundtrack of clinking masts from Fort Point Channel -- a fusion of seafaring romance and metropolitan glamour that eludes even the most ambitious downtown fish houses.The menu is tailored to the tent-like atmosphere, featuring simple seafood staples like clam chowder, pan-seared crab cakes and fried fish of every variety. Those seeking a culinary trip to the Cape can opt for buckets of steamers and pitchers of Sam Adams, while those nostalgic for Newbury Street can sample upscale entrees like shrimp scampi and thresher shark steak. The clientele ranges from strapping rogues in waders to secretaries in sundresses, and the service is amiable, if occasionally inattentive.