Eventide Fenway — Restaurant in Boston

I used to drive up to their Portland location as often as I could, so I was genuinely thrilled when I heard they were opening in Fenway. Eventide’s oysters remain unmatched in my opinion, and their lobster rolls are still heavenly, even if on the smaller side. I still dream about the salmon tacos they used to serve; they were absolutely phenomenal. I remember they told us to pay $5 for extra taco shells, which was hilarious.

In the past, they used portable POS systems without providing paper checks, making it hard to clearly see the itemized billing—especially with administrative fees added post-subtotal. It left me wondering if the lack of transparency was deliberate. I appreciated that during our most recent visit, they brought a proper paper check. That felt like a much-needed improvement.

However, I was disappointed to find that overall service has declined. In the past, staff were warm and engaging, but this time, they seemed very unhappy, almost as if they were reluctantly going through the motions. Our chairs still had crumbs from previous diners, which, for a restaurant positioned in the higher price range (particularly given the modest portion sizes), felt below standard.

The clam chowder also seemed noticeably smaller than before. I fully understand that operating costs in Fenway must be significant, but unfortunately, this location continues to fall short of the experience I remember and love from Portland—for different reasons each time.

That said, I’ll still return for the oysters, which are consistently excellent. I do hope they consider relocating or rethinking the current model—perhaps then the atmosphere, service, and overall experience would better reflect the quality...

We had mixed feelings about our first visit to Eventide. I say first visit because overall we enjoyed it and will probably to back. It's a short walk from Fenway park and has limited (2 tables) outdoor seating. We ordered fish and chips, fried oyster dinner, fried chicken katsu sandwich, and a small lobster roll. The fish in the fish and chips was excellent, I really liked the breading, which was different from most others I have tried. Similar to funnel cake dough, which sounds strange but it was very good. Even the potato wedges were tastier than most. My son really enjoyed the fried oyster dinner and my wife the chicken katsu sandwich. The lobster roll was the issue. It was made with brown butter or something. The problems with the lobster roll were numerous. The roll was about 4 inches long and contained about 1 TABLESPOON of lobster. The lobster quality was low (I was a lobsterman when I was younger); and the brown butter had almost a cheese like taste. It was not actually edible. I shouldn't be throwing away a $17 lobster roll, but we basically did. So, in summary, we recommend most things on the menu, but we definitely recommend staying far away from the lobster roll! If you want a lobster roll stick with the ones you get at along the cost, like Brown's. Or better yet, buy a lobster at the grocery store and make your own, most people can make better lobster rolls than you can get at a lobster pound. Just remember to be very light on the mayonnaise and heavy on the butter or margarine (just not brown butter). A dash of seasoning salt, regular salt, and finely chopped celery adds a nice depth. And, of course, toast the...

I heard about Eventide recently from a friend -- they described the brown butter lobster roll to me and I was quite intrigued. We visited on a whim while walking around Fenway on a Sunday night. We weren't that hungry so we just ordered a few things to sample the menu.

The brown butter lobster roll ($19) looked extremely small on first glance, but did appear to have a bit more meat once we cut it open. The lobster was pretty good and the brown butter flavor complements it well. I liked the bao bun. This dish was pretty well executed but is quite pricey for what it is.

We also got the fish charcuterie board ($24) which was very interesting. I like that we got to try a lot of different things. Most of the items were pretty mildly flavored. I enjoyed the pickled cornichons and scallions -- they had the most distinct flavors. This was definitely unlike any charcuterie board i've had before, but I'm not sure if it was good enough to get again.

Lastly, we got the asparagus tempura ($12). This was pretty good, and I've never had asparagus tempura before. The seasoning on the asparagus wasn't strong, and the dipping sauce was too sweet for me. Some of the asparagus was really thick and hard to chew through. This was a light dish for being deep fried but I would've preferred a different seasoning

The service and ambiance here are good, and the location is also great. We did get a bit of sticker shock when comparing the prices to the portion sizes, but the dishes we had were pretty good and inventive. I'm not sure if I...