Best of Boston

2002 Best Seafood Restaurant, Upscale

KingFish Hall

For a town that prides itself on its seafood, it can be tough to find a seafood restaurant that goes beyond the standard boiled lobsters or watery clam chowder. Enter KingFish Hall, where chef-owner Todd English has designed a menu that delights, with everything from traditional lobster rolls—sweet and tender lobster meat on a buttery, toasted nest of bread with just enough mayo and celery leaves to hold it together—to more complicated dishes, such as miso-marinated cod. There’s also the “dancing fish” of the day (herb- and butter-basted fish placed on individual rotating skewers that spin around a circular wood-burning pit) and a daily chilled and briny selection of raw shellfish. As for the chowder, there’s the not-so-traditional New England style, thick and delightfully creamy, or the ever-changing daily varieties accompanied by homemade oyster crackers.

188 South Market Building, Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston, 617-523-8862,