Very often, as important as the ostensible focus of a dish is what comes with. Doing credit to the fry cook and these Ipswich whole-belly clams (market price, $19) was a superb, housemade, not-too-tart tarter sauce, incorporating minute bits of chopped pickle that would stifle any squeeze bottle.
Also shown: cioppino ($24, plus a $10 Maine lobster supplement). For sopping up the leavings of the spicy, garlicky stew, laden with salmon and shellfish, Neptune supplies excellent bread with a firm crust and an airy crumb.
Neptune Oyster
63 Salem St. (Morton-Stillman Sts.), Boston
617-742-3474
www.NeptuneOyster.com
(From a September 2011 visit)
