Navy Yard Bistro - Seaside Dining in Charlestown

Over the last eight months, Nick and I have been slowly exploring all that Charlestown has to offer. One of the places we were most looking forward to visiting was Navy Yard Bistro. As the name indicates, the restaurant is located right in the middle of the Navy Yard, but if you weren't watching out for the blue awnings, you might walk right by it! Word around town was they were super dog friendly, and given that Arthur is a bit challenging to leave behind, the three of us walked over on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

We had to wait about 40 minutes for a table on the patio, but between the lovely cobblestone street with inviting benches and the fact you can drink cocktails while you wait, the time flew by. Once our table was ready, we ordered a bottle of wine, but since they were out of our first and second choice, we ended up with out third choice, 9 Walks white wine, which was an easy drinking table wine.

A couple of our local Charlestown friends who frequent the Bistro had plenty of suggestions for what to order. One thing that we kept hearing about was the Duck Wings with a hoisin glaze over soy marinated bok choy. These really are a must-order!  The hoisin sauce was so flavorful and the wings were so tender. The best part though had to be the bok choy underneath that got all the sauce and drippings from the wings.  Normally I ignore the green stuff, thinking its mostly garnish, but that was not the case here!

Duck Wings

Nick was in a salad mood so ended up ordering two of them!  The first (and the main course) was the Warm Wild Mushroom Salad topped with grilled chicken.  The salad had a wonderful medley of watercress, Polenta croutons, Parmigiano Reggiano with a white truffle vinaigrette.  Even though aspects of the salad were warm, the salad was still refreshing.  Everything was dressed and seasoned perfectly.

Warm Wild Mushroom Salad

As a side, he went with the seaweed and cucumber salad because he just cannot resist it when its on a menu!  This offered a cool and crisp contrast to the warmth of the mushroom salad.

Seaweed Salad

When people said that Navy Yard Bistro was pet friendly, they meant it. Here is Arthur right under our table enjoying anything and everything that fell to the ground.

Arthur!

For my main course, I went with the white bean lamb cassoulet, and even though it was warm out, this dish worked perfectly - it was comforting without being too heavy. The edamame and white beans kept the dish lighter in color and flavor, making it fit for summer rather than a winter dish. I do wish they had sliced up the grilled scallion because it was hard to cut and mix in the dish itself, but the smokey flavor from the grill added a lot of yummy flavor. The yogurt dipping sauce was just the icing to the cast iron skillet - truly cooling some bites down while adding a complexity to the dish I enjoyed.

Lamb Cassoulet

Close-up!

We were debating whether to get dessert, but then I saw they had a chocolate lava cake with burnt sugar ice cream and salted caramel sauce and could not resist. While the cake was delicious, I could not stop eating the ice cream!  Burnt sugar has to be one of the best flavors ever!

Chocolate Lava Cake

Navy Yard Bistro is a great spot to have hear in Charlestown - it reminds me a lot of 75 Chestnut back in Beacon Hill. Having a great neighborhood spot that you know will have good food that is a bit more than your standard pub fare always completes the homey feeling to me. Even though it had great outside space, the inside space will be great in the winter as well.

If you find yourself touring the Navy Yard, definitely look for the blue awnings and grab a meal!