When I want an excellent meal, but something a little less formal, I head to the Boarding House. You have three choices on where to eat; in the romantic candlelit wine cellar, on the patio or at the lively bar. Weather permitting, I like to eat outside and do a little people watching. This is a local favorite. Also a good spot for weekend lunch or cocktails in the afternoon. Learned a new Bloody Mary recipe there one rainy day, add a shot of Guinness to a regular Bloody Mary mix. Takes the acidity out.

The food here is relatively simple, but excellently prepared and served by enthusiastic waiters. At a recent meal I started with basic mesclun salad with a sherry vinaigrette and Jen had a lobster chowder that was incredible; chunks of fresh lobster, sweet corn, leeks, cobb smoked bacon and fingerling potatoes. We followed that with a Black Angus ribeye with marinated red onions, garlic fries and a béarnaise aioli and grilled jumbo shrimp over pappardelle with a roasted garlic crème and charred sweet tomatoes. Both meals were wonderful and just the right amount of food.

Try the chocolate chocolate chip cookies with a malted milk shake or the cobbler du soir for dessert.

The wine list is excellent with some good selections at very fair prices. There are about 15 wines by the glass. For after dinner, they have an excellent collection of dessert wines, cognacs, Armagnacs, grappas, single malt scotches and ports.

ROMANTIC QUOTIENT: High with a table outside on a balmy evening.

WHAT OTHERS SAY…
Despite its location on such a “quaint”, quiet island, this “always-busy” “must” is “exciting”, delivering “distinctive, delicious” Mediterranean-influenced New American dishes, “professional” service and a “warm” ambiance whether at the bar, in the basement dining room or on the sidewalk-corner patio; most find it “pricey”, but it’s “still a value (by Nantucket standards, of course)”; P.S. open seasonally. ZAGAT