Boston has been pulling dinner out of the Atlantic for four centuries, and it shows. Chowder here is cream-based — tomato is a New York rumor — lobster rolls come in two rival styles, and the raw bars ice down oysters from up and down the New England coast. Come hungry; the arguments are part of the meal.

Chowder rules and the lobster roll question

Start with New England clam chowder: tender clams, potatoes, and cream — never tomato, which around here is considered a New York eccentricity. Then face the lobster roll question, which has divided otherwise reasonable people for generations: warm meat tossed in melted butter, or chilled meat lightly dressed with mayo, each in a toasted split-top roll. We are officially neutral. The only defensible research method is to order both, on different days, and file your findings.

Raw bars and fried clams

Boston’s raw bars ice down oysters from Duxbury, Wellfleet, the Cape, Maine, and points between — order a mixed dozen and you can taste your way up the New England coastline without leaving your stool. The other regional treasure is the fried clam: whole-belly, crisp, invented on the North Shore — in the town of Essex, as Essex tells it — and reason enough for a clam-shack pilgrimage north. Fish and chips and fried scallops round out the fry-basket canon, best eaten from a paper tray, ideally within sight of the water.

The classic room, and where to point yourself

For the full ceremony, there is Union Oyster House near Faneuil Hall — serving since 1826, America’s oldest continuously operating restaurant, with a U-shaped oyster bar where watching the shuckers work is half the meal. Beyond the classic room, follow the water: the Seaport and the downtown waterfront lean modern and polished, the North End folds superb seafood into its Italian kitchens, and nearly every neighborhood keeps a raw bar or chowder pot worth knowing. This is not a one-meal town; treat seafood as a thread running through the whole visit.