Don't leave without these.

The tasting menu that set Boston's special-occasion standard fifteen years ago and still holds it: twenty small courses in a hushed old firehouse, luxury ingredients used with restraint rather than for show. The one splurge on this roll that earns its price.

OrderThe omakase, at the counter if you can get it. Take the supplements; go hungry and give it three hours.

Cassie Piuma's meze room is the hardest table in Greater Boston and the most democratic — bar seats are held for walk-ins. The menu moves constantly, but the flavors are always big, sour, herbal and sharp, and nothing on the table is an afterthought.

OrderWarm gyro bread with the seven-layer hummus or avocado muhammara, the Brussels sprouts, and the sesame fried chicken if it's being passed around the room — it's off-menu and worth asking for.

Ana Sortun's Eastern Mediterranean kitchen has been Cambridge's grande dame for two decades, and the classics are classics for a reason: layered spice, texture on texture, and a patio that makes the wait worth it.

OrderSultan's Delight (the braised-lamb-and-eggplant dish they'll never take off the menu), the fatteh, the topik, and the baked Alaska to finish.

A Thai drinking-food bar with a short menu that lands every plate. The curries are the point — deep, tamarind-sour, properly hot — and Time Out just named it the best restaurant in Boston.

OrderBeef massaman with roti, the crab curry, and the oysters with chili jam and fried shallots if they're on the chalkboard. Order the specials; the kitchen is best when it's improvising.

Greek mountain cooking — the food of the Vlach shepherds, not the Athens taverna — over live fire on Beacon Street. Spit-roasted meats, hand-rolled pies and spreads that taste of the hearth. New, Michelin-recommended, and already one of the region's hardest reservations.

OrderThe pies (brikkis) and the patates to start, then whatever is turning on the spit that night — lamb, wild boar shank, trout. Sit at the bar.

Boston's only Uyghur restaurant and a Bib on its first Michelin outing. Cumin lamb, hand-pulled noodles and Silk Road spice at neighborhood prices, in a room that fills with Central Asian families on weekends.

OrderLamb on Dry Land (cumin lamb over torn naan) and the Jahunger noodles, at full spice. The honey cake is the reason to save room.

The lobster roll every other Boston lobster roll is measured against, served hot with butter on a griddled bun in a room the size of a walk-in fridge. The line is famous; the roll is better than the line.

OrderThe hot buttered lobster roll, a dozen local oysters picked from the board, and the fried clams. Be there at 11am, before the door opens.

A Sicilian slice counter that opens at 10:45, sells out by early afternoon and hasn't changed in fifty years. Cash only, a paper plate, and the best cheap lunch in the city — the line is locals, not tourists.

OrderTwo Sicilian slices and an arancino, plus a panzarotti if you're hungry. Eat standing; it'll cost less than a coffee in Back Bay.

An Eastie institution ten minutes from the airport: cracker-crisp bar pies from a 1903 oven and a charcoal grill in the corner turning out lamb and sausage. Most of the room is regulars who've been coming for forty years.

OrderA cheese-and-garlic pie, well done, and the lamb tips with hot peppers and a loaf of bread. Keep the toppings light or the pie goes wet.

One bowl, Jiro-style: a garlicky pork broth, thick chewy noodles and slabs of tender pork belly, served to a line that wraps around the block. Finish it and the staff will ask you to stand up and say your dream. Odd, sincere, and the best ramen in New England.

OrderThe one thing on the menu — the ramen, with the two-piece pork unless you're very hungry. Say yes to the garlic; say your dream.