As the mercurial Manny Ramirez has shown, some of life's best surprises emerge from left field. One such winner is Out of the Blue, a Somerville sleeper said to rival Boston's best seafood restaurants. Why spend an hour jockeying for parking near Faneuil Hall's Oyster House when you can get fresh-caught, homemade, dill-sprinkled clam chowder just steps from Davis Square? But bivalves aren't the only attraction on the encyclopedic menu, which merges regional fish with recipes imported from Italy.

Once ensconced amid the dining room's maritime murals and ship models, guests will be transported to the shore by specialties such as crab cakes (ladled with mustard-caper-shallot-chardonnay sauce and served over grilled tomatoes), grilled calamari (expertly battered and perfectly crisp, with a piquant accompaniment of cherry peppers) and baked swordfish (all baked fish is adorned with herb garlic Romano bread crumbs). Even landlubbers are accommodated with chicken and pork dishes (regulars rave about the chicken parmesan) while vegetarians have their choice of sauces (lemon garlic herb sauce or plum tomato basil sauce) to pair with pasta primavera. -- Julia Clinger