Rowes Walk Café

Believe it or not, one of Boston's four-star hotels offers an eminently affordable lunch accompanied by an equally stunning view.

Appetizers include summer squash-and-zucchini hummus served on grilled cumin flatbread ($5), and corn chowder with seafood ($4). A light lunch might be a good-sized portion of asparagus and bow-tie pasta tossed with truffle oil ($6.75), or the fresh fruit salad with papaya sorbet ($5.75). For dessert, try pastry chef George Caouette's unforgettable toasted-coconut-crusted lime pie ($4.75). The people cruising by on the water would drop anchor if they knew.

The Boston Harbor Hotel's Rowes Walk Café, located at 70 Rowes Wharf, is open daily for lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and for dinner Monday through Thursday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. through mid-September, and possibly later, depending on the weather. Call 439-7000.

-- Nancy Kalajian