FoodMayhem

The Seafood in Kennebunkport and Ogonquit, Maine is amazing. Everyone knows about the lobster–it’s really more than that. Lon and I fell in love with Maine shrimp and couldn’t help but notice the clams, steamers, and haddock too.

The Clam Shack (snack on whole clams)

As we drove to Kennebunkport, a new twitter friend, Mark (@msparksls), recommended The Clam Shack 2 Western Avenue, Kennebunk, ME 04043. Soon after, we drove right by it, situated on the bridge entering Kennebunkport, with a long line. I knew that right after we checked in at The Colony Hotel, we’d be walking right back in to town for clams. Check out our Twitpics of The Clam Shack and our order.

The Clam Strips are good; we had them as a sandwich ($8.75), overflowing the nice soft bun. The clam cake is also good in a everything-fried-is-good kind of way. It really tastes mostly of filler, but it’s only $2.15. The real winner is whole fried clams — they are AMAZING. At first we thought $20.95 was expensive for a pint, yet after diving into our order we realized it’s a lot of whole shelled clams, ultra fresh, and the nice folks at The Clam Shack keep their frying oil very clean, extra important for a seafood fryer. It is disappointing that they don’t make their own tartare sauce and the packages had food coloring so I couldn’t even eat it, but accordingly to Lon, I was not missing anything.

Whole fried clams seem so popular here, a welcome change from the common clam strips at many port towns. It’s a nice thing to show off!  These definitely need to be on your “do eat” list when you’re in Kennebunkport.

Aunt Marie’s (must-have a lemonade break)

Aunt Marie’s 10 Ocean Avenue, Kennebunkport, ME 04046 is just a little window selling a short menu of food including hot dogs, Gifford’s ice cream, and freshly squeezed lemonade. Do not miss out on this expert formula of refreshing citrus, made to order. I got two lemonades during our four-day stay.

Alisson’s and Federal Jack’s Brew Pub (good, but not top of list)

Alisson’s 11 Dock Square, Kennebunkport, ME 04046 was recommended by my friend Karen and Federal Jack’s 8 Western Avenue, Kennebunk, ME 04043 was recommended by twitter friend, Hilary. I’d describe them as clean, family-friendly pubs.

What’s surprising is finding great and abundant plates of seafood in these settings, or maybe it’s not, that’s how you know you’re in Maine. We had a seafood alfredo at Allison’s and a Paella at Federal Jack’s. The first was not an authentic Italian pasta and the second was not even close to inspired by the Spanish dish.  Authenticity aside (a rose is still a rose by any other name) both dishes were tasty and filled with a wonderful mix of perfectly cooked seafood.

From both places, we ordered “plain” dishes as well, like a 1 1/4 lb boiled lobster from Allison’s and Steamers from Federal Jack; both were great! Nothing fancy needed when you have wonderfully fresh seafood. Both local establishments were reasonably priced and I think of them similarly so you don’t really need to go to both.

The Lobster Shack (skip)

Many recommended The Lobster Shack 110 Perkin’s Cove Road, Ogonquit, ME 03907. It was the best deal, $13.95 for a lobster roll with chips, slaw, and clam chowder, but it was our least favorite. The lobster was still as good as all the lobster around, but there was a drop too much mayo, the bread was over-buttery which masks the lobster flavor, and the chowder was watery. Still, it’s not bad (is there bad lobster in Maine?), just not as great as hyped.

Bread & Roses (if you have a sweet tooth)

Andrea and Siobhan recommended Bread & Roses 246 Main Street, Ogonquit, ME 03907 to me and it is a noteworthy bakery.  They’re crowded and kind of a mess with three separate areas to order from. Once you get to the food it’s worth it to have their Funny Bones cake: a chocolate cake with peanut butter cream. It’s rich and indulgent with more flavor than sugar (don’t worry, there was plenty of sugar too). The texture of the cake was soft and moist. This would be my next birthday cake if it was a bakery in NYC. The blueberry pie was good, and surprisingly not-too-sweet. Unfortunately too much gelatin was used. Also, skip the lemonade.

Fisherman’s Catch (if you have a car)

We mostly stuck to suggestions, but needed to find something new on our own.  We wandered down a random side road between Ogonquit and Kennebunkport, and found Fisherman’s Catch 134 Harbor Road, Wells, ME 04090. They make a great Fried Haddock sandwich and killer shrimp cocktail. That’s all we got, totaling $14.94, since it was just a snack.

Henry VII Carvery (skip)

When we needed a break from lobster, we tried Henry VII Carvery for some of their roast beef. We think the quality of the meat is good and the bread was soft and fresh.  Sadly they carved it into chunks which doesn’t give the same texture as thin slices. This was probably our least favorite meal in Kennebunkport.

Port Lobster Co. (must for lunch or snack)

Port Lobster Company 122 Ocean Avenue, Kennebunkport, ME 04046 is mostly a fish market and not a restaurant, where luckily you can order a few prepared foods to-go. We got a lobster roll, crab roll, and shrimp cocktail, then walked back to our hotel to eat it poolside. This was one of the best lobster rolls we had, noticing that it was all tail meat and at $8.99 least expensive around. The 1/2 lb of shrimp cocktail with a horseradish-rich cocktail sauce was a steal at $7.99. BTW, they ship.

Hurricane (go for dinner)

Hurricane 29 Dock Square, Kennebunkport, ME 04046 is a little nicer than most other local restaurants, featuring white linen table clothes and a leather bound menu. Reservations are highly recommended. The service here is a step up, where they split our salad course for us. Yet, Hurricane is still casual enough to allow jeans in the dining room.

We loved the half dozen oysters, two each of three different varieties. They were huge and deep and saltier than the ones we’re used to in NY. Slurpilicious!

The Clams with Chorizo and Corn was a good dish.  We enjoyed it while keeping focus on the main attraction: the two pound Stuffed Lobster, topped with giant scallops. The stuffing includes shrimp and crabmeat and this guy was huge!

We had way too much food for two people.  I would recommend just splitting the oysters and the 2lb lobster.  We like to over-order. (The salad, oysters, clams, giant baked lobster, cappuccino and limoncello came to $98.44 which we thought reasonable.)

White Barn Inn (go if price is not an issue)

White Barn Inn, a special occasion destination, was where we went for dinner on our second wedding anniversary. It deserves its own post so I’ll have that up soon.

The Colony Hotel (Must for dog-owners)

We stayed at The Colony Hotel 140 Ocean Avenue, Kennebunkport, ME 04046, an ultra dog-friendly hotel that was perfect for us. (Special thanks to Erina at Smartflyer for recommending and booking for me — she is another new Twitter friend, and a great travel agent).  We loved that so many guests had dogs that could run around on the grounds. They have a beach across the street where dogs can run leash-free before June 15th. About half the rooms (including ours) have windows facing this beach. They have a deck and gazebo that we took advantage of, watching sunsets with our pup. It was relaxing and what we needed. Breakfast is included, though not exciting, just a simple buffet. Clearly we ate enough the rest of the day and kept to Irish Oats and fruit.  The one down-side is that the building is pretty old so sound insulation is not great. I imagine that’s probably the way it is all over town though. There are no high-rise resorts here.

Kennebunkport is a cute, small town that is very quiet, especially on weekdays. Going there means relaxing, enjoying the vistas, seeing some amazing homes (like the Bush’s, or other beautiful homes), and, of course, eating a ton of perfect shellfish. Vacation here is all about the cholesterol rise.

posted by jessica at 06:08 PM Filed under American and New American, Restaurants, Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.