Cape Cod Restaurants

[VivreManger]

The store is Hatch's. It is in a municipal parking lot next to the town hall which looks like a church. They do have very good fresh fish, smoked fish, and produce, the latter, not worth the prices they charge.

[elyse]

I just call it "Damn, I can't park there!"

[Pat Goldberg]

I don't often go to Hatch's, in part because I don't often go into Wellfleet. But one great thing about them is that they sell cooked lobster bodies at 100% discount. At this price they don't stay on the counter for very long, but if you can snag some big ones, they provide the makings of a very tasty and not too difficult lobster salad.

In Truro, I buy fish locally at Sonny's -- if he is able to open this summer with all the mess at Jam's. His selection isn't large, but he knows us, so we are always steered towards what is impeccably fresh. Otherwise, I buy my fish at Nauset Market in Orleans or, far less often, at Clem and Ursie's in Provincetwon.

[bushey]

Pat,

Is Nauset Market the one next to Sir Cricket's? We checked it out last year for the first time and were favorably impressed with the selection of fresh fish and also the friendliness and knowledge of the staff. We were directed there by the folks at Friendly Fisherman on rte 6 in Eastham because they weren't carrying mussels (red tide).

Has anyone eaten at Red Pheasant in Dennis? We just booked a three night mid-week getaway at Scargo Manor for the end of July and were thinking of eating cheap a couple of nights and splurging our last night at Red Pheasant or Bramble Inn (Brewster).

[VivreManger]

Bushey

"Is Nauset Market the one next to Sir Cricket's? We checked it out last year for the first time and were favorably impressed with the selection of fresh fish and also the friendliness and knowledge of the staff."

Yes.

It is on 6A (I believe) near the Stop & Shop in Cranberry Cove.

[researchgal]

Bushey, Nauset Fish Market is right next to Sir Crickets, in fact they are owned by the same people. If you're going to be in the Brewster area and want great seafood, go to the Brewster Fish House on 6a, it's wonderful and worth the wait (there usually is one).

[Sandra Levine]

Thank you, all. I've printed out this thread to take with me Saturday.

[elyse]

Sandra, I just spoke with my old boss (Mojo's) and he told me another restaurant is worth trying. L'Uva, Sorry I can't tell you exactly where it is. If I don't see you before then, have an excellent time.

[bushey]

Bushey, Nauset Fish Market is right next to Sir Crickets, in fact they are owned by the same people.  If you're going to be in the Brewster area and want great seafood, go to the Brewster Fish House on 6a, it's wonderful and worth the wait (there usually is one).

researchgal,

Thanks -- I haven't checked this thread in a while. We've been to the Brewster Fish House a few times over the years, and while the food is okay (not always excellent), we haven't found the atmosphere to be all that welcoming.

[Pat Goldberg]

L'Uva is on Bradford Street, near Town Hall. We haven't eaten there yet. Ate again at Terra Luna in North Truro, still very good. Also at Abba's in Orleans, pretty good upscale (for the area).

[elyse]

L'Uva is on Bradford Street, near Town Hall.

Do you know what used to be there? Is it the one across from Cumberland Farms?

[Pat Goldberg]

I guess it is roughly across from Cumberland Farms. I didn't actually see it myself. I was driving when my husband spotted it and remarked on it. I don't spend much time in Provincetown, so I have no idea what was there previously.

[jrinct]

Hi all,

Just got back yesterday from Antartica, meaning Cape Cod. VERY wet (2 inches just on sunday, heavy duty winds, lighting strikes etc...) and cold ( a toasty warm 49 degrees on tues or wed night. We are in JUNE right?????? Just wondering. Weather didnt stop from doing stuff but was a tad bit of a damper.

But here goes.

Stayed in W Yarmouth on 28 so most dining was in mid cape area.

Sun afternoon- split a sandwich with one of the owners of the motel i stayed ham and turkey combo from TAKI's( on rt 28- greek pizzeria) which was very good.

Sun night- the PADDOCK in Hyannis near the Melody tent. Heard many good things over the years but never have been.

Well everyone was right. The table( all do) had a small veggie platter on it with a spinach dip.

Had the bar-b-q shrimp app( 10$) which was VERY good, almost as good as Emerils in LV.

Main course was the pistachio encrusted halibut which was VERY nice and had a cirus beurre blanc( 20$).

Amstel light on tap, forgot the price.

Mon -HEARTH AND KETTLE for breakast on 132 in Hyannis. I had the french toast and a side of breakfast sausage with coffee 8$ .Hearth and Kettle is VERY reliable for their food.

Took a ride to P-town and got nice pictures( best day of the trip) and got an order of fried clams at the stand right by the boat docks near the Corner of commercial -- sorry forgot the name-12$.

Also stopped at the portugese bakery for the usual sugar fix! LOL!

Dinner- CAPT PARKERS on 28 in W yarmouth. Simply put it is the style of an irish pub. Loud, noisy, and great food! Bowl of clam chowder $4.50 and surf and turf 20$ Had a couple of pina colada's as well.

Parkers also is EXTREMELY reliable and consistently good.

Tuesday Skipped breakast and went to JERRY'S on 28 in w Yarmouth. Place on the outside aint much to look at but have GREAT fried clams. Been stopping in their for the fried clams for years and have never been disappointed. $74 for a LARGE order and a large choc. shake ( those are great too! think it was 3 bucks).

Dinner- Went to ALBERTO'S on main in Hyannis. Was highly recommended as was there years ago. Staff was on the snooty side. Got there right before the sunset dinner expired so opted for that. House salad was very nice garnished with fruit and dried cherries. Chose the seafood alberto. Had loads of fish ( shellfish, and calamari) which were good and the linguine was good, but white wine sauce was VERY bland, NO flavor at ALL.

Desert was the chocolate mousse.Total for the meal was 22$ Also had a Morreti which was 4.00$

Wed. Did a very early breakfast at the PICADILLY DELI on 28 in S Yarmouth. Had the apple cinnamon french toast and a thin slice of ham with coffee for 7$. The french toast was OUTSTANDING.

A late lunch at CAPT PARKERS. Bowl of chowder and a bacon hamburger with a pint of fosters 16$ total.

Dinner- I did a late take out from TIKI PORT on 132 in Hyannis. One of the best chinese in mid cape if not the best. I ordered WAAAAAAY too much, the app special , pint of wonton soup and some lo mein.

Didnt begin to finish it and had the rest for dinner last night.

I left early Thursday and made a stop at Blounts on water st in Great barrington RI ( off of 114) for outlet store for various soups and bisques. I cant wait to try them.

Thats it for the dining report! Thanks for reading!!!

J

[elyse]

Took a ride to P-town and got nice pictures( best day of the trip) and got an order of fried clams at the stand right by the boat docks near the Corner of commercial -- sorry forgot the name-12$.

Also stopped at the portugese bakery for the usual sugar fix! LOL!

Mojo's? I used to work there. I hope you liked it!

Tuesday Skipped breakast and went to JERRY'S on 28 in w Yarmouth. Place on the outside aint much to look at but have GREAT fried clams. Been stopping in their for the fried clams for years and have never been disappointed. $74 for a LARGE order and a large choc. shake ( those are great too! think it was 3 bucks).

HUH???

[jrinct]

Thanks for reading. Obviously it was a typo was 14$ not 74$. I love to eat but to eat 74$ of fried clams would be a LOT even for me!

Believe the place in P-town was Mojo's. Been going in there for years but never got the name of the place. Just know they have GREAT stuff!

[Sandra Levine]

Here's where we ended up:

Ranitidine and I spent the first week of June in Wellfleet We decided to keep it simple, focusing on fried clams, chowders, raw oysters, fish and lobster closer to the clamshack level rather than fancy restaurant-type places. In July and August, all the the places below are mobbed.

We had fried clams at two places -- Arnold's, on route 6 in Eastham and Moby Dick, on route 6 in Wellfleet. Arnold's is a very basic clam joint. The menu is listed above a long counter where you place your order. Fried oysters, fried clams, fried lobster, fried scallops, as "orders" (alone) or "platters" (with french fries and coleslaw) and a couple of "baked" dishes. The latter are to be avoided. Everything local is noted on the menu, e.g., Wellfleet scallops. When your name is called, you pick up your tray and move into the dining area --for an indoor picnic under a tent. There are also picnic benches outside. Everything is served in paper boats, with plastic utensils. Each platter has about a dozen clams a cup of non-commercial, well-seasoned, not-too-sweet coleslaw and a pile of standard frozen french fries. Another night, we tried the famous onion rings -- a huge, pointed pile of delicately battered, thin-sliced rings -- much better than the french fries. But the clams are the thing here. On the platter, you get about a dozen whole clams. The briny, fresh clams were a good size -- a big mouthful each, dipped in a light and crisp batter that remarkably, did not turn soggy even as the clams cooled. Arnold's had three beers on tap, including Harpoon IPA (which R. drank) and many others available in bottles. Fried clam platters run about $16. Fried clam strips are cheaper.

Moby Dick is a similar place, somewhat more comfortable, that has a view of a marsh from the nautically-decorated dining room. It's more formal than Arnold's; a server carries your tray to your table. There is also an indoor-outdoor tented space, too. The fries were essentially the same as at Arnold's (skippable) the coleslaw was more commercial but the clams were even better -- bigger and sweeter, although the batter was thicker and not quite as crisp. Moby Dick does not serve beer, although you can bring your own. We came here twice -- the first time I had steamers and R. had steamed mussels. These were the largest steamed clams I remember seeing, very sweet, briny and tender. The cup of clam broth was not deep enough for proper swishing, so it was difficult to get rid of every piece of grit. R. had an ear of corn -- a supersweet variety that he liked. I had a half Caesar salad with my clams. Bottled dresssing on romaine, but I didn't expect anything more. For dessert, we shared a strawberry shortcake made with a buttermilk biscuit and a thickened strawberry sauce from frozen berries. Before our clams arrived, the owner proudly presented us with two styrofoam bowls of "lobster bisque" that he wanted us to try, since it was our first time at the restaurant. The soup was very thick -- too thick, too smooth, too revealing of its evaporated milk base, although it did have a couple of pieces of lobster meat in it. One spoonful sufficed for me.

Lobster roll. What's a visit to Cape Cod without a lobster roll? We had been warned off The Eastham Lobster Pool on route 6 in Eastham, but went there anyway on one of our two sunny days, to sit on the deck and have a lobster roll. Big chunks of sweet, tender lobster bound with mayonnaise but no filler, were piled onto round, toasted and buttered hamburger buns, garnished with two slices of ripe tomator and some curly lettuce. The sandwich comes with a 1/2 oz. bag of Cape Cod potato chips and some very ordinary coleslaw. R. drank a Hurricane Amber Ale from Coastal Extreme Brewing Co., Newport, RI. The lobster rolls were about $12.

Other chowders Connected to our inn was the Tavern at Duck Creek. R. had a lgood obster and corn chowder there, a pink, slightly spicy soup with three big chunks of lobster. I had a cup of New England clam chowder that tasted only mildly of clam -- nor surprising, since there was only one small piece of clam in the bottom of the cup.

Better soups were at the Lobster Pot, on Commercial Street in Provincetown. R. had an excellent clam chowder, while I had a shrimp bisque. R. lwas impressed with his fish and chips at the Lobster Pot, too, which he enjoyed with a draft Sam Adams. We couldn't resist an apple crisp served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a small dish of "homemade" caramel sauce that the waiter brought because he heard me wondering aloud about it. Nice service. Good apple crisp, too. Warm, not too sweet, with apples that retained much of their shape and just the right amount of "crisp."

We also had a dinner at Finely J.P.'s, route 6 in Eastham -- a very small restaurant with a big reputation that fills up very fast and does not take reservations. R. had a "Wellfleet paella" with nice, fresh local seafood and rice that was only a little too salty. I made the mistake of ordering a veal pailliard, which turned out to be a take on veal marsala -- standard veal cutlet with shitakes and madeira. The cranbery-apple crisp was far too sweet.

Our find of the week was the High Toss cafe, on Main Street in Wellfleet, a couple of doors away from the Inn at Duck Creeke. We had breakfast here almost every day. The scones and muffins were freshly made, not too sweet and not too big. In its current guise, the restaurant is only about 18 months old and has become a favorite with locals, who gather at a communal table to read the newspapers provided by the restaurant and engage in informed and intelligent discussion of the events of the day.

[Pat Goldberg]

What you say about all the places being mobbed in July and August is not altogether true. For example, the Tavern at Duck Creek is usually easy to get into. We sometimes go on Thursday nights to hear Nossiter play his sax. The food in unmemorable though. And while I have never been to Arnold's in the evening, at lunch time it is quite accessible.

You lucked out at the Eastham Lobster Pool. I think their lobster roll is the last thing you can depend on. It is a pitty, because lunch in the bar was always a favorite of ours.

The last meal I had at JP Finely's was NOT good. I assumed, however, it was an aberration, so did not report on it. This place IS mobbed during the summer.

I have never eaten at Moby Dick's even though it is close to our house because I am not a big fried food fan. However, last summer we had a beloved Siamese who was dying, and pretty much refusing food. Remembering that she was a BIG fan of fried food in batter, Dick went off to MD's and got her a kid's order of fish and chips. Poor thing actually ate some. I think it was the last food she took.

The clam chowder at the Lobster Pot is of the super-thick persuasion. I am not a big fan.

[John Whiting]

Last year was the first time we tired the Lobster Pot and now we're hooked.

Glad to hear it's still holding up. It was a favorite place of mine when I was a kid living in Ptown in the 1930s/40s.

Go to http://www.iamprovincetown.com/whiting_john.html and you'll find my recollections of this remarkable town.

[tofino]

My wife and I used to manage the Whalewalk Inn in Eastham about 4 years ago, and at that time our favorite spot was Painters in Wellfeet with chef Kate Painter. I noticed inthis line of conversation that her name or her restaurant have never come up, is this now gone, and if so has anyone seen or heard of Kate Painter??

Also, in Chatham, the pub on the main street (forget the name), but used to have a bluefish plate that was to die for.

Binnacle - yahoo - mouthwatering at the thought of one of their chicken/green chili peppers/dijon mustard pizza - holy cow gotta try it to believe it - if only two of you, get there early and sit at the bar, around the corner where the two chairs are ina little private spot to watch everything going on - enjoy.

[bushey]

We ate at the Binnacle in July and while the pizzas and caesar salad were as delicious as ever the service was horrendously slow. The server admitted that he messed up on putting our order in, but we were still a little miffed because we had an 8 yr old with us and it was a long time to wait. I always get the Thai chicken pizza. My husband's favorite used to be the bacon and mustard pizza, but now he usually gets some combo of lobster and spinach.

Can't say enough good things about Nauset Beach Club in Orleans. On the road to Nauset Beach, a little past where Kadee's used to be (they decided not to open this year). The prices are steep but the food is absolutely delicious and the wine list is interesting. Ask for Rob, the sommelier, and he'll set you up with a great wine to match your dinner and your budget. I had the grilled rack of lamb with preserved lemon and mint gremolata, roasted parsnips and haricot verts.

[liamdc]

I highly recommend the Ebb Tide in Dennisport. I ate there in early August. It has a nice country decor and is located off-the-beaten path on a road right near the beach. They have a terrific selection of seafood dishes and a good wine list as well. All of our food was fresh and came in good-sized portions with tasty sides. Every entree comes with salad, starch, and vegetable as well. For wine, I highly recommend the Hogue Riesling.

Ebb Tide Restaurant

[bushey]

We'll have to check out Ebb Tide next summer. Driven by a few times but it's hard to know which places are worth eating in.............

This year we had our last dinner on the Cape at Swan River restaurant. Good to very good basic seafood. The clam chowder is excellent, so are the steamed mussels (small, sweet native mussels, not the huge farm-raised ones). Reasonable family place with good service. There's a fish store, also, and we got some mussels, steamers, swordfish and bluefin tuna to cook in one night -- all excellent quality.

We also did a whale watch (Portuguese Princess) out of Provincetown then shopped around a little and had dinner at Lobster Pot. Another great meal there. Five of us all had different things (broiled haddock, fish n'chips kids' meal, blackened tuna, grilled halibut over greens and pan roasted lobster ) and loved them all.

[River]

lindsey's at the beginning of the cape (buzzard's bay) was VERY good a few years ago-when i last visited the cape

the jailhouse in chatham(?) was good as i recall.

and i agree about arnold's - good stuff.

r.

Edited November 2, 2003 by River (log)

[rhiannonstone]

My boyfriend and I will be taking our first trip to the Cape in late July, spending a day in Hyannis and surrounding area and a day in Provincetown. Are there any great restaurants we absolutely have to check out while we're there? We'll eat just about anything as long as it's good, and I'm looking for recommendations for anything from roadside clam shacks to fancy French dining, and everything in-between.

Also, we've been pondering taking the Cape Cod DInner Train sometime, but the menu looks disheartening. Is the food worth it, or should we just take the scenic train and not waste our time with the dining bits?

[cindys]

Wow! I came here to ask the same thing. We're staying in Brewster. I didn't know there was a dinner train. Any info on that?

I'm also interested in seafood restaurants.