Gloucester MA & Cape Ann Dining

[Daniel]

Going away this weekend.. For some reason we decided on Gloucester/Cape Anne.. I have never been there and know nothing about it.. My girl told me there is tons of seafood,fishing and whale watching stuff.. Would love some cant misses places in Gloucester.. Where to stay and where to eat..

Thanks

daniel

Edited September 30, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[johnnyd]

Fish! Fish! Fish!

I heard the old place made famous by the "Perfect Storm" is still worth a look. Marblehead is fun to visit too, it's just the crazy warren of roadlets around there that screw you up.

Going to be a nice weekend. Have fun!

[bigwino]

Duckworth Bistrot is supposed to be very good. Franklin Cape Ann is another one often mentioned as worth taking in. They're both in Gloucester.

Off your path slightly is The Black Cow in Hamilton - good pubside dining and beers.

Have a great weekend. Perfect weather.

[Daniel]

Thanks for the suggestions.. Besides spending 400 bucks a night at the Yankee Clipper.. Can anyone suggest a place stay..

[Daniel]

Fish! Fish! Fish!

I heard the old place made famous by the "Perfect Storm" is still worth a look. Marblehead is fun to visit too, it's just the crazy warren of roadlets around there that screw you up. 

Going to be a nice weekend.  Have fun!

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Hey Johnny,

Do you happen to know the name of the place? Never saw that movie.. Staying on main st.. Is it close by?

[johnnyd]

Not off-hand. I'll have to dig a bit but I do remember it's right up tight on the waterfront, by where the boats off-load.

I also heard the place is using that noteriety to bring in the tourist dollar so it might be easy to find.

Charge the batteries in your camera! Can't wait for the report!!

[theclash]

if they are still open try the the clam box in ipswich

[Daniel]

Went to Gloucester this weekend. It was going to be beautiful and we wanted to be by the beach.. We lucked out and found a really cool situation.. Its 50 ft boat called defiance sailing that is docked in Gloucester...

We arrived around 11 pm to meet captain Raffi we gave us the quick tour of the boat.. After learning the ins and outs from the captain, we were off the boat, looking for the bah.. We found a local watering hole, it was actually a little too local..We had a few beers....It was funny because after a few drinks it became harder and harder to understand the bartender.. After asking him for dining suggestions, it took him writing it down for me to understand him.. "Faaahnaaaahs" I would hear.. "Fanas?"i said.. "Fahnahms!" he shouted..

J.T. Farnham's - Essex, MA

Address:

88 Eastern Ave

Rt. 133

Essex, MA

This a famous clam shack that has been open for more then fifty years.. This place also happens to be pretty below average.. We ordered the hadock chowder,a fried and fried scallop and a clam plate..

I really disliked the breading they use here.. Its way too corn starchy, and really too fried.. Leaving everything extremely dry and tasteless...

These scallops were dried out, and stringy.. Did not even finish..

Here is the fried clam platter.. With onion rings, french fries, and whole belly clams.. The Onion rings were awful.. The onions were too thin, they were again covered in the corn meal mess.. And the whole plate had not been salted during the crucial few moments when food comes out of the oil. These scrawny little clams had the belly of a super model.. It was comparable to eating a clam strip..

The haddock chowder was very good..

Next stop:

Woodmans

121 Main St. Essex, Massachusetts 01929

Phone: (978) 768-6057 (800) 649-1773

This is the accepted inventor of the fried clam.. Since 1916, started by Chubby, this place has been frying up clams and other seafood.. And they have bar!!!!

This was our second clam place of the day,it was still early enough to beat the lunch crowd..

What to get, what to get..

As luck would have it...I really must have willed it on my plate.. We got a free order of deep fried lobster tails.. I swear I didnt even see it on the menu.. To deep fry a lobster tail is still something a New Jersey native cant wrap there brain around. Seafood, lobster especially,was something expensive and eaten on vacations and birthdays.. Too be so carefree as to fry it, still seems decadent and special..

Thats just plain crazy... You are basically saying, I have so much lobster, I am about to run out of ways to prepare it.. How bad could this be...

The best thing about this place was the history and vibe... I really didnt like cornmeal breading they used here. Well not as oppressive as Farnhams, it was still was too much.. I also was surprised on how small the clam bellies were.. Not only in the fried clam, but in the steamers too.. Here I am in the clam belt, and they serve me these little bastards..

Take the food to the benches out back.. What a pretty day..

Edited October 3, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[winesonoma]

I thought you said Gloucester, not Essex. Did you get lost?

[Daniel]

Next stop was for ice cream.

White Farms Ice Cream,

326 High Street,

Ipswich, Mass.

Tel. (978) 356-2633.

You pass this on the side of the road, you have to stop...

They had a bunch of stuff sold out.. I tried the frozen pudding.. I dont know whats in or how to describe it.. It was excellent version of something I have no opinion on..

This was a small.. I got the butter pecan.. It was awesome, fresh, homemade... It was like a pint..

Went to the Clam Box in Ipswich.. Ipswich is a type of clam.. I dont know which came first.. But you know you are getting some good clams here..

Clam Box

246 High St

Ipswich, MA 01938

(978) 356-9707

This place has been open for ever and subscribes to the heavy corn meal coating approach.. This time, I asked the counter person about the size of the clams bellies. He said.By ordering "Native" Clams, he would give me bigger bellies..They werent any bigger, they were the same clam strip like product as the other two places.. These happen to be the best of the three, but it still was just ok.. On the left you can see fried oysters.. The oysters were also disappointing.. The oysters bursted with a bland taste of fresh water when bitten into.. The normal burst of fresh sea was substituted with tap water.. Ugh... A nightmare..

While driving around, we noticed that there are tons of subshops, and roast beef places.. I dont frequent the areaas to have the luxury of eating non seafood items that often.. But one place in particular I could not pass up..

Chick's Roast Beef

218 Main St

Gloucester MA

(978) 283-1405

Again, I know nothing about the roast beef culture that I am sure exists in the area, but this place was pretty good.. It was an extremely raw roast beef sandwich heated up and served on a bun.. With flat swiss, pickles, onions, mayo, mustard, and bbq sauce.... It was very good.. I would love to hear more about why this tradition exists up there.. Like whats the best roast beef place, sub shop, who invented it type thing..

Ended the night watching Perfect Storm on DVD.. Whats more wild then watching a movie about people from Gloucester in Gloucester is deciding who I want to drown first, George Clooney or Marky Mark..

We ended the night drinking the complimentary champagne.. My advice to you: Dont drink champagne that has an apostrophe in the name...

Edited October 3, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[Daniel]

I thought you said Gloucester, not Essex.  Did you get lost?

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Yeh well we dont sit still too long.. Our base was Gloucester..

[winesonoma]

I thought you said Gloucester, not Essex.  Did you get lost?

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Yeh well we dont sit still too long.. Our base was Gloucester..

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Did you make it to Rockport?

[johnnyd]

Here I am in the clam belt, and they serve me these little bastards.

You're in Massachussets! Whaddya expect?!

[Daniel]

Sleeping on the boat was great.. The best thing was this was my front yard I guess.. Gorgeous day..

Here is a photo of the boat... I am really not too nautical.. In fact my only knowledge of a boat comes from Donny Brasco.. "Donny this is the Bow.....I dont want you near me.. I want you to stand in the stern of the boat"

While on our way to Salem we passed Treadwell's46b Margin Ter, Peabody Mass

508-531-9430

On the sign you can see opened since 1947.. This automatically is a good sign.. They make all their own ice creams and the new owner bought the business from the Treadwell family 5 years ago..

I ordered the GrapeNuts flavored ice cream.. A New England flavor that I have never had before.. It was really good. Filled with lots of the cereal.. It made a great taste and texture.. And it was good because it was around breakfast time.. My girlfriend got the butter crunch.. That i must say was outrageous.. I would get that flavor next time..

Santarpio's Pizza

111 Chelsea St

East Boston MA

(617) 567-9871

This place is great..

It has been open for over a hundred years.. They serve pizza as well as grilled lamb and sausages.. The meat is grilled over charcoals right at the bar.. Simply flavored you really taste the charcoal.

Here is an order of lamb. Really tasty, served with a couple pickled peppers and bread..

The bread was really good.. It was like a hybrid between the really thick dense European Bread and Classic Light American Italian Bread.. Was very good.. Here is a perfect bite.

We ordered a garlic pizza with sausage..

This pie was pretty intense and delicious... The pizza itself was like fried almost. Incredibley garlicky.. It was really good.. Had a lot of cornmeal on the bottom of the crust..

The bottom

After having a couple of upsetting clam experiences, it was time to go to the old faithful spot.. Lenny and Joes Fishtale..

Lenny and Joes Fishtale:

1301 Boston Post Road

Madison,CT

Phone 203-245-7289

We ordered the clam plate and there hot lobster roll.. It is such a difference between the two styles.. These clams were big bellied, fried but not so coated.. And the lobster roll of course was great.. Served hot and buttered on a buttered hot dog roll..

No corn meal here..

Another great time in New England..

Edited October 3, 2005 by Daniel (log)

[Daniel]

I thought you said Gloucester, not Essex.  Did you get lost?

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Yeh well we dont sit still too long.. Our base was Gloucester..

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Did you make it to Rockport?

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We drove through.. It looked really charming but we did not stop..

[TPO]

These are fabulous pictures, but I have to ask -- how many meals a day did you eat??

[Daniel]

When I am in good form and away from home I average 4-5 meals.. At home, I have 1-2 meals..

[Chris Amirault]

Not surprised about Farnham's and Woodman's -- I think both of them suck -- but I really do think you had an unusually bad batch at the Clam Box. Either that or one of my life-long haunts is going down hill.... Maybe it's because you were saying "Glow-stah" instead of "Glaw-stah," like "claw," and sounded like an extra in Barry Lyndon.

Next time, get to Flo's in Portsmouth RI, man!

[johnnyd]

What a great deal! Staying on boats is wonderful, one of my favorite things to do.

Santarpio's looks like a must-go spot. The lamb looks perfect.

Terrific report as usual, D!

[Daniel]

I lived in an apartment at 231 east 50th st for a couple of years.. The chef was my neighbor and we would speak from time to time.. They would deliver in the building and I also went to the restaurant four times.. I must say its average at best.. Its a classy type of Italian Restaurant that rarely works for me because it has to be done perfectly.. If you want that type of food and experience and your are in the area, I would suggest: Bellini, Il Postino, Pietros or Grifone in that order..

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Thanks Johnny.. I was wondering if you knew anything about the roast beef sandwich places in New England..

[9lives]

great pics...and those accomodations look awesome..That boat is a classic.

If you go back, The Perfect Storm bar is called the Crow's Nest..on the main st right in town. I was there 2 years ago and it had not been gentrified. Looked just like the movie and not "Cheersified." Rough looking crowdbut couldn't have been friendlier. We actually ended up pulling up a bunch of tables..us and another tourist couple and about 6 fishermen..drinking, swapping lies, and shooting pool.

Gloucester has a large Portuguese population ...you might want to check out Ocean Boulevard; for a little different takeon seafood.

PS...Those Santarpios pics make me want to jump on the Blue Line

Edited October 7, 2005 by 9lives (log)

[Daniel]

mmm Santarpios.. I had the last slice on Tuesday for lunch.. This and Pepe's, in New Haven were really good pizza places I have gone to in New England.. Would like to try Sally's too..

[Holly Moore]

Another neat trip.

We'll agree to disagree on Woodman's. I agree to disagree with most everyone when it comes to Woodman's. I really like the place. Twice I have high-jacked friends for a one day round trip from Philadelphia to Woodman's. I've never had small clams there. Perhaps this explains it.

I was hoping you'd find my breakfast place in Gloucester (too late to recommend it to you), but I don't know the name. Just that it's on the street that runs along the harbor, most of the way through town across from a processing plant. Great breakfast including Portuguese linguica sausage. Excellent pancakes too.

[9lives]

Another neat trip. 

We'll agree to disagree on Woodman's.  I agree to disagree with most everyone when it comes to Woodman's.  I really like the place.  Twice I have high-jacked friends for a one day round trip from Philadelphia to Woodman's.  I've never had small clams there.  Perhaps this explains it.

I was hoping you'd find my breakfast place in Gloucester (too late to recommend it to you), but I don't know the name.  Just that it's on the street that runs along the harbor, most of the way through town across from a processing plant.  Great breakfast including Portuguese linguica sausage.  Excellent pancakes too.

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I think we may have eaten at "your" breakfast place. Is it sort of on the curve in the road..from Gloucester proper to Rocky Neck...on the left? good spot.

If you drive a little further, there's a good bbq spot..guy with a smoker in a parking lot..pulled pork, chicken and ribs..few sides. The guy has been in a few spots on Cape Ann and puts out the real thing..sketchy hours..never open in the rain.

As to the clam shacks, a lot of people favor Essex Seafoods. I always liked Woodman's and Farnham's...but haven't been in a few years. Most reports have been lukewarm (at best) towards them.

[Daniel]

We had passed the BBQ Place Smoking Jim or Joes? in the morning and saw the smoker going.. It was closed by seven so i never got to try the place..