The Clam Shack - Kennebunkport, Maine

The Clam Shack 

is located at 2 Western Ave, on a bridge over the Kennebunkport River 

in Kennebunkport, Maine (phone: 207-967-3321), 

summer home of the Presidents Bush family which is about two miles away. 

I had it on our list of places to eat based on 500 Things To Eat Before It's Too Late, by Jane and Michael Stern. They had rated the Clam Shack as having the no. 2 lobster roll and no. 2 fried clams in the country. I've already done a post on lobster rolls and indicated in that post that I was very disappointed with the Clam Shack lobster roll. 

It had very little meat compared to other lobster rolls I had at other places and the meat was overshadowed by the bun. 

If my experience was based just on the lobster roll, I would say to go somewhere else. However, their fried clams were very, very good. 

I didn't have a chance to try fried clams anywhere else in New England, and I don't think I've ever eaten them before, but they were beautifully cooked: still very moist with the flavor of the underlying clams still coming through the breading. 

The clams are worth going back for. I also decided to try the fried haddock sandwich, an item several people commented about favorably on Yelp. The sandwich was three pretty big chunks of haddock, breaded and fried, then put on a lightly buttered bun, 

the same bun used for the lobster roll, although there was no mayonnaise on the haddock sandwich. The sandwich was only $9.95, a bargain compared to the lobster roll ($16.25) and a pint of fried clams ($21.95) and the haddock was very moist and juicy. 

It was very good as it was. I tried it with some tarter sauce they provided, which was okay, but I would have preferred it with a little salt, and perhaps some vinegar. I would like to try some other menu items. The seafood was very fresh and given the good clams and haddock, I would love to try their lobster, but this time inside where it is possible to get a boiled lobster with butter.