Two Seafood Restaurants on Long Island Sound

Re:Two Seafood Restaurants on Long Island Sound (californyguy)

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 23:37:43 GMT

NICE PICTURES , BUT THAT PORTION OF CLAMS LOOKED ON THE EXTRA SMALL SIDE- BET IT COST A PRETTY PENNY GIVEN THE LOCATION TOO

Re:Two Seafood Restaurants on Long Island Sound (GCD1962)

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:19:49 GMT

A good friend lives just around the corner from Mansion. When walking the area looking for lunch I saw Mansion and said "Hey how about that place?" His reply. I've walked by it and noticed that they don't even bother to water the flowers in the boxes by the door, I doubt they pay attention to the kitchen either" He made a very good point. If they take the trouble to plant flower then ignore them, then they probably are not paying attention to detail in other areas of the restaurant.

Re:Two Seafood Restaurants on Long Island Sound (MiamiDon)

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 08:03:53 GMT

sk bob - No, that was their regular portion.

joerogo - Yeah, sorry we couldn't meet up. I had several family "events" that killed most of my Roadfood planning. Maybe next year!

Re:Two Seafood Restaurants on Long Island Sound (joerogo)

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:25:46 GMT

Hey Don, Glad you found some clams without traveling too far. Just sorry I wasn't able to help you wolf them down.

Re:Two Seafood Restaurants on Long Island Sound (sk bob)

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:14:03 GMT

nice report,Don.
glad you filly tasted REAL clams.
was that clam plate at The Mansion an appetizer portion?

Re:Two Seafood Restaurants on Long Island Sound (jaylhorner)

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 08:06:57 GMT

Real nice pics.

Re:Two Seafood Restaurants on Long Island Sound (MiamiDon)

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 15:58:21 GMT

agnesrob, if you do make it to Mansion Clam House, for what it's worth they won "best traditional clam chowder" at the local Chowdafest for 2011.

Re:Two Seafood Restaurants on Long Island Sound (ann peeples)

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 10:25:20 GMT

What a beautiful and fun building The Mansion is! Glad you enjoyed your meals at both places.

Re:Two Seafood Restaurants on Long Island Sound (agnesrob)

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 10:01:15 GMT

Nice report Don! I mapquested The Mansion and it is only an hour from me. That fried clam platter is calling my name! Thanks for posting this.

Two Seafood Restaurants on Long Island Sound (MiamiDon)

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 09:29:59 GMT

In June I was able to find time to visit a couple of Long Island Sound shoreline seafood restaurants (well, one was a mile up the Saugatuck river). The first one was my first-ever taste of whole-belly fried clams.

Mansion Clam House in Westbury, Connecticut

I couldn't find anything dating the building, but it looks to be quite old. If you look off to the left, you can see a seahorse, which I didn't spot when I took the photo.

I started with some blue point oysters, which were fresh-tasting and briney.

The house-made cocktail sauce included a dollop of horseradish in it, for those who want extra piquancy.

Here is the clam plate:

Since I've never had these before, I cannot say whether these were top notch or not, but I enjoyed them. One thing I can state is that when one bites into one of those bellies, the taste is of CLAM - not for those who whine about seafood being too fishy, or whatever. One may have been a little muddy, but I guess that is to be expected. The tartar sauce seemed to be housemade, and I liked the tart coleslaw. The onion rings were good, too. I can't swear that they were housemade, but if not, they were of good quality, and properly fried.

This is the Saugatuck river behind the restaurant.

Here is the back of the building. I included this because of another surprise when I was looking over the photos. Look on top of the roof.

Mansion Clam House
541 Riverside Avenue
Westport, CT 06880

In the city of Rye in New York there is a restaurant in one of the buildings in the city beach/park. When the beach is open, the parking fee is $15 for non-residents, but if you dine in the restaurant they refund $10 (the really don't want outsiders on the beach).

Seaside Johnnie's

It was such a fine day that I couldn't resist dining al fresco.

Here is the afore-mentioned beach, viewed from the restaurant:

The pier in the background is at the Playland amusement park.

The menu here is largely ocean-oriented, including a sushi list, but there are some burgers and chicken dishes for those in your party who may frown on seafood. I started with oysters again.

These seemed fresh and cold, but weren't at all briney, as though they were rinsed in fresh water.

I opted for the scallop basket, which comes with seasoned fries, coleslaw and a pickle.

These were good - they were tender and juicy, and HUGE (I'm used to smaller ones). I liked the fries, although they were no doubt frozen.

I was suspicious of a place like this offering sushi, but on the way out I spotted this guy hard at work, so maybe it's the real deal.

Seaside Johnnie's
94 Dearborn Avenue
Rye, NY 10580