Pat's Kountry Kitchen

70 East Mill Rock Rd., Old Saybrook, CT - (860) 388-4784

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Posted By Michael Stern on 11/9/2003 4:26:00 AM

If you’re allergic to kitsch, avoid Pat’s Kountry Kitchen. As you might guess by the klever spelling of its name, this is a restaurant that finds itself extremely adorable. The motif inside is mostly teddy bears. They are everywhere; and you will see some families seated at table with one chair occupied by a child-size bear (provided by the management). Waitresses patrol the dining room in calico granny dresses. Across the street from the restaurant is an entire free-standing gift shop loaded to the rafters with country crafts and kitchen gizmos.

We’re not tickled by the cutesy-pooh decor; but we tip our hats to any restaurant that features both clam hash and red-flannel, plus regular corned beef hash on the menu. The clam hash is a Pat’s specialty we’ve seen nowhere else, although it does seem distinctly Yankee in character. Founder Pat Brink used to say that the (top-secret) recipe for this dish was developed when her kids accidentally threw away the broth retrieved from a batch of clams that were destined to become clam chowder. Without the broth, there could be no chowder; and so Pat improvised. She chopped the clams with onions and potatoes and fried up them up as griddle cakes. The result is a soft patty of savory seafood that is briny-sweet and impossible to stop eating. You can have clam hash at breakfast with an egg on top or at lunch in a sandwich. For three decades now, it has been a shoreline tradition.

Red flannel hash is corned beef and pastrami hash with beets added to give it a bright red hue. We wish that the portion was bigger; and we always try to ask for it extra-crisp. But no matter how it comes, we are deeply appreciative of the fact that this nearly-vanished regional dish is on the menu every day.

Other than hash, Pat’s Kountry Kitchen has a broad menu of family-pleasing fare that includes plain and fancy pancake variations at breakfast and a vast array of big, homey pies for dessert. Or, if you want to make your meal an only-in-New England experience, you can choose a dessert found nowhere else: Grape-Nuts pudding.

NOTE: Pat's is open six days a week, but closed Wednesday.

Scorecard

Overall: One of the Best - Worth a Trip

Clam hash	Grape-Nuts pudding
Red flannel hash

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"Pat's famous clam hash. It has an ocean smack cushioned by plenty of potatoes, making it a surprisingly wonderful breakfast for all but the intransigent clamphobe."
Michael Stern

"For many years, the readers of Connecticut have named Pat's Kountry Kitchen their favorite family-style restaurant in the state."
Michael Stern

"A photo taken of Pat's enormous coffee-cup-shaped planter on the last day of winter, 2003. In a short while, the cup will runneth over with spring flowers."
Michael Stern

"We first saw this sampler at the late, great Mendenhall Hotel Revolving Tables in Mississippi. It fits Pat's decor very well; but even though portions are ample here, they aren't ridiculously large."
Michael Stern

"Pat's is a favorite family gathering place, and it can get pretty crowded, especially weekend mornings."
Michael Stern

"Although the lettering on this sign is hard to read (blame the photographer, yours truly), we love this picture because of the sign's featured attraction. It's the only roadsign we've ever seen boasting of clam hash."
Michael Stern