Pat's Kountry Kitchen - Old Saybrook, CT

Posted By Michael Stern on November 9, 2003 4:26 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.

Overall Rating

Clam hash

Red flannel hash

Grape-Nuts pudding

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Posted By Deborah Pastor on January 20, 2010 2:46 PM

I love hash: corned beef, oyster, halibut, you name it. So I was very excited when I heard about the clam hash at Pat's Kountry Kitchen in Old Saybrook, just down the road from our B&B. Pat's certainly earns the "K" in Kountry: the decor has a kitschy but pleasant appeal. There were old-fashioned Santa Claus pictures all around the wall and some signs advertising the take-out pot pies. But my husband and I were there to get the hash and that is what we ordered: one famous clam hash and one red flannel hash, along with eggs and home fries.

Unfortunately, the clam hash was a letdown: so-so hash brown potatoes with a few nuggets of clams thrown in. I wanted to like it, I even went back the next day and tried it again. Same thing; mediocre. Luckily, the red flannel hash was a different story. It was very good, with a balance of potato, corned beef, and beets. I appreciated the fact that it was real hash, meaning chopped fine. So often, restaurants, in an attempt to avoid the appearance of serving canned hash, overcompensate by giving the hash a very rough cut so that it is almost more of a stir-fry. Our sunny side up eggs were perfectly cooked.

The next day, we tried the corned beef hash and the turkey sausage, in addition to one last try with the clam hash. The turkey sausage was excellent and tasted homemade. The corned beef hash was disappointing and later the waitress told us that it was canned. The table next to us ordered the spinach omelet and it looked fantastic, so I'll try that next time, with an order of flannel hash.

Overall Rating

Red flannel hash

Clam hash

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Posted By Bill Giblin on March 10, 2007 1:22 PM

Our second visit to Pat's Kountry Kitchen: my wife ordered the homemade Hungarian goulash and I had the prime rib with mashed potatoes. The goulash was excellent (good tip from Mariska, our waitress who also made the dish earlier in the day!) The prime rib was a bit fatty and lacked a distinct taste but was edible. The mashed potatoes were spiked with an extraordinary amount of garlic so, unless you crave the stuff, it can be a little difficult to enjoy (I only managed half the serving and I love mashed potatoes).

Dessert was a big improvement: the apple pie was made with fresh-tasting apples, and was not loaded with pectin (like at so many diners). The pie had the right amount of sugar - not too much - and a great crust. The chocolate bread pudding was a novelty and I'm glad I tried it.

We found the atmosphere pleasant, the place clean and the waitress knowledgeable. Next time I'll avoid the prime rib and try one of the homemade dishes. But, there definitely will be a next time... and soon.

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