Lenny's

Posted By Michael Stern on May 12, 2001 10:32 AM

A well-worn seafood house in the Indian Neck section of Branford’s scenic coast, Lenny’s has a choice of three places to sit: a tap room up front, a dining room with varnished booths in back, and a scenic deck overlooking marshland behind the dining room. In business now for thirty years, it is a neighborhood kind of place with a menu that ranges from hamburgers and hot dogs to steaks and big platters of broiled or fried seafood. The classic full shore dinner includes chowder (either creamy New England style or clear-broth shoreline style), a couple of cherrystone clams on the shell, a lobster, a heap of steamers, sweet corn, and a thick slice of watermelon for dessert.

Good as both kinds of chowder are, we intend never to begin a meal at Lenny’s without “zuppa d’clams”: six steamed-open cherrystones in a bowl of briny, lemon-laced broth, a half-loaf of bread on the side for dunking. Delicious! Swordfish is always on the menu, and always fresh, available in dinner-size steaks or in smaller sandwich cuts served on nice fluffy buns with lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise.

Lenny’s fried food is some of the shoreline’s best: big, whole-belly clams, succulent oysters, scallops, fish ‘n’ chips, and huge butterflied shrimp. Crunch-crusted and clean-flavored, these are exemplary fried seafood, and definitive proof that a crisp, clean crust can be the very best halo for seafood’s natural sweetness.

Throughout the summer, strawberry shortcake is the must-eat dessert. It is the true Yankee version, made from a split, unsweet biscuit layered with sliced berries in sugar syrup, and a mountain of whipped cream. The perfect end for a seafood feast!

Zuppa d'Clams

Fried Clam Platter

Natural Broth Clam Chowder

Whole Belly Clam Roll

Swordfish

Tartar Sauce, Cocktail Sauce

Posted By maureen roussel on December 16, 2005 8:57 PM

I found Lenny's while surfing online for fried clams (with bellies). We travelled well over a hundred miles to try them, and it was well worth the trip. The food was excellent.

We're formerly from the New Hampshire/Maine area, and we thought it would be tough to beat the fried clams from that region, but beat it they did. We now live in Upstate NY and will make the trip again soon. Lenny's is open Sundays at noon and it's quite uncrowded at that time. The rest of the seafood menu is also delectable, including homemade chowder.