Champlin's Seafood Deck

256 Great Island Rd., Narragansett, RI - (401) 783-3152

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Posted By Michael Stern on September 16, 2007 11:26 PM

On the channel at the entrance to Galilee Harbor, where the ferry leaves for Block Island and where Rhode Island's largest fishing fleet is berthed, Champlin's is a place for in-the-rough seafood lovers. It is a casual eatery where everything is served on disposable plates and where customers carry their own food from the kitchen window to bare-topped tables, many of which are perched on a deck overlooking the boats.

The menu is classic Yankee shoreline: a few burgers and sandwiches, whole lobsters, steamers, raw clams, and a long roster of fried things. While the fried clams are good, we were far more impressed by the fried flounder, a broad filet of sweet, moist meat encased in an elegant crust. The flounder is available by the piece or as half of a fish and chips plate. While the French fries on that plate are fine, we highly recommend substituting boiled red potatoes, which are cream-textured with an earthy spud flavor.

While I like Champlin's plenty, one big disappointment is the kitchen's apparent aversion to garlic. There seems to be none in the snail salad, that Rhode Island specialty that is customarily radiant with a garlic halo, nor in the linguine with white clam sauce which, while quite respectable, was ultimately bland.

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Posted By M. Metcalf on October 27, 2010 11:57 AM

I have been eating at Champlin's since I was a child. I was so disappointed today when I ordered the fish and chips and found that they used frozen flounder. There are plenty of good places to get fish and chips in RI, but I will not be going back to my favorite childhood clambar. How sad.

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Fried Flounder

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