Bob's Clam Hut

Posted By Michael Stern on November 17, 2004 4:35 AM

If you are heading into Maine in search of summertime shoreline seafood, the first important stop is just over the New Hampshire border on the West side of Route 1: Bob's Clam Hut, where deep-fried seafood, arrayed in toasted rolls or in cornucopic seafood baskets is the specialty of the house. The aroma in the parking lot and at the outdoor picnic tables to the side of this sprawling clamatorium is car-culture bliss: hot oil bubbling in fry kettles that yield gorgeous tan gnarled whole-belly clams, pillowy scallops, crisp shrimp, snowy-fleshed fish and chips, and some of the crustiest onion rings anywhere along the shore.

Ambience at Bob's isn't what you'd call idyllic. The road is noisy, and directly across it is a cluster of factory outlet stores. One might argue that this is a truly authentic Maine setting, considering that outlet stores are as typical of the state's lower coast as lobster piers. (Still, no one has yet argued that the license plate's Vacationland should be changed to Outletland.)

The method of ordering and getting food at Bob’s is the immemorial Yankee clam hut ritual. You read the posted menu then place your order and pay in advance. If it is summer and you are outside in the bright sun, you will not see anything in the darkened interior, including the person taking your order, and it is all done so fast your eyes don't adjust. No matter. The order-taker hands you a number, then you dawdle outside around the pick-up window (different from the order window) until your number is called over a loud speaker. Dine either from the dashboard of your car, indoors at utilitarian tables and counter, or at one of Bob's blue-checked picnic tables.

Seafood rolls are showpieces at Bob's, most of them featuring one of the hot fried foods heaped into a top-sliced bun and served with pale twiggy French fries, secret recipe tartar sauce, and a couple of pickle slices on a porous paperboard plate. Good as these fried sandwiches may be, the lobster roll is in a class by itself, whether your like yours hot or cold. It costs about two dollars more than a clam roll, and if you like lobster, it is worth it. The bun is nice and warm -- buttered and grilled until toasty golden brown on both sides; the lobster meat inside is either faintly warm or faintly chilled, depending on how you order it. There is plenty of meat, the cold lobster roll bound with just enough mayonnaise, the hot one glided with melted butter.

Tartar Sauce

Fried Clam Basket

Lobster Roll

Clam Chowder