Good Steamed Clams in Valley( SO or Studio City)

looking for good steamed clams in the valley. something for moms birthday dinner.she is in love with steamers. thanks.

[dotrat]

Years ago, I was able to get steamer clams at SM Seafood. Also- Legal Seafood in Boston will overnight lobsta & steamers to you- raw so you'd have to cook them but i've had this done a number of times & it's been very successful.

[markethej]

My 4 year old son loves clams! When not on Cape Cod, his favorite are at Newport Seafood in San Gabriel. Wok steamed Cantonese style with Vietnamese bail.

BTW, if you fry an ipswich clam, it is no longer a steamer, it is a fried clam. Just as yummy though. I'll take an order of each!

[MrJodie]

An old post, but with relevant information to be sure. Anyways, does anyone know IF there is a place in LA (and where that place might be!) that serves "stuffies"? These are traditionally quahog (or similar) shells stuffed with, you guessed it, baked breaded stuffing and clams. Or howsabout clam cakes?

not wanting to start a new thread - but on the clam idea, my favorite clam is the warty venus clam, in ITaly - called tartufi di mare.

Does anyone know if any Italian place here can get them, or serves them? I like them raw, but they can be in Spaghetti al Cartoccio...

The scientific name is Venus verrucosa. A quick google will show tons of pictures.

Try the Oyster house on Moorpark and Whitsett. It's like a "Cheers bar" type of crowd and the food is plentyful and good.

I'm from Connecticut. I have never found steamers in Los Angeles. Steamed clams yes, steamers no.

Good luck. Let me know what you find.

ok. ready to hear differences and suggestions as to where you can get some in LA

littlenecks
cherrystones
quahogs
steamers
steamed clams

def's please and local suggestions.

The first 3 are varieties of hard shell clams with littleneck being the smallest, cherrystones medium sized and quahogs the biggest. Other than size they look pretty much the same. Littlenecks are widely available locally, I get them all the time at Gelsons or Whole Foods.

Steamers are soft shell clams (sometimes called Ipswich clams) and I believe are only available on the east coast.

To take markn's definition further, littlenecks, cherrystones, quahogs, skimmer clams (aka surf clams in some East coast regions) are the same species, just at different stages of life.

To keep this on topic, most of these clams are available year round at Quality Seafood in Redondo.

I don't recall seeing the steamer clams (aka piss clams, Ipswich clams) at Quality, nor have I seen them in our local restaurants. I don't think they travel as well as the hard shell clams.

JAR in Los Angeles has an appetizer involving Ipswich clams. They fry them, so do they still qualify as "steamers"?

Jar Restaurant
[phone]
8225 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048

[pizzafreak]

Yes they do. Usually fried clams are mixed in a batter, then tossed in flour, then deep fried. If done properly they are delicious. Make sure you get whole clams with bellies, the larger the better. Strips suck.

A great description of 'Steamers' (Soft Shell Clams) is at www.ocean.udel.edu/mas/seafood/softcl...

guessing on issue of popularity: last year I went to Massachusetts for a college reunion and a member of my class is a major food professional - catering, former mail-order business, local produce, wild foods all in New England.
We were talking about why there wasn't a "clambake" as such for the reunion. She said that while the lobster was popular, members of our class included many from areas far from the sea who were unfamiliar and uncomfortable with serious seafood - even the lobsters (well, let's say, I traded a tail for two thoraces, which I adore - tomalley forever).

Anyway, she talked about the clams and said that you have to teach people to remove the membrane on the Ipswich clams, or as she said, to take off the condom. Otherwise, the clams weren't as readily edible.

I think that the one bit of extra work might put off people who weren't used to it. As well, if you don't, the clam tastes bad.

And I think that this might be a reason that you won't see steamers in profusion here; we just don't have the experience eating them.

You won't find grilled or steamed artichokes in Boston at places equivalent to say Stanley's in Sherman Oaks.

Amen to the no 'steamers' in LA!!! I grew up on Md's Eastern Shore eating steamers for $8 a bucket--dip 'em in butter than Old Bay (which IS available in LA)...I MISS THEM SO MUCH!!

You can get hard-shell clams at the Santa Monica Seafood Co. at 1205 Colorado Avenuem, Santa Monica CA, 90404
[phone]
M-F 9am-7pm; Saturday 9am-6pm; Sunday 10am-4pm

GOOD LUCK and HAPPY STEAMING!

Bristol Farms at Doheny & Beverly Drive(old Chasen's location) had real steamers last summer. Although they
only got 5-10 lbs. at a time. If you call their seafood dept. manager, he can order them (5.95/lb).

Concur with xoxohh that the Oyster House has good steamed clams (I usually get the linguini/clams), but they're not steamers as another poster noted.