Excellent Fried Clams?

[dotrat]

Hello Hounds!

Any suggestions for really good fried clams in the city these days? I am in town from the west coast where we don't have fried clams so I need a fix & don't want to settle! I really enjoyed B&G Oysters a couple years ago & will go there again but I thought it was best to check in with the pro's first. Suggestions do not have to be fancy sit down places like B&G but just good, clean big bellied clams fried to perfection! Thanks in advance!

[9lives]

I know it doesn't get a lot of love here but the Sail Loft on Atlantic does a very good version. Fresh and a perfect fry job. Their app is a perfect portion for lunch. I think the trick is to get there near opening and the oil is fresh. They buy their clams from Ipswich Shellfish; which is a quality producer.

I also see who supplies their finfish and avoid eating it.

[L2k]

Belle Isle is technically in Boston, although you can smell Winthrop from there (not in a bad way!), and the one time I didn't get the best lobster roll south of Wiscasset there, I had some amazing fried clams at a great price.

[mmocpi]

"The Ship" (Mount Vernon) up on Rt 1 in Lynnfield has all around excellent fried seafood, including clams, at a good price - plus it comes with a popover (i.e. why not go all the way?)

[BlueMagic]

Wow, that is a blast from the past. I haven't been to The Ship in more years than I can remember. I will have to give it a try.

[Karl S]

For down and not dirty, Royal Roast Beef in Eastie near Orient Heights has long had a great rep for them. You don't have to schlep to the North Shore.

http://royalroastbeef.com/

[MABMAQ]

you'll need to call first to make sure that they're got them, but Friday lunch at the Corrib in brighton center. the clams are crispy, light, not oily at all, and totally satisfying (but not cheap !) well worth treating yourself.

[justbeingpolite]

No one's yet mentioned Moulton's Seafood in Medford, which usually gets lots of praise here. I haven't been, but hear they fry a mean clam, and are cheaper than a lot of the above.\

Not really in the city, I guess, but still worth mentioning.

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Moulton's Seafood Restaurant
178 Winthrop St, Medford, MA 02155

[teezeetoo]

on another ch thread, a poster mentioned Harry's Bar and Grill on Kelton and Commonwealth as having "real" fried clams of good quality. I haven't sampled them yet myself, but I'm going to. I quite liked the ones I had at Cognac Bistro but others have found them wanting.

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Harry's Bar and Grill
1430 Commonwealth Ave, Brighton, MA 02135

Cognac Bistro
455 Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446

[MeffaBabe]

I go to Moulton's Seafood all the time and I never leave without the fried clams. I either get them as my appetizer or my dinner but I get them. You won't find any better anywhere... They have the best broiled scallops and haddock/scrod also. My husband always gets the broiled swordfish. We go almost every week and have been for years and have never ever had a bad meal.
Moultons Seafood
178 Winthrop St
Medford, MA 02155
781-396-6466

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Moulton's Seafood Restaurant
178 Winthrop St, Medford, MA 02155

[MC Slim JB]

Second Neptune, but it's easier to get a seat at Island Creek Oyster Bar these days, which also has excellent fried clams, albeit hardly cheap.

Morse Fish is an excellent budget suggestion: fresh, well-prepared, easy on the wallet. The trade-off there is fluorescent lighting, laminate booths, styrofoam trays, no alcohol, and an early closing time (8pm except Friday, 9pm). I recommend ordering them standalone, as the sides here are pretty weak, like frozen crinkle-cut fries.

The Kelly's Roast Beef in Allston has that awful fast-food-joint atmosphere, but their fried clams are actually quite good.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

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Island Creek Oyster Bar
500 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215

[BlueMagic]

Agree on Kelly's. Funny...they have a lot of surprisingly good things on that menu...to me the Roast Beef sandwiches are their biggest weakness. Those clams are really surprisingly good.

[joth68]

Havent' loved the clams at kellys. The bellies are always too small. The scallops on the other hand, have been perfect. The reuben is also surprisingly good.

[mmocpi]

In my opinion, the Kelly's in Allston is not nearly as good as the other Kelly's locations - the fried fish has tasted like old fry oil the 2 times I've tried it.

[threedogs]

I stopped getting Kelley's fried clams at the original (on Revere Beach) a few yrs ago for the same reason - never failed I'd get sick from the old-grease taste. Maybe it's not the same now?

[BlueMagic]

I went to the one in Peabody a few weeks ago..the person I was with ordered the fried clams ( I actually never order fried clams for myself..I like clams but in very small amounts..) I had a few and they were good...not too greasy or heavy...maybe they are better about cleaning the oil in Peabody? I hate that old oil taste and have sent things back because of it. No one should be forced to eat lousy fried food.

[threedogs]

That's good to know. Like I said, it's been a few years that I went (or stopped going) to Kelly's on Revere Beach. They may have improved.

[hhookk]

Not to nit-pick, but I think you mean Danvers not Peabody.

[BlueMagic]

Hhookk..you are absolutely right..sorry for the error...I never know where the line is between Danvers and Peabody in that area..but yes..this one is Danvers.

[hhookk]

Yeah, it's confusing around there. I grew up in Danvers and I still don't know where the line actually is. I'm pretty sure Sylvan St. Grille is in Peabody so the line must be somewhere in between since they are so close.

I live in Saugus now and I have to say recently the clams at the Saugus location are hit and miss. Had some that were overcooked and hard recently but also had some that were perfectly cooked, plump and juicy. I guess that's what you get when you hire high school kids part time to cook.

[devilham]

I know it sounds weird, but the Pleasant Cafe in Roslindale has a great fried clam plate at a great price ($20)....go figure!

[Science Chick]

No joke! Pleasant Cafe has great fried seafood AND great pizza!

[peelmeagrape]

And a great prime rib special.

[CookieLee]

Not in the city, but I have to give a shout out for Tony's Clam Shop on Wollaston Beach. I restrict myself to fried clams every other summer, and these were just as good as the ones I had there 2 summers ago. Huge bellies, sweet, not sandy, not greasy.

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Tony's Clam Shop
861 Quincy Shore Dr, Quincy, MA 02170

[total13]

Morse Seafood in the South End for cheap okay ones. Union next door had good ones as an appetizer, not sure if they're still on the menu.

[purple bot]

Neptune Oyster has the best, IMHO. Always perfectly sweet and delicious. Great homemade tarter sauce too.

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Neptune Oyster
63 Salem St Ste 1, Boston, MA 02113

[Albie]

Ditto Neptune Oyster. Best frie clam option within Boston

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Neptune Oyster
63 Salem St Ste 1, Boston, MA 02113

[cambridgedoctpr]

several chinese restaurants make great clams with black bean sauce; I get mine at East Ocean Seafood.

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East Ocean Restaurant
3704 Washington St, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

[Allstonian]

But those aren't fried clams, which are what the OP specifically requested.

[cambridgedoctpr]

true, but the OP might want to expand his options

[itaunas]

Given that clams with black bean sauce and clams with rice vermicelli and all those other great cantonese dishes we have are available on the West Coast and NY and Toronto and... I am guessing in asking for NE fried clams the LA(?) based OP was looking for NE fried clams. :-) Other soft shell preps and quahogs are certainly to unique around here if you want to expand the options.