During our planning for our trip up the east coast, were happened to be watching an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network one evening when they did a feature on Bob’s Clam Hut in Kittery, ME. We made a note that Bob’s was a must-do if we were anywhere close. Well, things have a way of working out sometimes.
Kittery, Maine is just a short distance up U.S. 1 from the Massachusetts border. We arrived at Bob’s around 11:30am and were very fortunate to grab the last parking space available at the time. Bob’s was already busy.
Like many eating establishments that we have visited on our trip up north, Bob’s has a walk up window for ordering and outdoor seating. The line was already pretty long by the time we got there.
The lengthy menu is posted overhead, but most of the customers ahead of us ordered clams and we said “Why be different?”. Helen and I agreed to split a fried clam basket cooked in the traditional “Bob’s style”. Helen (adorable wife) also ordered a bowl of Lobster stew and I ordered a bowl of fish chowder. We moved back and waited for our order to be called at the pickup window. We were called surprisingly quickly.
The clam basket was large. It was made up of whole belly clams rather that strips and were served on top of a bed of French fries. It was good that we decided to split the order. The clams were served hot. They were fried in a light batter that was delicious and had no greasiness about them. The clams tasted very fresh. The fries were good, and the cole slaw was exceptional. Helen and I battled over the slaw.
Helen’s Lobster stew was served in a cardboard bowl and was packed with lobster. It had a buttery, creamy, base that was flavorful, but I’ll have to admit, that we’ve had some stews on our trip that were just as good. The fish chowder was exceptional. It had large chunks of a white fish, and plenty of potatoes. The broth was loaded with flavor, but not overly “fishy”. I loved it.
Our thanks to the Food Network for the tip. We truly enjoyed Bob’s…the only thing better would have been someone to drive us to our next stop while we took a long nap!
