Galley Hatch
325 Lafayette Road
Hampton, N.H.
603-926-6152; galleyhatch.com
Open daily, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
All major credit cards accepted
Handicapped accessible
Galley Hatch may be inland from the beach, but the seafood couldn't be better if the restaurant had an Atlantic view.
This is not a new establishment. In fact, it's been around for 38 years. But it certainly has kept up with the times in terms of cuisine and additions like Provisions, a gourmet food and bakery.
The restaurant, which is on Route 1 on the way to Hampton Beach, has tons of booths and cozy corners in which to sit. We also liked the old-fashioned wood and tasteful sea-motif artwork and bric-a-brac. But we really liked was the food.
Galley Hatch allows you to order off the dinner menu even at lunch, which is particularly nice when some members of your party want their main meal at noon and others just want to nosh. We were starving, so we chose from the dinner menu.
We started our meal with a bowl of clam chowder ($5) and the smoked Atlantic salmon ($9.50) appetizer, along with the basket of hot ciabatta and whole-wheat rolls promptly placed on our table along with our cold draft Bass ($4.25).
They have a nice little wine list with whites ranging from a $24 bottle of Cavit Pinot Grigio to a $56 bottle of Caymus Conundrum, and red from a $26 J. Lohr merlot to a $70 Robert Sinskey pinot noir.
The chowder was neither thick nor thin and had plenty of flavor and clams.
The salmon appetizer was a pleasant surprise. We expected several slices of lox with some capers, but what we got was a huge chunk of flaky, smoky Atlantic salmon served with onions, tomatoes, capers, and homemade pita chips with a tangy lemon dill aioli.
This was a truly amazing appetizer and after we ate it, we changed our plan for the rest of the meal. Initially we were going to order the charcoal grilled hoisin glazed salmon ($13 for a small portion, $17.50 for large) with rice and Asian slaw. It sounded terrific, but we had such a big portion of salmon for an appetizer, we instead chose a small Greek salad with grilled chicken ($10.75), which had a delightful creamy goat cheese, a good portion of Greek olives, and a nice homemade dressing.
We also ordered the seafood stuffed haddock ($17.50) and opted for mashed potatoes and the vegetable of the day, fresh green beans and carrots. The haddock was perfectly cooked and wrapped around a flavorful crab, shrimp, and scallop stuffing, then topped with a creamy lobster sauce. This wasn't your typical seafood stuffing with chopped-up bits of fish. There were whole bay scallops, oodles of tender crabmeat, and big pieces of shrimp - all tasting fresh from the ocean. The vegetables were also excellent. The beans and carrots were served whole and crispy, and the mashed potatoes were obviously homemade.
And since we had to walk past the bakery portion of the front store, we already had eyeballed several confections for dessert. We finally settled on a huge, sugar-free chocolate cream puff ($4.25) since one of us was watching our sugar intake. Again, Galley Hatch did not fail to delight; a light pate a choux shell came with a chocolate whipped filling and topped with chocolate glaze and whipped cream. We don't think we'll ever go back to a regular cream puff. This had a natural sweetness that prevented it from being cloying.
The service was excellent throughout our meal, even though our server's station was very busy.
We can't wait to go back to the Galley Hatch for dinner and try some more fresh seafood.
TOM LONG
