Fried clams

I moved away a few years back, but Farnham's was always my favorite back in the day.

The fried clams at The Choate Bridge (restaurant/pub) in Ipswich center are heavenly. Light batter, perfectly fried, sweet, sumptuous clams served with a delicious tartar sauce. Sit at the bar, order the clams and a cold beer, and transcend!!

My great-great-uncle Chubby Woodman invented the fried clam at Woodman's many moons ago on a most likely drunken bet -- so the spot is a must-see if you are touring the area. It also forces me to go on a rant when I am served bellyless clams here in Florida. (No one cares either -- LOL.) My family is more apt to hit Farnham's or the Clam Box for great, reasonably priced clams.

Make sure you have a roast beef at Kelly's or Bill and Bob's while you are in New England. I miss those!!!!!!

If you're near Astor, Fla., apparently there's an Essex Two there. A reader e-mailed me to say that it's just like Essex Seafood back home. Everyone has New England accents, and more important, I'm guessing they serve clams with bellies.

Petey's in Rye, New Hampshire!

Try the Nobscott Cafe, on Edgell Road in Framingham, MA, for a great fried clam plate with the bellies.

For the North Shore, there is no place better than the Land + Sea. The BEST fried clams, fried to perfection, and no greasy fingers after. Their other fried seafood is excellent also, and very reasonably priced. The other places, $20 for a clam plate, are you kidding me? At Land + Sea it's still under $15 and portions are huge. They also have great lobster rolls and roast beef sandwiches.

The best fried clams on Cape Cod are at the Marathon Restaurant on RT 28 in West Dennis. Ask Teddy, Marco, or Galdino to pick out small (or large) clams and they will fry them to perfection. The homemade onion rings are superb.

I cooked at a seafood reastaurant in Maine where one of our specialties was fried clams. The only fried clams I have tasted south of Maine that hint at being as good are, in order, Farnham's, Woodman's, and Kelly's. Capt. Frosty's on the Cape is also worth mentioning, especially for the clam fritter that comes with an order of fried clams. What I find disappointing about the Clam Box is more about personal preference: I love batter-fried clams, not the clams in crumbs they serve there. In the Maine restaurant, orders of clams in batter outsold those fried in crumbs at least 10-1. The Clam Box clams were dry (I ate them fresh out of the fry-o-lator) and lacked any brininess. Very disappointing.

Woodman's is a tourist trap.The best fried clams anywhere are at The Village Restaurant first and The Blue Marlin Restaurant both in Essex. I've tried them all and these are the best.

I was in Pinehurst NC on a golf outing and found this great cafe in southern Pines called Cafe Iano which served New England lobster rolls just like I get on the Cape! They were delicious and cheap!! They also serve a great stuffed quahog. Now everytime I go down to NC I can still get my Cape Cod favorites!!

Is there some reason full belly fried clams aren't to be found outside New England? As a NH native who's lived in 4 New England states and 8 other states (retired USAF career NCO), I sometimes get a strong urge for some good fried clams. When I lived in MD, Legal Seafood opened a restaurant in VA, but their clams were not the greatest. Now that I've retired in Georgia, I guess I'll have to go back home to the Riverside Grill in Lebanon to get my ration of goodness.