On a picturesque cove at Lookout Point, in Harpswell, Maine, sits Allen's Seafood, one of the best and most unusual eateries in the state. Proprietor Dain Allen, 69, who was raised just down the lane, fishes six days a week and on Sundays he goes clamming ''for fun," he says, adding that fishing is ''my sport, my hobby, my life."
He sells lobsters, fish, scallops, mussels, clams, and occasionally spider crabs from a weathered sea shanty, and recently built his own small processing plant, so he can clean and prepare the seafood himself. His wife, Holly, bought a cute white carnival wagon, outfitted it with a Frialator, and set up by the fish house. Now she and a friend, Esther Morrell, cook whatever Allen and his fishermen buddies catch that day, and customers eat at one of five picnic tables placed along the shore.
The seafood could not be fresher, and the cooks know how to do it honor. The fried haddock, for instance, is more dusted than battered to give the fish a savory crust, nothing more. At dusk, if the weather's fine, you can enjoy a meal while watching the sun set over Casco Bay.
Allen's Seafood, 119 Lookout Point Road, Harpswell, Maine. 207-833-2828, 207-837-3578. Open Friday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m., mid-May till mid-June, then daily except Monday through mid-October, weather permitting. Chowders and sandwiches $4.75-$9.95. Entrees $6.95-$11.95. BYOB.
