AA> In my house we call it "Taco Hell"
My cue to tell you about July 4 weekend, for which I had an entertaining couple as house guests. He's a computer consultant for United Airlines, and she's a quilter, author, raconteur, and general pain in the, uh, character who is commonly credited with the invention of the Quillow (a quilt that folds up into a pillow). Both are a little zaftig and very fond of food and beer. At various times we were joined by other interesting characters, including the local undertaker and a former USC homecoming queen. I will not focus in this post on July 4, which was self-catered by these and other friends, but will discuss the restaurants we hit in our search for satiation and the perfect fried clam. All prices are approximate, owing to imperfect and beer-stained memory.
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MARBLEHEAD
Matty's (or, alternatively, Maddy's) Sail Loft is a Marblehead institution. More of a bar (but serving the same food) during the day, it opens up its upper floor as a restaurant in the evening. We went during the day, arriving at 11:30 and leaving around 2:30. During this time we saw half the town and several gallons of beer come by. Things to eat there:
Fried clam roll ($7) was remarkable. Good light sweet clams in a crumbly
batter. Came with decent French fries. You can order it as an appetizer without the roll; say no more; just do it. The boiled 1 1/4 lb lobster ($12?) was fair; the flavor was good, the size was considerably bigger than 1 1/4 lb, but the peculiar snappiness and sweetness of a totally fresh lobster was absent. Still a good little lunch. Came with salad with bleu dressing (the usual thing) and fries (the usual thing). A fisherman's plate ($14-odd) came with clams, fish, and shrimp, as I recall; they were all well done, and I'd suggest that perhaps next time a shrimp-only plate might be in order (about $8); or maybe a clam plate at a buck or two more. One perverse member of our group ordered baby backs ($10) - decent, nothing special, no smoky flavor, a sizable serving, with a commercial-tasting sauce partially baked on. He asked for rice, and it was an interesting and tasty yellow risotto with odd bits of what seemed to be dried carrots. Normally it would have come with those same fries. Fried onion rings ($?) are sweet and copious, with a nice fragile coating. Chicken Caesar salad was okay, but I have no idea why you'd order such a thing. I think it was $5.25. Apple crisp with ice cream was good but heavy. Be careful of the beer. The first round of 1 Bass and 2 Killian's ended up as 3 Killian's; subsequent rounds of 1 Bass and 3 Killian's were right. The place is unbelievably crowded between noon and 1:30. People looked enviously at our table during that time.
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SALEM
The Grapevine is a favorite spot, and we went with a regular regular and were served like kings. The spicy mussel appetizer (I think about $6) was a little scanty - to be split 3 ways, as we did. It got a vote as one of the best mussel dishes around. A fried portobello mushroom was well executed, but it was just that - a giant fried mushroom. I liked it pretty much, especially with its very tangy lemony sauce, which served to cut the grease. Reminded me of an R. Wesley's style dish, at about $7. For reasons unknown to me, the other three at table ordered the grilled tuna with chili mayo, two rares and one medium rare. It was excellent, what I tasted, and the three were very pleased by their choice. I had a carpaccio appetizer as my main dish (also about $7 or 8): good beef, a little bland, enriched with a strong truffle oil and topped with shiitake mushrooms (maybe a mistake) and Romano (I passed on the Romano; I hate Romano). I, having had only various appetizers for dinner, was the only one to have dessert, which was an apple bread pudding. Very nice, very buttery; lots of whipped cream.
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SALEM
The Winter Island Grille has been taken over by Red of Red's Sandwich Shop fame. The first time or two I went there after the switch I was disappointed, but I guess that they were just getting their sea legs, as it were. It's come back up to snuff, I'm glad to say. We eschewed the Red's-style newcomers to the menu (except one of us, who had a tummyache, had the sliced chicken sandwich, a decent but by no means memorable $3.75 piece of food made with fresh and real but somewhat dry chicken breast) and stuck to fried stuff, the glory of Winter Island from time immemorial. Fisherman's platters were the order of the day - an oinker's delight at $13. About 4-5 oz of haddock, a little dry but fresh; three or four medium shrimp (very good); half a dozen clams or perhaps more (very sweet and very good); lotsa lotsa scallops (also very sweet and very good). Cole slaw (not too sweet, a little wilted from being submerged by fries) and the ubiquitous fries, which were salty (preprocessed ?!) but surpassingly crisp. And a crown of excellent onion rings. The various components are available as single item plates: clam (9.50), haddock (7.50), scallops (9.25), shrimp (8.95). For some reason the fish in the fish and chip plate (5.50) was better, moister, tenderer than the stuff with the fancier price. Why? You tell me. Oh, a NOTE. The frying batter has sugar, pepper, and garlic in it. You may not like it.
There is one peculiarity about this place. Please NOTE, if you are going
there to eat. The Winter Island Park (off Derby Street, near Salem Willows) charges a $5 per car admission during the high season. What they didn't tell me on one visit was that the receipt is good for a credit at the restaurant. On a recent visit, there was a big sign telling people that, which is good. The peculiarity: If you eat, you can exchange that $5 for a full $5 credit towards your bill. If your bill is between $1.25 and $5, you get change of a five. So if you order an ice-cream cone, even if you just throw it on the ground, you get $3.75 back; if you don't buy, you get 0 back.
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SALEM
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* KingQWK 1.05 # 187 *Massachusetts