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Log inReview: For super chowder and lobster, check out Estes
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Review: For super chowder and lobster, check out Estes
by Outspoken on Sun May 25, 2008 11:36 am
For super chowder and lobster, check out Estes
By N.L. ENGLISH
Portland Press Herald
SOUTH HARPSWELL — The glamorous view out both sides of the dining room of Estes Lobster House draws a visitor's attention.
On a recent visit, one couple, huddled in their coats on the empty patio, drank in that view while sharing the "triple lobster roll": three toasted hot dog rolls with two ounces of lobster meat in each for $19.95.
The regular lobster roll ($16.95) holds five ounces.
We sat at an inside table sheltered from the cold ocean air but still able to contemplate the double vista of ocean water flowing inland.
Started in 1947, Estes Lobster House sits on a causeway that widens just beyond the restaurant at Potts Point. Owner Larry Crooker has been part of this business since 1963 when he worked for his father. He bought Estes in 1971.
Among the dishes we ordered, the clam chowder stood out. The fried clams seemed tough, perhaps inadvertently overcooked, the crab cakes were too bready to show off the crab meat, and the chicken Parmesan was as dreary a version as I've encountered. Steamed lobsters, the reason for being here for many Estes' visitors, looked great.
At this venerable seaside lobster house, you order at the counter, take a number and plant it on your table. The busy server brings everything out to you and will clean it all up too. In recompense, as a sign near the cash register where you order warns, a 7 percent service charge is added to all orders.
All plates and flatware are plastic and paper. White-painted wooden chairs surround the tables covered with plastic tablecloths in colorful patterns like red lobsters on a dark-blue background. The large room is covered with faded lobster buoys done with marking traps on the surface of the ocean.
A massive seven-masted sailing ship model standing in the dining room is based on the Thomas V. Lawson, pictured in a sail plan hanging under the counter. Grady Newman made this model of the largest schooner ever built. A local man from Bath, Newman repairs his models on display at Estes, including a smaller tug boat, every year.
Crooker left Newman's second model of this schooner at the Taste of Maine, a Woolwich restaurant, after his sister, Candy Gregory, bought that business from him in 1995.
Copperidge Merlot, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, a Gallo label available only in restaurants, are served at Estes. Among the beers available are Geary's Summer Ale, Corona and Sam Adams Light.
Clam chowder ($5.95 for a cup, $10.95 for 16 ounces) is light and silky, the smooth texture of the broth perfect for showing off the salty taste of clam broth. A few small cubes of potato and chopped clam swam in the bottom of the Styrofoam cup.
The crab cakes ($9.95), a generous serving of two big, golden brown cakes, were so bready that the taste and the texture of the sweet crab meat were overwhelmed.
A large rectangular paper box held my fried clams ($19.95 for a big serving, with fries and cole slaw). Over-seasoned and over-salted Kraft tartar sauce in plastic packets came with the clams.
While my fried clams had a good flavor, the big, full-belly clams were too chewy, and the softest part lacked any of that burst of briny juice I have loved on other occasions. But the Estes version deserves another chance.
Crooker gets shucked clams from Perkins Seafood, just up the road.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=189586&ac=Audience
By N.L. ENGLISH
Portland Press Herald
SOUTH HARPSWELL — The glamorous view out both sides of the dining room of Estes Lobster House draws a visitor's attention.
On a recent visit, one couple, huddled in their coats on the empty patio, drank in that view while sharing the "triple lobster roll": three toasted hot dog rolls with two ounces of lobster meat in each for $19.95.
The regular lobster roll ($16.95) holds five ounces.
We sat at an inside table sheltered from the cold ocean air but still able to contemplate the double vista of ocean water flowing inland.
Started in 1947, Estes Lobster House sits on a causeway that widens just beyond the restaurant at Potts Point. Owner Larry Crooker has been part of this business since 1963 when he worked for his father. He bought Estes in 1971.
Among the dishes we ordered, the clam chowder stood out. The fried clams seemed tough, perhaps inadvertently overcooked, the crab cakes were too bready to show off the crab meat, and the chicken Parmesan was as dreary a version as I've encountered. Steamed lobsters, the reason for being here for many Estes' visitors, looked great.
At this venerable seaside lobster house, you order at the counter, take a number and plant it on your table. The busy server brings everything out to you and will clean it all up too. In recompense, as a sign near the cash register where you order warns, a 7 percent service charge is added to all orders.
All plates and flatware are plastic and paper. White-painted wooden chairs surround the tables covered with plastic tablecloths in colorful patterns like red lobsters on a dark-blue background. The large room is covered with faded lobster buoys done with marking traps on the surface of the ocean.
A massive seven-masted sailing ship model standing in the dining room is based on the Thomas V. Lawson, pictured in a sail plan hanging under the counter. Grady Newman made this model of the largest schooner ever built. A local man from Bath, Newman repairs his models on display at Estes, including a smaller tug boat, every year.
Crooker left Newman's second model of this schooner at the Taste of Maine, a Woolwich restaurant, after his sister, Candy Gregory, bought that business from him in 1995.
Copperidge Merlot, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, a Gallo label available only in restaurants, are served at Estes. Among the beers available are Geary's Summer Ale, Corona and Sam Adams Light.
Clam chowder ($5.95 for a cup, $10.95 for 16 ounces) is light and silky, the smooth texture of the broth perfect for showing off the salty taste of clam broth. A few small cubes of potato and chopped clam swam in the bottom of the Styrofoam cup.
The crab cakes ($9.95), a generous serving of two big, golden brown cakes, were so bready that the taste and the texture of the sweet crab meat were overwhelmed.
A large rectangular paper box held my fried clams ($19.95 for a big serving, with fries and cole slaw). Over-seasoned and over-salted Kraft tartar sauce in plastic packets came with the clams.
While my fried clams had a good flavor, the big, full-belly clams were too chewy, and the softest part lacked any of that burst of briny juice I have loved on other occasions. But the Estes version deserves another chance.
Crooker gets shucked clams from Perkins Seafood, just up the road.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=189586&ac=Audience
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Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
