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Moby Dick's
Nothing’s better after a long day at the beach than sitting on a deck, sipping a beer, and devouring fresh seafood. Moby Dick’s is a fun, casual restaurant in Welfleet on the Cape.
Moby Dick’s isn’t your typical restaurant. Unlike normal restaurants, where you sit down and a server takes your order, at Moby Dick’s you wait in line outside go up to a register, and then are sat by a host, and your food is brought out to you. Also, they don’t serve any alcohol. But that doesn’t mean that people aren’t drinking! It’s BYOB, so grab some of your favorite beer or wine, at much cheaper prices since you get to buy it at a liquor store ($9 for a six pack of Sam Summer is always better than $5 for one beer), and relax while enjoying the nice weather on their deck.
When Greg and I arrived, the line stretched the along the side of the building. Fortunately, it moved pretty quickly and gave us enough time to look over the menu and change our mind about what we wanted fifty times. We ended up deciding to split a large clam chowder and “Moby’s Fried Seafood Special,” which includes all my favorite fried wonderfulness: clams, shrimp, scallops, cod, and french fries.
Moby Dick's...looks like it's snowing outside
The clam chowder arrived quickly, and it was some of the best chowder I’ve had. There were big chunks of clam in it, and it wasn’t too thick or to watery. As soon as we finished the chowder, our heaping pile of fried seafood was brought to us. There was just enough for the two of us to split, and it was great to have a little tasted of everything. The scallops were my favorite. Lightly battered and not greasy at all. The only downside was that I’m not a huge fan of clam bellies; I usually eat clam strips, but the meal was still good. Everything tasted fresh and flavorful.
A picture from Boston.com of clam strips at The Clam Shack in Falmouth
Now that summer has officially started, all I can think about is how I want to just sit outside near a beach and stuff my face with some fattening fried seafood. During the winter, I could careless about seafood, but as soon as summer comes around, the cravings start. My favorites are clam strips, fried shrimp, and fried scallops. Served with a heaping pile of french fries, of course. Or I could go for some regular old Fish and Chips. Although its not fried, lobster is starting to grow on me too.
So as I was sitting around, browsing Boston.com the other day, I found this page about the best New England Clam and Lobster Shacks. My mouth immediately started watering. By the time I was done, the yogurt that I was eating for lunch tasted as good as dirt. I’m definitely ready to try a few of these places this summer. The Clam Shack in Falmouth and Kream ‘N’ Cone in West Dennis will have to be stops on the trip that I’m planning on taking to the Cape this summer. Judging by it’s name, Kream ‘N’ Cone also sounds like some place that serves my other favorite summer food: ice cream! Surprisingly, my favorite seafood place, Markey’s at Hampton Beach in NH, didn’t make the list. They definitely have some great seafood at decent prices. I actually wrote a post about Markey’s last summer. Also, my old Cape Cod favorite, Tugboats in Hyannis didn’t make the list either. I haven’t been there in over five years, but I learned to love fried seafood there with their fish & chips. Unfortunately Tripadvisor didn’t give Tugboats very good reviews, so maybe I won’t go there. Who knows. All I know now is that I’m really hungry. At least I have time to try all these places now that Sports Depot is closed.
Markey's, the best seafood ever
My summer began almost 2 months ago. I can’t believe it. The weather has not been summery at all though; we’ve probably had a total of 5 sunny days during the entire month of June. And I’m not exaggerating. Fortunately I made it up to Hampton Beach on two of those nice days and was able to soak up some sun before it went into hiding behind the clouds for what seems like an eternity.
On my first beach day, my boyfriend and I stopped at Markey’s, one of my favorite “restaurants,” on the way home. I put “restaurant” in quotes because it’s more of a sit down/takeout seafood stand than an actual restaurant, with an overly casual atmosphere, customers in their bathing suit coverups, a counter to place orders, wooden booths, and picnic tables.
What a perfect way to end a long day at the beach: sitting at table over looking the water and devouring some of the best seafood around?
Markey’s has three different counters where you can place your order. There’s the fried food counter, the lobster counter, and the steamers counter (which also has the beer and wine). I’ve been to Markey’s many times but have never ventured over to the lobster counter (too expensive), and have only had the steamers once (I’m not a huge fan, but I wanted to try them).
On the other hand, I love love love their fried seafood. My boyfriend and I usually split a small order of clam strips, a small order of fried shrimp, a small order of scallops, and a small order of onion rings. Basically a heart attack on an over-pouring tray full of food. All for under $30. Not bad for too much seafood for two people to eat. Another tip, bring your own bottled water so you don’t have to buy a drink. I do it every time and they’ve never said anything. Sure the food is unhealthy, but a couple times a summer you can spare a thousand or so extra calories on fried seafood heaven.
The food isn’t too greasy, and is always fried to a perfect golden brown. Their coctail sauce tastes good too, which is always another plus. I’m not too good at describing fried food; it’s nothing fancy. It tastes great, though. The food usually comes out pretty quickly, around 10 minutes so you have enough time to claim a table out on the deck before they call your number.
The next time you’re up at Hampton Beach, stop at Markey’s. It’s about a mile away from Hampton’s “boardwalk”/strip of stores in Seabrook, and it sits directly across the street from Brown’s (another not-as-amazing seafood stand).
My favorite time of year officially started on Tuesday. Summer: the season of beaches, flip flops, ice cream, Red Sox games, late sunsets, fires in my backyard, and my birthday. Although summer doesn’t technically start for another month and a half, Tuesday I had my one and only final, ending my junior year.
The weather is not very summery right now, but I can’t help but think about laying on a sun-soaked beach with sand in -between my toes. Of course I spent the three beach worthy days so far this year in work or class. No fun. But I’m sure there will be much more to come.
Summer is also the season of travel. The majority of the vacations I’ve taken with my family have been during the summer months. Whether it was to Cape Cod, Atlantic City, Disney World, or just a day trip to Hampton Beach or Water Country, I have some great memories of my summer vacations.
This summer, I don’t have any major trips planned. Yet. I think I’ll be going to Maine for a few days with, and possibly to Cape Cod for a few days, but other than that I’ll be hanging around at home or working. Here’s the top 10 places I hope to go this summer:
- Hampton Beach. Many, many times.
- Markey’s. My favorite seafood place near Hampton Beach. I’ve been craving their fried clam strips and shrimp for a while now.
- Cape Cod for a few days of relaxing at Skaket Beach.
- A few Red Sox games. I haven’t been yet this season, and there’s nothing better than a summer night at Fenway.
- Water Country. I’ve been there so many times, but it never gets old.
- Wells, Maine. My friend’s uncle has a house there that he’ll let us stay in. I went to Wells for a week once and it was nice, it will be fun to go back.
- Every ice cream place within about 20 miles of my house. I’m an ice cream addict that gets worse during the summer months, what can I say?
- Wrentham Outlets for some warm weather, outdoor-shopping discounts.
- Six Flags.
- Out to bars in Boston legally after my 21st birthday on July 4th!
