Our trip to Ipswich, MA

We just got back from my niece's bat mitzvah in Boston. While it was wonderful to see my relatives (this is the first time in over 20 years that all of my first cousins were in attendance at the same time), I was a woman on a mission -- I wanted a big plateful of fried belly clams before leaving Boston. Since the relatives keep kosher and had arranged for most meals to be provided for us, this was no easy feat, but I was determined to prevail.

After perusing the internet for several days, I decided that the best option for fried clams would be a side trip to Ipswich. It's not that far from Newton (where we were staying), the weather was nice, and we had a rental car with unlimited mileage. So, off we went late Saturday morning to find the Clam Box of Ipswich.

The Clam Box is unique in that the restaurant itself is shaped like a take-out box for clams. I agonized over several other restaurant choices, but in the end I felt the Clam Box met all my clam criteria. Fresh belly clams are in high demand these days, and due to a problem with red tide disease, the prices are going up. The photos and reviews I found on the internet led me to believe that this was the one restaurant that would satisfy my clam addiction -- and I was not disappointed.

When we arrived at our destination at 11:30 in the morning, there was already a line out the door of people trying to order. This made me confident that of all the clam shacks I could have tried, I had chosen a winner. The line never stopped growing during our visit. There were several reviews of the restaurant on the walls which we read as we waited for our our food to be cooked to order.

The supposed secret to the flavor at the Clam Box of Ipswich is that they change their oil several times a day. I ordered a clam plate, which came with my choice of two from onion rings, fries and cole slaw. I opted for the rings and slaw, as did my husband. My kids, who were suspicious of fresh belly clams, opted for a calamari plate with fries and rings, which they split. That, along with freshly brewed ice tea, was all I wanted.

There are two dining options at the Clam Box -- indoors or outdoors. We chose indoor dining. I was almost embarrassed at the size of the clam plate when our number was called -- it was piled several inches high over the crisp onion rings. The slaw was creamy and delicious and the clams and rings were fresh from the fryer. The batter was light and delicious and let the flavor of the clams shine through. I managed to eat all the clams, but left some onion rings on the plate. I thought I might burst from overeating, but there was no way I was leaving without finishing my meal as I have no idea when I'll get back to that area again. We took the onion rings with us in the car and left to head back to the Boston area.

As we were pulling out of the parking lot, my daughters, who had split a calamari plate, started asking if we could stop for ice cream. About two minutes past the Clam Box, we saw White's Farm ice cream, a long white building with a cow on the roof. The girls begged us to stop. While we felt sick from each ingesting a humongous plate of fried food, we still managed to find room to get a scoop each of White's Farm's incredible ice cream. We noticed from the reviews plastered on the windows of the building that it is well known in the New England area. One daughter got a reverse chocolate chip ice cream, with big hunks of white chocolate in dark chocolate ice cream; the other got a flavor called Outrageous, that had huge chips and brownies in chocolate ice cream. My husband and I each split a scoop of ginger and key lime pie ice cream. The flavors were phenomenal, although we agreed we should carry an emergency defibrillator in the car if we were going to eat like that again any time soon.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable day in Ipswich and I would heartily recommend taking a side trip there for anyone heading to that section of Massachusetts.

The Clam Box of Ipswich:

http://www.ipswichma.com/clambox/index.htm

White's Farm Ice Cream:

http://www.visitingnewengland.com/white's.html

Suzy

There was an extended clam sampling tour on the Boston board of CH a few years ago, which did somewhat inspire the Beefathon, I admit. Based on the results of that survey we meandered out to Essex Seafood for some excellent fried clams. http://essexseafood.com/

With the son going to Worcester in the fall, I think I will need to do a comparison - thanks Suzy for the suggestions.

Essex, along with Woodman's, was on my short list of places to try, but I read a couple of reviews that said those places were coasting on their reputations. While I was unable to test out those reviews on my trip, perhaps you can make the rounds and let us know which is better!

Suzy

I have been fortunate enough to try Woodmans, The Clam Box and Essex seafood numerous times in the past few years and I have to say that The Clam Box and Woodmans are not far apart from each other as far as taste. While Woodmans holds the claim that they invented the fried clam, their lobster is as good as I have found (yes Ive been to chow spots in Maine and Key West and they are both right behind) I also really enjoy the chowder served at Woodmans its a little more brothy than most but the clams are abundant in it. If I had to choose between the box and Woodmans, I would give the edge to Woodmans for a few reasons. 1) They invented the fried clam 2) If traveling with people that dont want clams, their selection of other choices is bigger and better than the box 3) The drive to Woodmans from Boston is a very scenic route, you pass many of fisherman and other seafood shacks that make New England a great eating destination. Plus im fond of the fact that Woodmans sits along water and if you go at he right time you can see the fisherman cruising in their boats filled with lobster.

Woodman's of Essex
Route 133, Main St. Essex, Massachusetts

Clam Box of Ipswich
246 High St
Ipswich, MA 01938
(978) 356-9707
Phone: (978) 768-6451 (800) 649-1773

I've eaten at all 3 many times having been a native of Allson, MA for a couple of years before (very) recently mooving back to CHicago. The biggest difference between the Clam Box and Essex and Woodmans is that the Clam Box are batter fried rather than done in a more traditional dry clam fry. It's harder to get a good fry with batter frying but when done right there is nothing like em. They are light, crisp and utterly greaseless when done right. Also, while this, on the Boston Chowhounds would probably start a bigger fight that the fried clams, I think the chowdah at the box is superior. IT is *true* NE style, that is a light whole milk broth with just a touch of cream and a bunch of melted butter floating on top... None of that pastey, overly thickened stuff that people outside of NE think makes NE chowdah.

If we hadn't eaten such a big breakfast at the Talk of the Town Diner in Watertown before setting out for Ipswich, I would have had the chowder. Next time, I will show up with more of an appetite!

Suzy

Talk of the Town Diner
11 North Beacon Street
Watertown, MA 02472
617-923-2369