Clam Box-206 High Street, Ipswich, MA (978) 356 9707
Yesterday, my friend, mom and I went to Ipswich (a good 50 miles outside of Beantown) to get our fried seafood fix satisfied! My mom and I share a love for fried clams with big bellies! (Strips are not fried clams! So HOJO’s fried clam strips are a joke to us!) When ordering my water, they asked bottled or tap. I thought was nice. But a bottle water only costs $1.25. The prices are reasonable for the quality and amount of food that you get. We ruminated over getting a “meal” plate but did not want fries, onion rings or even cole slaw with our fried clams.
This large order of goodness set us back $22! They clean their oil every afternoon and have been in business since 1935. Their next big competitor in the area is Woodmans in nearby Essex. It was a gorgeous day to drive up there to get clams. The line was small for 11:30am (opened at 11am) but by the time we were done and leaving at noon-the line was out the door!
You can order “big bellies” and we made sure we did. The fried clams did not taste overly greasy and I did not have that usual queasy feeling when eating fried foods. (A good thing due to the clean oil, makes a big difference! Plus my mom is the litmus test, if the oil is not clean she gets sick or does not feel well within 10 minutes of consuming the food item.)
We loved our fried clams and dipped them in a combo of tartar sauce and cocktail sauce. The cocktail sauce had a nice horseradish bite. The side of cole slaw was got was good which my friend ordered to share. Reminded me of KFC, my friend thought it needed a bit more acid. I agreed but I was still over the moon over the fried clams.
The dining room is off to the side of the ordering area and if you wanted to eat outside, there were a few picnic tables off to the side of the parking lot. The service was efficient and friendly.
You cannot miss the Clam Box as it is in the shape of a Clam Box. Cute! Tons of stuff to buy hats, t-shirts, magnets, note cards and post cards if you want to buy them.
9 forks out of 10 forks
Tags: American, Clam Box, Eats, Ipswich-MA, Reviews
