The Cape Codder (144/366)

(145/366)

After work today, a group of us headed down to a restaurant called The Cape Codder. After tasting some lackluster clam chowder last week, we were on a hunt for the legit stuff. Someone found this place and after reading some mixed reviews, with at least one claiming it was authentic New England seafood, we decided to check it out.

To say this place is a hole-in-the-wall, might be an understatement. It’s tiny. The parking lot was pretty full when I got there, which was promising.

The sign is confusing because, although I think it’s supposed to look like Cape Cod, to me it looks more like a Viking ship. When you go into the restaurant, the first thing you notice is the barrage of Boston sports memorabilia. The walls are covered with pictures, newspaper clippings, and posters of Red Sox, Celtics, and Patriots sports heros (the Bruins are missing for some reason).

We sat down and I ordered my usual seafood order – clam chowder and fried clam strips. New England clam chowder should be thick and chunky with big bites of potatoes and clams. This clam chowder was pretty thick, but was lacking on the chunks of potato and clam. It wasn’t bad, but I can’t say that the cans of Progresso clam chowder from the grocery store aren’t just as good. The clam strips were not the worse clam strips I’ve ever had, but they couldn’t compare to the real stuff. The batter on them and the onion rings should be light and flaky and crispy. The problem I’ve most often come across is the breading being too heavy and thick and overwhelming whatever it’s breading. This was somewhere in the middle. It wasn’t light and crispy enough, but it wasn’t inedible.

I think the best word to sum up the Cape Codder is “meh”. It’s not bad. But it’s not great either. I’m glad we went, but I don’t feel the need to go back.