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UPDATED Ken's Place
(207) 883-6611
207 Pine Point Road (Route 9)
Hospitality - Fast counter service in an immaculate, simple dining room
Open daily at 11 a.m. for lunch and dinner from the first day of spring to the thrid week of October
Spotless and clean, from the floors to the oil that fries the fish, with fresh seafood classics that include both batter and crumb fried clams
David Wilcox opened March 21 in 2008, taking this 1927 classic seafood place back into business from its winter hibernation, as he has every spring since 2000. "We're sticking with our same great food," Wilcox said. The batter-fried clams are favorite of many local customers, and are made with a recipe from 1927. Others, like me, like the light and crunchy fried clams with a crumb coating. In either case, the fried clams, along with anything else fried here, will not have any trans fat from the fresh oil mixture Wilcox uses (and keeps secret).
A raw bar serves oysters and littleneck clams on the half shell; the Winterpoint Oysters are from West Bath, where they grown in Mill Cove, and the Littlenecks are from Freeport, one of the only areas that harvest them in Maine, according to Wilcox. Maine steamers are usually local, Pine Point steamers, but sometimes they come out of Freeport. "The Freeport steamers (soft-shell clams) can be sweeter."
"We'll probably go through 15 gallons of shucked clams," Wilcox said on his opening day. He makes fresh lobster stew, and 100 lobsteers are picked each day for that stew and for lobster rolls. "I can pick a lobster in about 30 seconds" Wilcox said. "I'm pretty much the fastest; I can get through them in half an hour." He doesn't usually extract the meat from the legs, and sometimes just gives them away. He prefers the taste of the lobster meat he picks, and likes to save on the cost, since the picked meat is expensive. Many other places on the coast buy their lobster meat already picked, including Red's Eats in Wiscasset.
No doubt you will notice the energetic, slender guy wiping down the counters and clearing tables when you drop by Ken's Place yourself. He's probably the owner.
Updated April 2010