Can't clam up about this meal!

In the combox for the Roo Bar post I wrote about another dinner there but a change of venue and menu deserves its own entry.

Having been on the Cape for the week I finally weakened and went out for a totally fried meal. I know that many tout Baxter's as the best clam place on the Cape but in my estimation, Cook's Seafood gets the blue ribbon. Cook's is short on ambiance (although very clean) but their clams are just the right size, tender and never chewy, done up in a batter so light it just can't overwhelm the bivalves (a problem in many other clam places).

And to the debate over whole belly clams vs. clam strips there is only one decent answer and it comes with a bellyfull of flavor. Clam strips are an abomination, an embarrassment to New England and a violation of the natural law!

The Clam Plate at Cook's is huge and could easily serve two. The clams are heaped on a bed of french fries and topped with onion rings. These onion rings were cut in Cook's kitchen, not at some processing plant, and they've never seen the inside of a freezer. The only disappointment was the side of cole slaw which I'd guess was made earlier in the day and had been waiting in a refrigerator to be added to my plate. Such fine seafood deserves better accompaniments.

Cook's has a full menu of seafood items and serves beer and wine as well at two locations: in Hyannis on Rt. 132 or in Mashpee at 7 Ryan's Way. (Cook's needs but doesn't have a web site.)