Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Cape Cod

Some of the members of my lab and I had a conference in Cape Cod to attend last week. Here are some of the food highlights of the trip.

Philly Cheesesteak

We attempted to fly into Providence, RI, but Philadelphia was backed up from some rain, meaning we had to kill about 5 hours in the airport. What better to do than to get a Philly Cheesesteak? These sandwiches were actually pretty good as far as airport food goes. Juicy beef mixed with some soft onions and peppers, all swimming in melted Cheese-Wiz. Don't get disgusted by the flagrant use of sprayable cheese. It's part of the cheesesteak's charm. You can also get provolone if you're not up to the neon orange stuff.

Steamed Clams

Lobster Roll

While on the Cape, we did a mild bit of traveling and eating around the various towns. At the Lobster Claw in Orleans, MA, we had a decent lunch. We started with some steamed clams, all of which had that weird foot sticking out. Some were a little sandy, but most were good, especially when dipped in the drawn butter or the clam broth. For lunch, some of us tried the quintessential lobster roll. Unlike what I had envisioned, the lobster roll comes in a hot dog bun that looks like it's a cousin of Wonderbread. It is, however, stuffed with large pieces of lobster in a light mayonnaise dressing. The point is to give the lobster the body of a salad without losing that wonderful sweet brininess. Some of the lobster rolls didn't have a ton of lobster flavor, but others were fine. Be prepared to pay a pretty penny for these pretty petit portions.

Fisherman's Platter

In our hotel in Hyannis was the Hearth n' Kettle. With no means of transportation at our disposal, we made the best of one of our evenings off and dined at this restaurant. To be honest, the food was pretty decent considering it was a hotel eatery. The lobster bisque was good but not overbearingly heavy. The fish was a fine choice too, but the dish that garnered the most attention at our table was the Fisherman's Sampler, seen above. Consisting of fried haddock, scallops, shrimp, clams, onion rings, and French fries, this beast of a plate was only tamed by the joint efforts of four grown men. This had to be the best deal for the money on the entire Cape. Just the sheer poundage on the plate and the poundage gained from eating this monster are worth the money.

Cape Cod was a lot of fun. Small fishing areas mixed in with yuppie high-class lifestyles makes for an interesting touring destination. I did not get a chance to see any Kennedy's, but I did get to eat some delicious seafood.

1 comment:

Rachel said...

"pay a pretty penny for these pretty petit portions"

Just reading that makes me spit!