A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

I love the cape after Labor day-all the tourists are long gone-and you have the whole place to yourself. No waiting in line for dinner for an hour, no crowded lines in stores, no more commotion outside the black dog store-you get the point. So here are a few of the places that we stopped at this time around:

Quicks Hole is located in Woods Hole, just around the corner from the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard. Even in the off season, it was pretty busy with a constant stream of business. They caught my eye because they advertise lobster tacos and whenever they can, they buy fresh. Two good enough reasons for me to make a stop. So we order at the counter, one lobster burrito, one chicken taco and one “wicked local” salad.

The chicken tacos ($8.95) were excellent. They are going for that fresh ‘California style’ of food-and Id say its not half bad. Tacos came with a side of chips too!

The wicked local salad ($8.95) was  HUGE! The flavors were excellent. It came with Coonamessett mixed greens with cranberries, candied           pecans and goat cheese. LOVE candied pecans! This is seriously enough for two. The lobster burrito (not pictured) was tasty (market price) but it was a bit soupy for my taste. I can’t stand when you take a bite out of something and liquid comes gushing out. The lobster was good, but it was masked by the other strong flavors in the burrito, perhaps I should have had the lobster taco.

They set up is pretty open-a sprinkling of tables inside, a bar area, and a patio outside (musicians are there at night).  All in all, a pretty good place to eat if you’re in the mood for something light and fresh. For three people to have lunch it was $40. They are big into helping the environment, buying locally and having bio plastic utensils made from corn.

Quicks Hole 6 Luscombe Avenue, Woods Hole. www.quicksholewickedfresh.com

Day 2, trip to Chatham. We stop in at the Chatham Cookware cafe. Parking can be a bit tough-street metered parking and a small lot right off Main Street.  And after you’ve finished searching for a spot outside, you have to search for a spot to eat inside. Counter service only, order up and pay at the end of the counter, find a seat and enjoy.

It’s a cute little place, they have a sandwich counter in back, a dessert counter in front, and specialty goods to buy in between. We hover for a bit and manage to score a seat in the sunny window in front.

We stare at the dessert case, or maybe it’s staring at us. Lots of good looking selections here and they  even have some vegan options.

All the sandwiches have cute names. I order the chicken sandwich with cheese, bbq sauce and bacon pressed in a panini press. Pretty good, except for the fact that the cheese hadn’t melted-so it was in that weird in between state of not cold and not warm with a waxy consistency. The chicken was good-sliced very thinly, and the bbq sauce added some layers of flavor I really liked.

My dining companion had the chicken salad with walnuts and cranberries, lettuce and tomato on a white bread.  He reported it to be excellent (I’m not a chicken salad kind of gal). Chatham Cookware Cafe 524 Main Street Chatham.

On the way back to Falmouth, we make a pit stop at Marion’s Pie Shop (Open Mon-Sat 8am-6pm; Sun 8am-5pm) 2022 rte. 28
Chatham, MA 02633. Phone (508) 432-9439. I saw this place featured on some Food Network show, and have been meaning to get down here to try a pie. We arrive at about 4pm on Saturday-the line is out the door. By the time we get inside, there are no fresh fruit pies left, so we settle for two frozen pies and a key lime pie.

We get a large apple pie-we were instructed to let it thaw for the rest of the day and then heat it up for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

We also got a small cherry pie. I think that they probably use the same crust for the sweet and for the savory pies. I personally like my crust a little sweeter, and these were more plain. But judging by the lines that this place has, and their cult following, they must be doing something right. We stood in front of this guy who drove all the way up from Maryland for these pies.

The key lime pie was my favorite of the bunch, but how can you really mess up key lime pie. Good consistency, sweet and tart, good crust!

We then drive a bit further down the street to the Sundae School. We stop at the Harwich Port location (606 Main Street in Harwich Port) but they have 2 other locations,  381 Lower Country Road in Dennisport, and 210 Main Street in East Orleans. I have a friend who raves about this place-they make their own whipped cream. Say no more, you’ve convinced me to try this place out.

My companion gets the raspberry oreo, amaretto nut, and raspberry chip. All the flavors are amazing, but I love the amaretto nut (amaretto is an almond liquor).

Here’s a secret, I actually don’t like sundaes, well maybe I just don’t like hot fudge (gasp! I know) but I got one just to try the home made whipped cream. It was everything my friend said it was, and who doesn’t love a fresh Bing cherry instead of the bright red, sickeningly sweet maraschino cherries? Great ice cream, super creamy-I highly suggest you stop by if you’re in the area.

And finally to end the season right, an old post about the Clam Shack. Located at 227 Clinton Ave, at the entrance to Falmouth Harbor, the place is literally a shack. They are open Memorial Day to Labor day, 11:30am-8pm and they are insanely popular. They have some of the best fried seafood around. The place is crowded all the time! It’s super humid and hot inside, so try to get a seat up on the roof.

This place is no nonsense, your food comes on a plastic lunch tray and then you bring it to your table (if you have managed to score one). There’s all sorts of nautical things scattered around as decorations-makes the place a little kitschy…in a good way. Forget the decor, you’re here for the fried clams and the lobster rolls. The place is a bit pricey, but I think its worth it!

And you can’t get a better view, whether your upstairs on the roof (watch your step it’s steep) or outside at the picnic tables on the dock, you get a great view of the harbor and some of the amazing boats passing through.

Tags: cape, ice cream, lunch, pie, seafood