Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

April 25, 2010

Taste & Tell: Fresh seafood, fried nicely, makes Ken's a favorite

By N.L. ENGLISH

SCARBOROUGH - You are in luck -- the first Tuesday of the month is right around the corner, the day when fried oysters, the queen of fried seafood, is on the menu at Ken's Place.

Of course, any day of the week fried clams coated in crumbs or batter, baked or fried haddock, fried Maine shrimp and fried scallops are always on the menu. Ken's Place has provided these Maine summer essentials to locals and visitors for decades.

We all have our favorite spots for fried seafood, and Ken's Place has been mine ever since I learned I could count on owner David Wilcox, who bought Ken's Place in 2000, to police the oil in the fryolator.

He opened his doors in late March this year, having recuperated from a winter of skiing with his sons, working on his house and catching up with his wife and three children.

Clam cake production is already in high gear -- Wilcox said 1,000 clam cakes are sold on Mother's Day, and hundreds the rest of the year. Up to 100 lobsters are picked each day for lobster rolls made to order and lobster stew.

On my own visit (not the first Tuesday of the month), I slid a simple raw oyster ($1.75 each) into my mouth and was grateful for that elemental pleasure -- even though the usual Winter Points, one of Maine's best oysters, were unavailable because of red tide. Shucked to order at the raw bar, oysters are set on a bed of shaved ice and served with standard cocktail sauce and a wedge of lemon.

The raw bar also serves littleneck clams and cocktail shrimp, and it's located at the regular bar. The beer list includes a monthly special, just now Blue Moon Belgian White ($3.95), which is light and easy to drink.

Fried Maine shrimp ($11.99) is excellent, the crumb coating light and crunchy and the sweet little shrimp from the coastal waters of Maine pure in flavor. An a la carte paper boat of these would be the perfect appetizer for a table of Maine seafood lovers.

Baked haddock ($12.99) was especially delectable, with a crumb topping that turned out to be light and pleasant as well. Moist and nicely seasoned, the fish was perfectly cooked. "I don't serve anything old -- it's always perfectly fresh," Wilcox said.

The oval paper plate that held the fish was browned, just like the fish; it's an oven-ready plate meant to be used for baking.

Fried batter clams ($16.99) are billowy golden mouthfuls that are tender and crisp with chewy clam and tender juicy bellies snug inside. Some people swear by this version, and Ken's Place is one of the rare places that offer it. The crumb coating is also good, and perhaps distracts less from those juicy clam bellies.

Asked about why the onion rings or haddock isn't also done in batter, Wilcox said, "With the space we have for the fryers, we have room only to use one fryer with batter."

Simple coleslaw is the right side with all of the fried food. Ketchup is self-service, pumped into little paper cups at a station by the order window. Don't accept the over-seasoned, over-sweet commercial tartar sauce in little sealed plastic tubs -- ask for the house tartar sauce instead.

It's a pleasure for two to share the fisherman's platter, a mountain of fried clams, scallops, Maine shrimp and haddock with French fries, coleslaw and a roll with butter ($24.99).

This assortment shows off the incredibly moist and tender scallops and another version of the delectable haddock, which is equally wonderful.

(Continued on page 2)

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