The Clam — Restaurant in New York

I had higher expectations for the service. It was an overcast day with a few rain drops here and there. We were a party of four looking to start the experience with a bottle of wine and half dozen oysters for each of us “right off the bat” Our waiter however, refused to serve us until we had decided on the full menu in order to put the order in at once. I understand the order can come in courses, but we simply knew how we wanted to start before even reading the menu. I quickly learned that the waiter’s way was the only way so we had to delay our appetite for a bit. That was oddly acceptable until he approached our table for the second time asking if we were ready for the full order - which we were not just yet and so I tried for the second time ask if he could bring us the wine and oysters while we read the menu. At that time, holding an umbrella he justified himself with a rather patronizing tone saying that it was raining, so he wanted to avoid coming out to our table to take multiple orders. Well, that is when the excitement for being there embraced the waiter’s discomfort and changed our mood. I know the situation with COVID is not pleasant for anybody, but we are paying customers sitting outside under a sunshade getting hit by some inevitable water drops on a summer night. It would be nicer if our waiter would not complain or reduce his level of commitment about serving us. He never returned to our table and bluntly ignored us for a good while. We walked inside to learn that the manager would be serving us. I appreciate the manager taking care of it from that moment on and serving us, but at that point we were unfortunately very distraught so we just paid the bill and left...

An alternate name of this restaurant could be "Clams on Clams on Clams," although there were a few other options on the menu that featured other seafood as well as chicken and a strip loin. I would highly recommend sticking with their clam dishes as the name suggests.

We made a reservation for 4 people a couple of weeks in advance. Our reservation was at 6 pm and soon after 6 pm, the restaurant was packed with a sophisticated crowd of West Village natives and a few yuppie couples. The space feels airy and clean. The ceiling is bedazzled with hundreds of pearlescent square tiles and the exposed brick added a nice rustic touch.

We decided to start with the Campechana Coctel de Camaron, an excellent appetizer to share. The dip consisted of hearty chunks of clam, marinara sauce, lime, and avocados - delicious!

For our entrees, we ordered the Spaghetti & Clams, Clam Fried Rice, and the Block Island Swordfish with a side of Asparagus. The Spaghetti & Clams was delicious and the presentation was nice - 5 clams around a heaping pile of spaghetti in clam spicy gravy with a leafy bunch of arugula atop the pasta. The spicy gravy was not as spicy, but more salty than I had expected. The proportions of pasta to clam were 60% pasta, 40% clam in spicy gravy.

The Clam Fried Rice was my favorite and also less salty than the Spaghetti & Clams dish. There was a medley of pork belly confit, snow peas, and pickled onion that really brought a lot of flavor to the dish without being...

Of all the restaurants we visit this is hands down our favorite. This is the kind of place you refer to as a GEM.

Let’s start with the location on the corner of Leroy and Hudson across from the park on a tree lined corner. Summer, spring, fall all perfect times to enjoy outdoor dining on either of their epic patios. Time it right a the sunset will shoot down Leroy st. And light up the block like a movie set.

The namesake is well represented on the menu from raw clams (not easily discovered on menus today), a pasta w/ clams in red sauce (amazing) or the sliders featuring lobster and fried clam strips. Beyond that there many other great options including two dishes centered on Farrow Island salmon. Mike the Executive Chef keeps things fresh and seasonal while allowing the natural goodness of the seafood to shine through.

But all this would mean nothing without the staff. We are on fist name basis with many folks there but Carla leads point on the whole joint. Carla takes the words “front of house” and makes them “my house”. From the minute you walk through the door the team is 10 steps ahead. I swear we could walk in and say nothing and an amazing meal would be served, paired and on point.

If this does not read like a restaurant love letter then I am not doing The Clam justice as it is where we celebrate everything and where we show up at 1:30 on a Saturday ready to let the...