Clambake Seafood Restaurant — Restaurant in Scarborough

Recommended by our Air BNB host. Much to our surprise as we rounded the corner and saw how big this place was. It looked incredibly busy in the parking lot at 8 p on a beautiful Friday evening.

Once inside we realized it was an order at the window/pick up at another, seat yourself after kinda place. One of the biggest restaurants of this type I've ever visited.

As we stood in line to order there were people in front and behind us. The menu up on boards over the heads of the order takers. There were three people taking orders and the line felt like it moved rather quickly not allowing us much time to decide. As my friend and I studied the menu we had several people ask if we have been here before and they were making suggestions. We kept hearing "they have the best fried seafood".

We decided you share the mates fisherman's platter which was advertised as having 1 1/2 lbs. of seafood, a small house salad and a cup of the haddock chowder to share.

As we made our way over to the pickup area, we could tell "fried" was the way to go BC that's what almost everyone ordered. It seemed like many orders were cranked out and then there was a lull ...not sure why. Then about 5 - 8 minutes later, orders were flying out of the kitchen again.

We seated ourselves indoors (covered porch available along with some picnic tables outside in the front parking lot) and proceeded to attack the platter.

The fried haddock, claims bellies and strips, shrimp and scallops were piled high over crinkle cut fries. The haddock seemed a bit over cooked and dry. The other seafood was good, lots of clam strips and a fairly reasonable amount of scallops. Scallops were a bit chewy vs plump and juicy, clam strips were very good. Fries weren't crisp or as hot as we would prefer BC they were on the bottom.

Cole slaw was excellent. We didn't eat the roll but it seemed hard and dry when I broke it in half.

Haddock chowder was loaded with fish but very soupy so lacked the taste of a creamy chowder. Salad was standard iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, chopped celery and sliced onions.

Total tab around $40 for a large amount of food. Decent but expectations were higher based on the comments of some of the locals as were ordered and waited in the...

As a vegetarian I was ready to just see what I could do to find something to eat here. I know it’s a seafood restaurant, but my Dad has great memories of eating here even back when it was a fundraiser in a tent for the church across the street. (He’s been coming to OOB for 70 + years) this restaurant is set up to handle large crowds, and it does. You first go get in line to order, then get your drinks and find a table while wait for your number to be called to pick up your food. Then you wait in line to pick up your food. It’s all counter service. There’s nothing wrong with it. Like I said they can handle the large crowds they get this way.

As for the food, they know how to fry stuff here. Which is good because I love to eat fried stuff! The fried mushrooms were great and the onion rings were worth going back for. The mozzarella sticks however were extremely salty and not melted like I had hoped.

The veggie wrap was basically a salad mix with a little dressing. It was ok, but I’m not too picky. I was hoping for something a little more inventive for $9. Just throw some hummus on there or something. Though it did come with a dill pickle spear and crinkle cut fries. Which what the heck?!? Crinkle cut fries? Batter dip those suckers or something! Ok so they know how to fry things except the fries. They were cooked well, but meh.

The atmosphere is pretty basic. A few hunting and fishing trophies. And a nice view if you get one of the right tables.

Overall it was a decent experience. I hadn’t been there since I was a kid and would load up on the fried clams. It was good to go for...

I have loved eating at the Clambake for several years. However, since the closing of the Dunstan School Restaurant (owned by the same people) and after the change of management, this place has been on a steady decline, along with portion sizes, while prices have absolutely skyrocketed. Today, I paid $44 for a haddock, scallops, and whole belly clam combination dinner. Although the scallops were delicious, most of the haddock I received was coating with very thin pieces of haddock inside, and perhaps the smallest whole belly clams I've ever seen. Considering that it's $6 extra for whole belly clams, you'd think the quality would be better. just a couple of years ago, I would have paid $26-$28 for this. Now $44. Most of the food was tasteless. You also used to get a decent portion of coleslaw with your dinner. Now they give you a portion about the size of a tartar sauce container, and I finished it in four or five bites. It's very sad that what happened to the Dunstan School Restaurant is now happening here. It's my humble impression that this establishment is being run just for the sake of keeping it open. At first the quality remained good even as prices increased, but now portions and quality have declined while prices have dramatically increased. My cousin also paid over $30 for a small lobster roll. If you work hard for your money, I'd think twice about eating here. I wouldn't be surprised if this place ends up being for sale in a year or two. Very sorry to have to write this review, but I think this represents the feelings of a lot of people, locals and...