A ten-minute drive
from the tourist traps along the Jersey shore boardwalks, Somers Point, a
sleepy and oft-overlooked marina village on the bay, is home to one of the
greatest seafood dives on the East Coast - Smitty’s Clam Bar. While it might
seem obvious that you can get great seafood near the coast, palatable dining on
the Jersey shore is surprisingly hard to come by. Restaurants seem to come and
go with each summer season, aside from a few classics that withstand the yearly
ebb and flow of visitors. Throughout most
of my childhood, my family spent many steamy summer nights at Smitty’s, filling
up on fresh fish and fried clams on our way from Atlantic City to ride the
rides at Wonderland Pier in Ocean City.
Smitty’s is
universally beloved by a loyal following of diners. Come Memorial Day,
chowderheads line up snarling to fight for first-come bar seating or brave the
hour-long wait for a table inside, pacifying their children with cartons of
french fries. The food is just that good. Arriving just before Memorial Day, we
luckily missed the sideshow.
We each ordered a cup
of the red clam chowder, served spilling over the side with a packet of
saltines. The tomato stock is rich, and well-seasoned, thick with potatoes,
carrots and giant, meaty pieces of clam. For addicts, Smitty’s sells quarts of
the stuff that you can take home, freeze, and eat in the dead of winter when
you’re aching for summer.
 |
| The tuna. |
The fish is
gratuitously sauced in simple elements like garlic, lemon, and olive oil. It’s
broiled in a ceramic dish which gives the fish the ultimate balance of a crispy
exterior and delicate inside. We picked the mako shark and the tuna, both
sizzling in a soy, ginger, and wasabi blend. It’s a powerful feeling to consume
something with the capability of eating you. The food is not about revisionism,
it’s about freshness and flavor, the way great seafood should be.
 |
| The mako shark. |
The elderly couple
that sat down next to us were clearly regulars, greeted with everything short
of a kiss from the entire staff. Their adorable waitress knew their order by
heart, including the gentleman’s birch beer. It’s Cheers in real life, for the Jersey shore set.
The place is not by
any means fancy, with plastic chairs, specials scribbled on a white board, and
their menus designed in crayon by the youngest patrons. But sitting dockside,
twenty feet from where your dinner was plucked, makes for one of the most
authentic dining experiences on Earth.
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