Lakes Region Eats

The old coot isn't this Forum's restaurant expert, I'd give that one to tis. But today (Saturday), my companion and I had to journey to the Lowe's in Gilford for an "emergency" purchase of a new portable dishwasher (Being an old coot, our kitchen (last remodeled at the turn of the previous century, doesn't have a built-in dishwasher!) We bought our new portable dishwasher from Lowe's because they actually had one in stock!
Anyway, I'd been looking for an excuse to go to the Red Hill Dairy on Rt. 25 in Center Harbor for their Fried Clams, which have no equal in the area IMHO, so we headed to Gilford via that side of the Lake. We each decided to stick with health foods and so we each had a very large order of Fried Clams and an equally big sized order of French Fries!
The Red Hill Dairy's clams didn't disappoint, they were even better than I remembered. (My traveling companion said that they were the best fried clams that they'd ever had!) HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Ran through an incredibly intense downpour 'tween Weirs & Gilford, bought the new appliance and headed home via Alton Bay. Along the way we passed Hart's Turkey Farm (very slow) William Tell in Alton (fairly busy) East of Suez coming into Wolfeboro (PACKED with cars!) and Morrissey's Front Porch (very slow at 6:38PM).
Hours have passed since our clam extravaganza. Everything I ate is still agreeing with me, a sure sign of the food's high quality.
oc

Forums:

Now, I like fried clams, and they've mostly agreed with me; however, nobody else in my family likes them.

I'll keep your recommendation of the "Red Hill Dairy" on Rt. 25 in Center Harbor in mind, though. I usually go to George's, Rose's, or the diner—is it the "Moultonborough Diner"? I especially like the Pine Cone Restaurant in Melvin, and discovered the "Castle in the Clouds Restaurant" when they first opened. OK food, well-priced for the view you get. Just remember to watch the weather.

You know that "Red Hill Dairy", "Coe-House", and "Country-Kitchen" are all owned by the same person, right?

Another "great find" is the "Lakeview Inn"—closed, unaccountably, on Mondays and Tuesdays. Specials are excellent in price, filling quotient, and quality. They're "tied" with "Johnson's" in New Durham for their excellent baked haddock.

"East of Suez" was closed when I passed it last Sunday. I'd guess they're always closed on Sunday?

Passing thought: If waitstaff is a problem—and they're having to hire foreigners—why don't ALL the Lake-Region's restaurants agree to restaurants closing on alternate days?

Alas, "Morrissey's" is no "Bailey's:. (Which itself was no great benchmark, though popular with my family and visitors).

BTW: The Lowe's in North Conway is a HUGE store. I walked in with a 10%-off coupon, and ran out of energy and shoe leather before I could make good use of it!

Don't get me started on dishwashers! :(

If that "portable" uses a faucet adapter, you might want to buy a spare adapter for the kitchen faucet. The brass ones are very delicate, and can break off the threads of the adapter.

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Peace_through_Weakness

xrayspx's picture

"East of Suez" was closed when I passed it last Sunday. I'd guess they're always closed on Sunday?

I don't think I ever saw that place looking open myself, I was going to mention that. I always assumed it was just an abandoned building :-)

Is it seasonal or something?

was started by the Powells, a husband and wife team from NYC (like gokart-mozart is from NYC). (I knew Charlie Powell, he was a car enthusiast.) She was Polynesian (I sure hope) and had brought her native food preparation skills to their restaurant/project. For years they ran it during their vacations from whatever they did in NYC (maybe he was in advertising).
They're both deceased now and I think I heard that it's being run by a daughter-in-law. The restaurant enjoys a great reputation for good cuisine, but its schedule is somewhat haphazard, as it has always been. (I hope I got most of this straight!)
oc

You mentioned that Morrissey's is no Bailey's. You've got that right - we loved Bailey's.
Thanks for the portable diswasher faucet adapter tip. I've used portable dishwashers (2 in total up until now) over 36 years. Somehow, I must be easier on those adapters!
And no, I didn't know Coe House & Country Kitchen and Red Hill Dairy all belonged to the same owner - amazing,
oc

xrayspx's picture

Thanks Old Coot. I don't get how you can run a restaurant that way, but it makes sense. They must have to go to a grocery store for supplies though, since I imagine it would be hard to get vendor contracts with no real schedule.

Must be a labor of love type deal, which probably results in reduced or no profit, but better food.

Yup, that restaurant has always followed a weird business model. But I've never-ever heard anything but compliments about their food.
oc

oc. I think Samiam used to own Coe House but sold it. I may be wrong.

Charlie Powell used to write cook books. French in particular I believe. He traveled extensively in the winters.

Charlie visited our antiques fair at the high school every year as he collected Victorian die cut valentines and postcards. Every year 30 or more antique dealers would go to East of Suez and take over the porch and Charlie and his wife would bring us all sorts of interesting dishes family style and we'd all pass things around. We had a lot fun at those dinners. We did it for more then 15 years.

I also believe Charlie's daughter did inherit the business and I thought she had a karate business or somehow be affiliated with one in NYC in the winters. I did notice it was PACKED when I drove by the other night.

We try to visit at least once per year. With so many great resturants in the area it's hard to visit them all in a season.

Charlie was an interesting guy. I vaguely remember him mentioning the antiques fair at Kingswood (I'm pretty sure.)
Well, how 'bout that Dragonfly, we have a mutual old friend!
It was a surprise to see how many cars were at the restaurant, wasn't it? I'm glad to see any area business prosper. Prosperity for a small business is hard to come by in Carroll County.
oc

Also, Coe House was used as a women's dorm by Belknap College. I love the architectural style of the old place.
oc

Believe that the owner of the nearby furniture store, Home Comfort, purchased the Coe House about two years ago.....about the same time that a nice new BMW with the vanity plate 'Samian' was first seen frequently in the Heath's p-lot.

Seems like the new Hanaford's in Meredith has eaten into Heath's business a good bit....and Heath's is a better all around store...except Hannaford's has better signs outside...

Correct on all counts, I believe. Incidentally, Sam is wife to the owner.
oc

Yeah, that kind of surprised me, oc. How about you?

Funny isn't it tis how our minds develop an image for each frequent forum poster and that image naturally includes a gender. Sam is masculine to me. But, in the case of SAMIAM I guess the person posting under that name IS a male who is married to a Sam and was inspired by his wife's name for his forum name!
Maybe since I have a granddaughter named Samantha (who goes by Sammy) some of these possibilities (regarding SAMIAM) should have occurred to me. I love forum names. I'm sure there's an interesting story behind each of them.
oc

It is funny, you try to picture them etc. Yep, that is what I was saying, when I read it was his wife, I was very surprised. At first, years ago I thought he was the DJ around here who called himself Samiam.