Clam Haven

I complained about them not having a rest room a few years ago. Well now they do .got a seafood plate a week ago. I must say they are now better than ever. I travel new England in search of the best clam shacks if you will, and out or about 35 .cl as m Haven is in the top 5.
Thanks guys keep up the good work

Ordered dinner to go. A triple platter — both kinds of fried clams — the fried clam strips and the full belly fried clams — and the fried scallops.
I think there were 3 of the full belly clams and 4 scallops total. The rest was a huge mound of the normal fried clam strips. The onions rings were the greasiest I’ve ever encountered. The fried clam strips were just okay. The 4 scallops were good — just wish I had more.
Overall — very disappointing.

Where do I start??? This is a place we visit every time we come to Nh from Florida. There full belly clams are my favorite, but you want to get them at the beginning of the season when they are freshest. Their onion rings are all made by hand and so good. Their clam chowder is also great. Clam haven is a classic staple for New Hampshire summer time.

Usually a good feed. Greasy goodness. Its not health food but once in a while its great.
The hot dog special is a steal…

Yuck. Rats running Around outside smells like rancid grease. Many people love it but not me.
Dg

Nice fish and chips shack to visit in the summer. Always fresh. Lobster is a must try.

VERY reasonable prices. Delicious food! Love the hot dogs w/​fries and Onion Rings. Also like their chicken patties:) staff is nice and sufficient. You can sit outside or on a too hot day, there is an indoor rustic shack. The ONLY thing keeping this from 5 stars is that it is summer only and somehow for this season, VERY summer only! (Closed in mid-​september when most other summer places are closing now! :o) back in April.

cheap greasy food, but what do you expect when you ask for fried clams? they asked u if u want with or without belly. it tasted good and fresh. but yeah… was deep fat fried so u get the grease. it is a good treat once in awhile. people rave about their haddock. will give that whirl next time

How is it possible a roadside stand MANY miles inland like this has *hands down* the best fried seafood and onion rings in a 50 mile radius?!?
We’ve eaten here for years and it is DELICIOUS every time, and the prices are among the lowest for proper seafood anywhere. It defies logic… Chris R’s review is accurate in that the rings are different. They arent that ‘flaky’ fall off the ring batter, more like chicken fingers on a poopoo platter.
If you’re in the area, make it a point to get here if you’re into fried seafood and awesome rings!

This was my first seafood stop after moving back to New England after living in Arizona for 4 years. I was very happy with the fried clam bellies and scallops. The plate came with onion rings and fries that were too greasy. The clam chowder was very good, not super creamy with a good amount of clams. The lobster roll had a good amount of lobster on it for the price but was very plain and could have used more mayonnaise. They have ice cream also which was yummy!

This place has potential, but they will not take advantage of it. Last night was the last time I will patronize Clam Haven. Many years of poor service, no public rest rooms and mediocre food have taken their toll. We arrived prime time for dinner on Mother’s Day. Firstly, parking was a nightmare, which can be a good sign because it indicates a popular restaurant. People were honking at one another, not a space was to be found and spaces are at odd angles and tight. This is typical.
My wife and I got into line for food and we ordered two meals and a frappé to eat in. We were told by the teenage worker that there was no cole slaw and I had to go to another very long line to order the frappé separately. She did not offer to take the cole slaw off our bill, which can be ordered as a side at $ 2 or $ 3. This was too much and I said to myself «This is why I don’t like coming here». I did not say anything about the cole slaw and I did not bother with the frappé, but felt frustrated as usual. She then asked me if I wanted ketchup or tartar sauce. I said yes please, extra on both accounts. She said they were running low on tartar sauce, but was there anything else she could get me. I repeated politely that I would like extra tartar sauce. She snapped back, we cannot give it to you. I was shocked.
The better approach for CH would have been to give one of their long time customers the tartar sauce he insisted on and send one of their employees to the store to buy more (they had about 15 teenagers scrambling around the kitchen out back). Running out of tartar sauce and cole slaw at a fried seafood joint on one of the busiest restaurant days of the year is inexcusable and then to still charge full price for the meal without the cole slaw and to hassle your customers about 2oz of tartar sauce is pathetic. I wanted to cancel the order and walk away, but my wife does not like a scene, so instead we went to sit on one of the filthy picnic tables and wait for a half-​filled order charged at full price. We changed our order to go and at home we had plenty of tartar sauce and something to drink so we salvaged the meal.
It is too bad they do not see that these little things make a big difference in the long term to repeat customers. I know this is a fried seafood stand and service expectations should be kept to a minimum, but nevertheless Clam Haven always disappoints and I am sick of it. I never get a meal where I am simply satisfied all around. Their fried seafood is decent and quick, but I will never be going back.

This place is awful! I don’t know how anyone likes this place. It’s low quality all around. Don’t waste your money.

I go here once a summer because that’s all it takes to remind me how gross their food makes me feel. It’s alright to get every once in a while, but definitely not a luxury seafood business by any means. Their onion rings are awesome, but sooooo greasy. If you’re into standing in line for 20+ minutes or so during the summer months for greasy fried seafood or mediocre ice cream, this is the place to be!

This is a neat place with solid food that is very popular with the locals. The prices are far lower than other places in the area, but quality doesn’t suffer. Two scoops of ice cream will cost you 3 bucks, they don’t charge the beach prices here.
The seafood options are ok, go with the clam strips or bellies. The sandwiches are my favorites, they do a great burger or chicken sandwich and even adding fries and onion rings with the combo will cost you around 5 bucks. All the portions are huge and enough for two meals. They offer salads as well, rare for this type of place.
I don’t like the onion rings, the batter is too think without enough onion.
They’ve been here for 60 years so they are doing something right. Go in with confidence in most of the menu and you’ll more than likely be surprised with the quality.

Not sure where to go with this one.
This place is very popular and always busy. Even so, the food comes out quickly. Great menu selection. Friendly employees. Decent prices. It’s not a cheap meal by any means, but not too bad considering the quantity you get. The outdoor picnic tables are a nice place to enjoy your meal on a good weather day. If it’s really hot out, the shaded tables fill up fast and you are probably better off taking your food home and eating it there.
I grew up going to some other clam places in Essex MA. The batter at Clam Haven just doesn’t compare. It’s o.k. on the fried clams, but there is just something «off» about the onion rings. My family disagrees, but I think the batter tastes too strongly of corn meal. (Call me picky, but this is really the only thing that prevented a 5 star rating)
On the other hand, the fried shrimp is the best I’ve had anywhere. I’m pretty sure it’s also cooked with the same batter so I just don’t know.
Bottom line… if you’re in the area I would strongly recommend Clam Haven, but not sure how far I’d drive just to go there.
Chris

Place rocks! Under 7.00 for an unbelievably fresh haddock sandwich and an enormous portion of french fries! They also include 3 – 4 onion rings! The food here is so FRESH and no one can beat their price within 200 miles! Excellent!

I drive 30 minutes to go here about 3 times a year. I always get the excellent scallop plate. I love it though the onion rings and fries probably shorten my life expectancy a bit! Not sure why they have you pay separately for your drinks … pretty mindless. The cashiers have always been fine and the food is ready promptly. My wife had a hamburger plate there. She said it was good though it looked pretty ordinary to me. The ice cream section is good. I have mostly ordered shakes. The seating is fine. I have mainly sat outside on the tables. There is covered seating in the rear if the weather isn’t nice.

Fried lobster plate for $ 20 is not a bad buy at all. You get 1.5 lobster tails but they must come from 2 – 3 pound lobsters because I did get a good amount of lobster meat. Food was really good! The only thing I didn’t care for is that you have to order your drinks from a separate line/​window and there is no indoor seating.

My family and I look forward to every spring when Clam Haven opens. Their hot dog plate is great and very inexpensive. The clam strip plate is very good too.
This place is a hidden gem.

We were happy to find this road-​side, walk-​up, shack/​window in Derry. It was an option for yet another deep fried lunch in New England. They actually kick it up a notch by offering deep fried lobster tail in addition to the other usual suspects. And if that weren’t enough, the onion rings are thickly beer battered. Cue the heart surgeon.
You can either take your food to go, or eat at any of the picnic tables scattered around the property. They even have ice cream for those of us who can always, always find room for ice cream. Live free or die, right New Hampshire?