Though I am a born-and-raised New Englander, I won’t pretend that I am a huge lover of seafood. I have tried (and liked) a few clam chowders in my lifetime, and I am slowly warming up to the taste of lobster the more I try it, but seafood just really isn’t my thing. However, I will always be up for a classic fish ‘n chips platter whenever the opportunity presents itself.
With haddock being a fish that can be caught year round, and a town that was built off of fishermen, it was only right that I tried a seafood dish from two of the best spots on the coastline, The Landing and Maddie’s Sail Loft.
The Landing
Anytime a food is beer battered, I will be drawn in, no matter what the dish is. So it was only natural that I found the fish ‘n chips platter here to be delicious. The fish was battered using Allagash White, which is brewed in Maine. The dish was served over a bed of crispy fries that corresponded well with the batter used on the haddock. Coming along with the meal was a side of coleslaw and a tartar sauce that was just the right amount of tangy.
When cutting into the three pieces of fish that I was given, it was perfectly flaky, and I knew I was in for a treat. Like the fries, the batter was crunchy and had a good amount of salt to go with it, and the meat was light, fresh and tasty.
Maddie’s Sail Loft
At Maddie’s, I was yet again delightfully presented with beer-battered haddock. While the previous restaurant uses a white ale in their batter, Maddie’s uses a completely different flavor with Guinness. Though the beers are drastically different, this platter nonetheless came through with a delicious golden brown batter on the haddock, complemented by thin and crispy fries, coleslaw and a tasty tartar sauce. This dish was served with one large piece of fish and the coleslaw that came along was creamy, crunchy and served as an excellent complement to the main part of the meal.