Kettle Cove Creamery & Cafe | Maine Lobster Roll

A Beautiful Roadfood Find

Cape Elizabeth, a hypnotically scenic town along the Downeast coast south of Portland, has long been a favorite destination for its Lobster Shack. This detour-worth place is known for a very good Maine lobster roll and the marvelous view its picnic tables offer high above the waters of Casco Bay. A few years ago on a meandering trip around town near Kettle Cove Beach, I found yet another irresistible Roadfood attraction. Kettle Cove Creamery & Cafe does not quite offer the breathtaking optics of the Lobster Shack. But it exudes Downeast charm of its own.

Blue-Ribbon Lobster Roll

Kettle Cove’s Maine lobster roll blows my socks off. Loaded with big, resilient hunks of claw and tail in a mere haze of mayo, it arrives in a remarkable bun. It looks like a regular, split-top hot dog bun. Many places serve lobster rolls in just such a bun, the kind that short-order cooks butter and grill on both sides. The buns come off hot iron golden-crisp outside but soft and tender where the meat gets bedded. Typical split-top buns suffer from flimsiness and fall apart. But this one is buff. I don’t mean that it’s chewy. It’s simply more substantial. The copious meat it contains couldn’t want a better match. “Made in Maine!” exclaims the barista whose job it is to toast the bun on a pint-size griddle behind the counter.

You should know that I ate this lobster roll during a weekend when it was my duty to sample Maine’s finest. I was judging Down East Magazine‘s First Annual World’s Best Lobster Roll Contest. Kettle Creek’s version really could (should) have been a contender, maybe the champ.

Coffee An’

At the other side of the modest little eat shack, the walls of which offer jolly images of mermaids and sea horses, you can get ice cream. There are no indoor seats, but a sand-strewn patio with umbrella’d tables does provide accommodations for al fresco ice-cream appreciation.

It’s nice ice cream, more fun than outlandishly butterfatty. They make it in such echt-Maine flavors as Grape-Nuts and blueberry pie. In the latter, ribbons of crust wind through the mulberry-blue custard. Or you can order such silly flavors as birthday cake batter, cotton candy, and double bubble gum. Modern palates indulge in such fashionable faves as salty caramel, coffee Oreo, and ginger.

Coffee and Sandwiches

If you seek caffeine, know that Kettle Cove coffee is swell. Choose from a repertoire of lattes and mochas in addition to dark roast Sumatra and Mexican decaf. Those allergic to lobster rolls can pick from a short menu of handsome made-to-order sandwiches and salads.