Although my first choice of New England coastal seafood festivals would have definitely been the Island Creek Oyster Festival in Duxbury, Massachusetts on September 12, we were roughly two hours drive away, and weren’t assured tickets, so we opted for the Seafood Festival at Hampton Beach, New Hampshire instead. The weather was blustery, wet and cold that day, but with little else to keep us amused, we set off for Hampton Beach with some high school classmates/friends, aided by their trusty GPS thingee in their rental car (gosh, I LOVE those GPS thingees)…

Celebrating their 20th anniversary, the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival was surprisingly large, with over 50 tents/vendors for non-food items, and another 50-70 vendors under large tents for various types of food and drink. Furthermore, the usual shops lining the the Hampton Beach boardwalk had more food and amusement on offer, so the ingredients for a serious festival that would draw huge crowds were in place!

With temperatures in the 50’s with strong gusts of damp ocean air, we were wet and hungry well before noon, but decided to walk the entire length of the massive food tents to check out the variety of dishes on offer, then start eating our way back to the beginning…

There was a mind boggling array of seafood from lobsters to oysters, clams, shrimp, fish, etc. There were also stalls selling Italian sausages and sandwiches, fried potatoes and onions, drinks, desserts, barbecues, burgers, etc.

We started our lunch time foraging with some shrimp cocktail. Large Atlantic shrimp perfectly boiled and served on a bamboo skewer. Shockingly expensive to me at $6 (I didn’t ask the price when I picked it out, then gulped when I had to pay up…) for three pieces of shrimp, but they were excellent. There is a slightly different taste and texture to shrimp caught in cold waters and it was perfect with the classic cocktail sauces of ketchup and horseradish.

Appetizer under our belt, we decided to try several soups which seemed like a perfect choice given the prevailing weather conditions…

Some stalls were selling classic creamy New England chowders…

…and we opted to try a shrimp and roasted corn chowder from a stall that claimed it they were the reigning champions in this category. I must say the shrimp and corn chowder was superb! Not too thick or creamy, it had the clear flavor and aroma of roasted corn, along with lots of small shrimp in a seafood stock. Just a touch of cream to balance the flavors and texture. Delicious!

Next, Mrs. MM had to check out a lobster bisque which was even better than the shrimp chowder! Served with those little crackers so common to New England and its soups, this was a refreshing bisque with a nice depth of flavor.

The smell of frying onions and red and green peppers along with a large selection of sausages at this stall were EXTREMELY tempting, but we thought we should stick to seafood…

So we had another lobster roll which was pretty good, and great value at $8.95!

Yes, adults and kids alike did wear these lobster claw hats… :)

For dessert, how about a large bowl of berries with some shortcakes and lots of whipped cream?

And if that wasn’t enough for your sweet tooth, then perhaps you would end your meal with a freshly made caramel apple instead? :)

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