Captain Marden’s Seafood
“I'm from Boston. I eat a lot of seafood. I consider myself somewhat of a seafood savant. And I'm telling you one of the best places to get seafood per dollar is Captain Marden's in Wellesley.”
“Roy Marden comes from generations of fishermen. This family really started in the fish business, not the restaurant business, so they have a true expertise. What they are putting on the plate is as fresh and as good as it gets.”
“My grandfather started the business with his father and his brother in 1945. People say Captain Marden’s they say, my grandmother went there, you know, my mom went there and now I'm coming here. We've reached a lot of people..within Massachusetts, and I think that when people hear Captain Marden's they think of how it's been in their lives for such a long time.”
“This one of those places with a star is the food. There's no bar wooden tables, wooden chairs, Old School New England art. It's all about the fish.”
“I think people really rely on the fact that they're gonna come here and get a good meal and fresh seafood. Everything's always super fresh and we don't try to overcomplicate things you know we try to keep it simple and let the seafood speak for itself.”
“I love this market. I mean I just want everything in the store. It's got raw seafood. It's got prepared food, semi prepared food, even this gigantic fresh lobster tank.”
“Anything that they can get on the menu here in the restaurant, you can probably find that in more in the store. We have 20 to 25 different varieties of fresh seafood every day. And then a whole other side of the showcase that is all prepared items. Anything you can imagine that would go great with a nice piece of fish.”
“A great starter here is the clam chowder. Of course the basis is those fresh clams right out of the Gloucester waters, bad celery potatoes, bacon my recommendation, add some oyster crackers in there and give it a little bit of crunch.
“It's not thin like a Rhode Island, you know, clear clam chowder, but it's not super thick. It's kind of that perfect in between that people love. It is very, very delicious.”
“I absolutely love fried clams and we do have the best in the world and Captain Martens are some of my favorite. They say never trust a skinny chef. I don't trust a clam that does not have the big bellies. I don't know how they do it here. I mean, I know they're super fresh, but I think they don't coat them too much. They don't fry them too much. So you can really taste that seafood flavor.”
“People love them. We again buy those every day up and right around Gloucester. Fry them real simple…and people love them on a roll or as a plate.”
“I love mussels. Great to share with your friends. He really served me in an unusual way. This is a garlic cheese sauce. And then on the side is a couple of pieces of buttered French bread and I don't mind using my elbows one way or the other to get at that bread so I can soak up all that sauce.”
“That's almost the best part other than the mussels is the broth. It’s creamy. Little capers in there. Really nice.”
The Captain's Platter here is amazing. It's supposed to be an entree. My family has been known to order it as an appetizer. It's got the big four of fried food; haddock, shrimp, scallops and clams. Also coleslaw and french fries. You have your choice of tartar sauce or cocktail sauce. It is delicious.
“If you want a little bit of everything and you have a great appetite, the Captain Platter is just for you. You know a lot of seafoodYou can get it either fried or broiled….It really showcases the excellent seafood that we got.”
“One of life's great pleasures is the lobster roll and I think the keys are freshness and simplicity. People come from all over the world to try lobster rolls like this.”
“We really think that our lobster roll is excellent because of the freshness of the lobster meat. Again, we try to keep everything super fresh every day and when you do that you create really good food. …light mayo. Not too much celery, not too much lettuce. You know we really want to showcase the lobster. And I think we do a great job with that.”
“Most of the menu here is traditional New England seafood, but sometimes they spice it up here. Literally they spice it up. This is a Fra Diavolo. It's got shrimp mussels and scallops over linguini in that spicy marinara sauce and somehow that sauce really brings out some extra flavor in the seafood.”
“So the fra Diavolo is a great pasta dish if you want to have a little bit of everything. We use wild Mexican shrimp farmed Maine mussels, and fresh never frozen sea scallops. It's not overly spicy. It's kind of a mildly spicy tomato sauce very good.”
“This is a BYOB restaurant. I mean the value here is already outrageous. When you add the BYOB element you are really eating on the cheap.Believe me I am a seafood snob but when I want to go out with my friends or family, make sure I'm getting the absolute freshest fish. This is one of the places that I go Captain Marden's in Wellesley”
