There are just a few numbers of restaurants with a nice outdoor waterfront seating here at Woods Hole, MA. Cape Cod is such a beautiful place to visit, you want to enjoy the view wherever you can. One of those spot is called Captain Kidd, and is a quite nice size. It looks like a nice large home that has been turned into a restaurant.
Even though there are more than one doors, but the main entrance is at the door all the way to the right. This intriguing wooden mermaid-looking lady will tell you where to go.
The inside is large, with nice high ceiling and lots and lots of seating. The interior is heavy with woods, with big wooden fish swilling around near the ceiling. It has sort of fishing cabin feeling to it. The furniture is in white and navy blue, keeping up with the nautical theme.
They have a full bar, with a good amount of bar seating as well. The area across from the bar is more simple, I think so that the color and design of the furniture do not fight against the large wall mural.
Other than this area, everywhere else has the clean white and navy blue lines, with nautical or fishing decor on the wall. The color mural is quite interesting though. It had a description of what it depicts on the far right end of the wall. It says that it shows “Captain Kidd and his captains burying one of his treasures – the last of which was reputed to have been buried 60 miles off New York and after which the crew is put to death – Death Men Tell No Tales” Pretty cool mural for sure!
But the best seats in the house is actually outside the house…their waterfront outdoor seating! Especially during the Summer time, or warm/cool Spring or Fall days. This area is not as large as the inside, but it certainly comes with a beautiful view of the water, boats, and yes, nice breathe!
Their patio even extends way into the water, which makes you feel like you are floating on top of it. The Sumbrella is a bit small , so depending the hour of the day, it might not give you enough shade while dining. And, due to the shape of the extended patio, it is more suitable for party of two or one.
We started our dinner with a couple of drinks. I ordered Village Sangria ($8) made with blend of red and white wine, accentuated with spirits and fresh fruits. It was not sweet but nice and refreshing. it didn’t have any cut up fruit pierces in the drink, which was sad… I always enjoy eating the fruits that soaked up goody wine flavors at the end. My hubby went with Harvard Cup ($12), made with Pimms #1 lemon & cucumber, ginger beer. He has to get some king of ginger beer drink during Summer time. It was very strong with ginger, if you love ginger flavored drink, this would be it. Very refreshing, and sweet.
We ordered two appetizers to share, since there were total of five of us. The first item was Crispy Salt & Pepper Calamari ($13) that comes with roasted red pepper aioli dip. It was lightly fried and crispy! It has some fried red hot pepper mixed in with the calamari, which added extra spicy flavor. The aioli had some kick to it, very tasty! We all enjoyed this calamari, it disappeared quick!
The second appetizer was Crunchy Onion Rings ($8) with spicy ranch dip. Because of the ingredients (just onion), this one had more portion than calamari at lower price tag. They had fluffy batter, and just like it says, it was crunchy. The ranch dip was good too. It was comforting and certainly addictive dish…
For main, we each ordered something different. First one was Fried Clam Plate ($33) with full bellied clams, crispy french fires, and cabbage slaw. This one is priced at “market” so the price will vary. It came with a whole lot of fried clams on a bed of french fries. It was a good dish with fresh, tasty clams. Definitely for clam lovers.
Second one was Simple Salad ($11/large) that comes with mixed greens, cucumbers and grape tomatoes, onion and choice of dressing. We added Lobster Salad ($15) to this salad. You can also add other items such as chicken and shrimp. Very fresh with vibrant colors of veggies. The lobster salad had lots of real lobster meat, you can actually see the claw meat and such. The price tag is high, but you get a generous amount of fresh, big lobster meat. Third item was Fisherman’s Platter ($29), that comes with crispy shrimp, scallops, cod, clams, crispy french fries and cabbage slaw. This one is similar to the Fried Clam Plate with a glance, but it comes with less clams, and more of different kinds of fried seafood. It had a good amount of fried seafood on a bed of fries, fresh and tasty.
Now, the last two dishes were more of the staples of Cape Cod dish in the Summer. This one is Cape Cod Shore Dinner ($45) that comes with 1 1/4 lb lobster, steamers, linguiça, fingering potatoes, and corn on the cub. This one is also priced at “market” so the price will vary. They brought this huge pot with a side of butter. In the inside, they had a bib on top of all the treasures of the land and the sea.
I must say, I don’t think I have ever seen anything like this dish before in front of me. So, it was interesting just to observe what this pot full of gold is all about. You can see clams, potatoes, large linguiça, and then a bright red claw… Up to this point, I was thinking “there are pieces of lobster in here, still in their shell” But then, the person who ordered it picked up the WHOLE lobster so that I can take a photo of it. My goodness! I wouldn’t even know how to eat a whole lobster…
And here are just a small part of what was in the pot. If you want to order this dish, make sure you are super hungry (or bring someone you can share it with), and know how to eat the whole lobster. The person who ordered it was quite skilled in that department, she finished it up clean! It seemed like everything in the pot was quite delicious, everyone who had a piece of something out of the pot seemed to enjoyed them fully.
Now, last but not least, one item that is like a symbol of Summer in the Cape… Lobster Roll! This is what I ordered, I was craving a good lobster roll, and I heard that they have a pretty good one. So, I went with “Our Signature Lobster Roll” ($27), made with lightly dressed lobster and lettuce on butter griddled brioche roll. It came with a side of french fries and a pickle.
the roll itself was not huge, but it was a good size, and it sure had loads of lobster chunk meat stuffed in it. With that, it had a nice weight to it. It was super fresh and tasty, and I liked how it was not covered in thick mayo. It was more light and refreshing, a perfect Summer dish in the Cape (or anywhere, really).
While we were enjoying the main dishes, we also enjoyed another cocktail. This time, we went with a frozen drink, Blackberry Margarita ($14) with tequila, cointruea, blackberry combier, limes and orange. It was ice cold, nice to get a frozen margarita on a hot Summer day. It was bright pink, sweet and tasty.
After we all enjoyed our main dishes, we decided to share two desserts among the five of us. We went with Chocolate Torte ($8) and Key Lime Pie ($8). The chocolate torte was really dense, rich, and velvety. It was not a big slice, but since we were all quite full and this one being so dense, it was the right size for us. It was very chocolate-y, so a great dessert for a chocolate lover.
The key lime pie was much lighter than the chocolate torte, fluffy and very tasty. I appreciated them not adding any green food coloring to the pie, as the real key lime pie should NOT be green. It was really nice pie, having a heavy dessert and a light one worked out for us.
The service was friendly, warm and attentive. The server took a good care of us. The food was all very tasty, drinks were good, although not excellent. The price point is a bit high on seafood dishes, but that is common in most restaurants, especially if they are offering something really fresh. So, I would say the price was worth the quality of the food we received. The portion of the food was quite good too. And having the delicious food with a beautiful view and fun company just makes the dinner even more tasty. I would definitely return to this spot for a fun lunch or dinner again.
Captain Kidd Restaurant & Bar – 77 Water St, Woods Hole, MA 02543