In The News

There’s nothing like warm weather to get me in the mood for summer food and, when dining out, that can mean only one thing – fried seafood. Most Cape Codders have a favorite spot they swear serves the best fried seafood, and I had heard the Kream ‘N’ Kone in West Dennis tops the list for many.

I had never tried its seafood until one night last fall when I was out working late on an assignment and didn’t have time for dinner. I stopped in for a fried haddock sandwich for the car ride home. It was quite possibly the best fried fish sandwich ever, with incredibly flaky haddock surrounded with a light and crispy batter. I actually pulled over the car just to enjoy it more fully.

A group of 10 of us headed to the Kream ‘n’ Kone recently for dinner to see if it was as good as I remembered. The comfortable and casual dining area easily accommodated our good-sized group. And, yes sir, it serves up some mighty fine seafood, no matter what kind you’re hankering for.

The first thing you should know is that the portions are huge. My parents split a three-way platter of shrimp, scallops and clams ($19.50) and still thought it was too much food for two. A generous portion of each of the shellfish was topped with a mound of french fries and hand-battered onion rings. The clams were tender and the scallops and shrimp were perfectly cooked so they were still juicy.

My husband ordered the oyster plate ($12.99), which came with a hefty serving of succulent oysters that were medium in size and delicious. I stuck to the fried haddock plate ($10.50), and it was as good as anticipated.

It also serves broiled fish if you don’t mark the season with fried fish as I do.

The younger people in our party aren’t big seafood lovers, but they were perfectly happy with the non-seafood selections Kream ‘N’ Kone offers. Our daughter enjoyed the fresh-tasting chicken tenders platter ($6.49) with real chicken that was lightly breaded and juicy.

Three kids in our party ordered variations of a burger. There is the hamburger plate, a one-third-pound patty that comes with fries and coleslaw for $5.50. A one-third-pound hamburger by itself is $3.49, and for those with bigger appetites, the half-pound cheeseburger (we substituted onion rings for fries and it was $6.70) might fit the bill.

The burgers were charbroiled and all cooked perfectly to order.

The regular french fries were crisp, but a tad bland (I prefer fries to be salted when they first come out of the oil). A side of curly fries ($3.99) was nicely seasoned, and the coleslaw was freshly made and slightly sweet, just as I like it.

For beverages, you can choose from fountain sodas, beer, wine or frappes. A mini single-serving bottle of Gallo chardonnay is $3.95, but for four cents more, I’d recommend a creamy black and white frappe.

There was no leaving without sampling the ice cream, and we were happy we did. For an additional $15.35, we got four dishes of ice cream topped with an assortment of M&M’s, gummy bears, Heath Bar Crunch, chocolate sprinkles and chocolate dip. There are 24 flavors of Hood soft-serve ice cream. Three days later, my parents were still talking about what they thought was the best soft-serve they ever tasted.

If you go: Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays; weekends until 9:30 p.m.