I’d like to start by saying that I am by no means a food critic, but when it comes to New England clam chowder I’ve been around the block a few times.
After graduating Southold High, I shipped up to Boston to earn my college degree. The diploma was paid for, in part, by working at not one, but three, popular Commonwealth seafood restaurants. So, I was wary when I tried my first New England clam chowder made south of the Sound at Southold’s Country Corner Café.
I’m happy to say that it didn’t disappoint.
From the moment the waitress placed the hot chowder — contained in the restaurant’s own freshly baked bread bowl — in front of me, I could tell the chef did not skimp on the amount of local North Fork clams and potatoes in the hardy soup.
“It is very popular,” owner Kelly Hunstein said. “It’s pure comfort food.”
The New England clam chowder is made from scratch each day and is the only staple soup on the menu. Other soups, such as tomato basil, Italian wedding and corn chowder, are prepared on a rotating basis.
Country Corner Café is open Monday and Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Country Corner Cafe (visit site)
55765 Rte 25 Southold, NY 11971 (map it)
