Update – 8/22/2008 – A reader (Steve) sent this link to the Thompson’s Clam Bar Jingle – enjoy – its great !!
http://odeo.com/episodes/44481
Back in the 1960s and 1970s we used to have a house in Wrinkle Point in West Dennis, MA. From time to time Dad would take us to dinner at Thompson’s Clam Bar in Harwichport at Wychmere Harbor. I loved going there. My sisters and I would beg for a Shrimp Cocktail and lobster. Dad would usually give in. Back then it seems a shrimp cocktail cost a fortune, but its rather reasonable to have one these days.
8 large shrimp, peeled and cleaned
crushed ice
1/2 cup of Ketchup
1 TBS Hot horseradish
teaspoon of lemon juice
dash of hot sauce
1 Tbs shrimp boil seasoning
Cook the cleaned shrimp just until they turn pink in four cups of water adding the shrimp boil seasoning just prior to putting in the shrimp. Remove/drain the shrimp and place in an icewater bath to stop the cooking. Combine the other ingredients in a bowl for the shrimp sauce. Fill shot glasses with the shrimp sauce and place in the middle of serving glasses filled with crushed ice.
Hang the shrimp on the edges of the glasses. Garnish with lemon wedge and some watercress if desired.
Enjoy!
Dad Cooks @ Recipe Redux 
I think I made thousands of pounds of that cocktail sauce the summer I worked there!! I’m glad to see that Thompsons Clam Bar touched so many lives. It was a Cape Cod classic!!
Well then – thanks for making such good cocktail sauce.
Oh, you bring back wonderful memories. I used to work at Thompson’s Clam Bar (where the tastiest Clams are)
That was my favorite plae on the Cape.
Miss it so much!
Oh my, you bring back awesome memories! I used to work at Thompson’s… Miss is so much
Know where I could get a great recipe for authentic tasting Cape Cod Clam Chowder?
My fondest memories are from the summer of 1966, spent in Harwichport, playing in the Cape Cod Baseball League. My paying “job” (no heavy lifting) along with a free cottage was to transport employees (98% female) to and from work to the Wychmere Harbor Club and Thompson’s Clam Bar. I got to meet all of them in the first two days because I had to drive them over to the police station to get their ID cards Yes. I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. Beyond belief to put it mildly. I remember the employee cafeteria but loved Thompson’s Clam Bar.
I now live in Florida and can only dream about the clam chowder and the good times. The solution is obvious. ROAD TRIP to Harwichport next summer. I’ll probably have to settle for the seafood because I wouldn’t have the strength for the other activities (nor baseball).
The memories flood back every time I think of Thompson’s Clam Bar. I loved it as a child going there with my parents and I’m glad that I got to take my kids there several times before it closed. The place was amazing, so Cape Cod and just a great family place. We now meet at the Cape every year and go to sit out on the deck at Brax Landing, just down the road. It is the next best thing to the original.
I haven’t been there since the mid 80’s! Wow, memories!! Is Thompsons still in operation? I doubt it after all these years. I think I remember a friend telling me that it was sold but I can’t remember…wow, that was a long time ago.
I beleive its a private club now.
4-8 oz bottles of clam juice (heated)
3-6.5 oz cans of drained chopped clams or drained fresh clams (the juice collected from the clams should be added to the bottled clam juices)
1/4 lb of unsalted butter
1 cup of chopped Spanish onion
1 cup of chopped celery
6 oz of flour
2 cups of diced potato
1 teaspoon of clam base or 2 clam bouillon cubes
1 pint of half and half cream
4 oz of slat pork, scored
Salt and pepper to taste
directions
1Melt 1/4 lb butter in a medium saucepan. Add and saute 1 cup of chopped onions and 1 cup of chopped celery in butter until transparent. Mix in 6 oz of flour to the ingredients in this saucepan, cook 5 minutes.
2Add hot clam juice to mixture. Whip with whisk until smooth. Add 2 1/2 oz of scored salt pork. Add 1 tsp of clam base or 2 clam bouillon cubes. Add chopped clams to mixture and cook for 20 minutes.
3Cook 2 cups of diced potatoes separately. Add the potatoes to the chowder. Let stand 20 minutes.
4Take out the salt pork and discard. Add 1 pint of half and half heated cream to mixture. Salt and pepper to taste.
Hey… thanks for the recipe!!!!
I remember I was hired to work at Thompson’s in ’74 and ’76. They were two of my most memorable summers during college. I remember a guy there who shucked clams all day and night…i remember just being in “awe.” Funny what one remembers.I remember Eddie Gill the bartender. i was hired by a man named John. Lovely people….magical summer job…lovely memories.
Amykins
We used to rent a beach cottage on Chase Road, Dennis Port for a couple of weeks during the late 1960s and take our now 50 year old daughter to Thompson’s Clam Bar. It was wonderful. Have since retired to Florida and taken these great memories with me.
I went there is the 1960 with my family and friends. I always like going there to get there fried clams. I was just there 2 weeks and was sad to know that it is not there anymore.
Worked as a chamber maid the hotel in 72-74, my sister used to make the sour mix for the Clam Bar. The best summer job – ever. Such great memories of my Wychemere days.