Great Places to Eat in Cape Cod

The best lobster rolls and ice cream in Cape Cod!

If you follow me on Instagram, you probably saw much of the food we consumed while in Cape Cod a couple of weeks ago.  We basically made it our mission to seek out amazing lobster rolls and ice cream on a daily basis.  What is the point of vacation if you aren’t enjoying great food?

We stayed in Provincetown but also visited a couple of other areas so I’ve included them below as well.  A week of beautiful weather, delicious food and relaxing with my husband really made this a perfect trip.

Lobster Rolls

We actually ate at The Canteen twice; once for lunch as our first meal and later in the week for dinner.  Their lobster roll was full of fresh huge pieces of lobster that were stuffed into a soft eggy roll.  Other standouts on their menu included the crispy brussels sprouts (first time I’ve enjoyed brussels sprouts since being pregnant!) and the miso ceasar salad (no photo), it was a special. 

Since I’m pregnant (duh), I tried to share a lot of the fish dishes with Matt (I wanted to limit the mercury I was consuming).  The only place I ordered my own lobster roll was at Native Cape Cod Seafood and it was completely worth it.  The fries were just okay but seriously, that lobster roll was perfect in every way.  So much lobster meat on one little bun.  Matt actually enjoyed a couple of different salads there including the ahi tuna below.  Everything was insanely fresh.  It didn’t hurt that we got to eat on a dock overlooking the water.

What I love about Cape Cod is that some of the best food was served out of a shack or stand.  The Red Shack in Ptown was no letdown!  Matt enjoyed their California Lobster Roll (they had a few fun options) that had bacon and avocado on it.  The huge chunks of lobster were served on a Portuguese bun.  I had a salad with lobster chunks that was fresh and perfect.

Ice Cream

It’s no secret that I’m an absolute ice cream fanatic so of course I enjoyed it at least once every day while away.

The first night of our trip I was actually pretty full from dinner and almost skipped dessert, but when I saw that there was a Burnt Butter Brownie Brown Sugar ice cream flavor, I pretty much ignored my stomach and made a very good decision.  This ice cream from The Nut House was creamy and super flavorful.  I just love that they had such a creative flavor.

Before going away, I did some research and couldn’t wait to try Ptown Scoop; they are known for their creative flavors.  I sampled a few others but ultimately had to get the Graham Central Station (graham cracker flavored ice cream filled with a graham cracker swirl and milk chocolate honeycomb crunch pieces).  You can’t tell by the photo but there were lots of fun crunchy pieces in there.  Matt actually got the same flavor in a sundae.

We actually went to Lewis Brothers twice.  On the first visit I had this Low Fat Chocolate Peanut Butter Frozen Yogurt and the next time I had the perfect soft serve cone.  The people who worked there were really nice (and very patient when I asked how often they clean their soft serve machine).  All of the ice cream is homemade, though I didn’t try the regular so I can’t really say how it compares to the other places we visited.

Matt and I almost never order the same ice cream flavors, but when I tried his cone of Coffee Oreo at Buffy’s in Chatham, I HAD to get the same.  The coffee flavor was nice and strong but not overwhelming, the ice cream was creamy, and the Oreo chunks were massive. 

And finally, one of the most intense ice creams I had (definitely the heaviest) was this peanut butter ice cream from Cape Cod Creamery in Yarmouth.  There were chocolate and peanut butter chunks and the peanut butter flavor of the ice cream was perfect.  I didn’t think I’d be able to finish the cup but who am I kidding, I can ALWAYS finish my ice cream.

Other notable places to eat in Cape Cod:

Matt and I both loved Rock Harbor Grill in Orleans.  It is a local gastropub-style restaurant with a more creative menu than I would have expected from a strip-mall location restaurant.  Instead of bread they bring pretzel rolls to the table with a super addicting side of honey mustard butter.  I had a portabello mushroom sandwich (also on a pretzel roll) and Matt ordered salad.  Simple dishes that were actually really, really good.  If it wasn’t so far from where we were staying we would have gone back.

The Beachcomber in Wellfleet was actually a lot of fun.  The restaurant is massive and they have a huge bar that overlooks the water.  Apparently it turns into a night club in the later hours but we were just there for the dive atmosphere and fresh seafood.  Matt enjoyed a few things from the raw bar and then we shared fried clams and lobster roll.  It wasn’t the best meal we had but really good and a fun place to go.

And in case you thought I only take pictures of food on vacation, here are a few other photos from the trip.

Before dinner shot at our B&B

I found it hilarious that we went to see a windmill

Taking advantage of the Provincetown Film Festival

We had Herring Cove Beach to ourselves in the morning