It had been raining in Rhode Island for the past two weeks non stop and the outlook for our Fourth of July festivities were looking pretty dim. But when the weather cleared off Saturday morning I knew that we had to find something fun to do outside. As I knew we were only going to be in Rhode Island for a few days I wanted to make sure that I was able to work some clam cakes into our brief itinerary. I looked up Iggy’s on one of my favorite restaurant finder websites – Roadfood.com – and as soon as I saw that they had two restaurants, one in Narragansett and one in Warwick, I knew that we would be going to get clam cakes in Warwick. As a former Rhode Islander I can appreciate the fact that it’s half the distance to Warwick (20 miles versus 40 miles) and there would be significantly fewer people in Warwick on a beautiful summer holiday weekend.

So we went to Iggy’s Doughboys and Chowderhouse to get ourselves some Rhode Island style seafood and eat it on our picnic blanket at the beach. The clam cakes are fantastic, made in the traditional way – lots of dough and one piece of clam in the middle. Some people would call these fritters, but in Rhode Island they’re clam cakes. I was just here for the seafood, but because ‘doughboys’ is in the name and because Kate asked nicely – we picked up a half dozen of the doughboys. They’re sweet and tasty, not dense like fried dough but lighter – reminded me a bit of the New Mexican sopaipillas we had in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

And then, to top off the experience, was a stuffed quahog. Quahog is a Narragansett (Indian tribe) word for a type of hard clam that is found along the New England seashore but is especially numerous and popular in Rhode Island. The stuffed quahog is filled with bread crumbs and clam and topped with paprika. Definitely an acquired taste, but delicious. 

If you’re looking for great Rhode Island seafood, look no further than Iggy’s Doughboys at Oakland Beach, located at 889 Oakland Beach Avenue, Warwick, RI.