King Crabber’s Pub – Damariscotta, Maine
A Place for Friends and Food
King Crabber’s Pub sits near the bridge, one block off Main in Damariscotta. I’ve been there a couple times, most notibly with Charles and Todd before we crossed the Portal. It’s a tall brick place that you can see from the road when you come down towards the river, the windows lit, and the place is warm and inviting as it sits against the dark water under the bridge.
This isn’t East Bay. It’s a different atmosphere. The kind of place that has fed the town long enough to know it’s patrons, and for the town to know the place.
Charles, Todd, and I came here one night after the Observatory Array wasn’t cooperating and we needed to clear our heads. Todd suggested it, and it sounded good to me as well. That was also the night we found out that Charles was hiding a bunch of expensive cars in the barn. He drives the Land Rover, and said his parents owned the others. I just wondered how rich you have to be to not make a big deal of those kinds of cars in your barn, but I digress.
King Crabber’s Pub: The Building
If you’ve never been inside, the walls are brick, and there are dark cherry floors. Low beams cross the ceiling. Iron hooks hold handmade mugs that look worn from actual use, not from decoration. A short rise of steps reaches the oyster bar. A few more steps lead to a small dining room set apart from the noise below.
The place carries the river in its air. Butter, char, and lemon come from the kitchen. Conversations stay low and easy. A chalkboard lists the oysters and the catch of the day in clear block print. The table by the front window has a view of the bridge lights over the Damariscotta River.
The Food
This is the best part. Seriously.
The crab cakes have a crackling crust and soft centers packed with sweet fresh crab. A little Old Bay and minced celery give a clean bite. A squeeze of lemon makes the crab taste even better. The bacon-wrapped scallops are big and just opaque in the middle, the bacon glazed with brown sugar and black pepper so it snaps and then melts. You get smoke first, then the sea.
The lobster carbonara comes with ribbons of fresh pasta coated in a silky cream and egg sauce, glossy with butter and flecked with cracked black pepper. Chunks of sweet lobster claw and knuckle meat show pink against the pale sauce, with crisp bits of pancetta, a scatter of chives, and a little lemon zest. The first bite is rich and briny at once.
The Mediterranean haddock is roasted until it just flakes, sitting in a shallow pool of olive oil with roasted cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, capers, garlic, and curls of lemon peel. Each forkful picks up something different.
The barbecue salmon has crosshatch grill marks and a lacquer of house sauce, smoky and a little sweet with molasses and cider vinegar. The Caesar is crisp and cold, romaine coated in a garlicky anchovy dressing with shaved Parmesan and croutons that crack and then soak up the dressing.
The coffee comes in thick cups that hold heat well.
The Atmosphere
Our waitress was Alba that night. I remember her because she was really good at what she did. She set menus out, brought water, but most of all, she gave us space to talk, and when she checked in, she made sure we saw her approaching and could adjust. Oh, and she never oversold the deserts, although Todd was eyeing them all night.
The dining room upstairs is set apart from the noise of the pub below. This is where we sat, and where the food was good enough that nobody talked much for a while after the plates arrived, and we were all okay with it.
Todd chased the last tomato through the oil and wiped the plate with bread. Charles savored his dish. I saved the corner of the salmon with the most char for my last bite. That is the best thing I can say about a meal.
King Crabber’s Pub and the Book Series
The three of us drove down from East Bay on an October evening in Book 1, Charles Mandrake and the Resonance Array. No shop talk at dinner. That was the agreement. What happened instead was a long conversation about East Bay, about what it feels like to grow up somewhere, and what Charles was beginning to understand about friendship.
He said it plainly, sitting at the table by the bridge window with his coffee cooling: he had never had real friends before. Todd told him he brought “balance to the force”. I just told him he was our friend. That was true then. It’s still true now.
King Crabber’s Pub is where that happened.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR – King Eider’s Pub in Damariscotta, ME
King Crabber’s Pub is fictional, but it was inspired by the real place. If you find yourself in Damariscotta, Maine, King Eider’s Pub at 2 Elm Street is worth the stop, and we thank them for being the kind of place that Anna, Charles, and Todd could become true friends.