Bayman's Clam Bar opens in Patchogue

We’ve all gotten used to obscure restaurant names — mashups of the owners’ children's names, allusions to favorite songs, inscrutable foreign words, straight-ahead made-up words — so it’s a relief when an eatery clearly announces exactly what it is.

That’s your cue, Bayman’s Clam Bar. It’s a bar, serving clams, sourced by local baymen. And it opened on June 24 on the western bank of the Patchogue River, where Harbor Crab used to be.

With one sizable indoor bar and one vast roofed patio bar flanked by outdoor tables, Harbor Crab was known as more of a place to drink than to eat. When partners Jay Varney and Will Strano took over the property in April, they left the tiki-style exterior areas and upstairs dining room alone, renovated the main dining room and are in the process of renovating the indoor bar — which will most likely only be called into service for private events.

Strano, also the owner of East Patchogue’s venerable Dunton Inn, knows the bar business like the back of his hand. Varney is the scion of another venerable local establishment, Brookhaven’s Varney’s restaurant, which was co-founded by his father, Will, and Bill Lengyel.

It’s Varney who has been overseeing the clam-forward menu. He estimates that the kitchen is shucking at least 500 local hard-shell clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) every day. Plump littlenecks are served on the half shell ($1.50 each); top necks are chopped and stuffed ($2.50 each), pressed into service for the chowders (white and red, $9 for a cup, $12 for a bowl) and, most significantly, lightly breaded and deep fried for the "whole clam" appetizer ($18) and platter ($30, which comes with a mountain of fries). Bayman’s also sells a clam-strip appetizer, $14, for people who prefer clams that look and taste less like clam and more like fried.

But back to whole clams. Most Long Island eateries that fry them use soft-shell clams (Mya arenaria), the same species used for steamers. And many of those esteemed purveyors of fried "Ipswich" or "belly" clams used pre-shucked clams from New England. Varney explained why he took the hard-shell route. "All our clams come from the Great South Bay, I get them delivered every morning. That’s the only way I can be sure of the quality and freshness."

Fried hard shells lack the gooey, marine richness of soft shells, but there’s no denying the briny freshness of Bayman’s product.

Beyond clams, the menu features starters such as fried calamari ($19), mozzarella sticks and Buffalo wings (both $12), local oysters on the half shell ($3 each), snow crab legs ($40 for two large clusters) and Jonah crab claws ($27 for six). There are fried platters ($25 to $27) of shrimp, flounder and scallops; hot and cold lobster rolls ($40); sandwiches ($16 to $22) that include shrimp po boys, fried flounder, burgers, grilled or fried chicken. Mains include fish and chips (made with local striped bass, $34), sautéed local scallops ($38) and marinated strip steak ($38) and seared ahi tuna ($32).

Many of the South Shore’s waterside eateries look out onto marinas, but the view from Bayman’s takes in the green undeveloped opposite riverbank. Varney reports sightings of egrets, kingfishers and a green heron.

Bayman’s Clam Bar, 116 Division St., Patchogue, 631-730-6234, Instagram @baymansclambar