When it comes to sizing up restaurants, I love to be wrong. The Purple Urchin more than exceeded my expectations, not that I set the bar that high.
My wife and I were looking for a decent place to grab a quick dinner before attending a concert at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom and decided to give the Purple Urchin a try.
The location could not have been better suited to our needs. The restaurant is right upstairs from the concert venue, with a view that overlooks the ocean and the Hampton Beach bandshell.
The unofficial opening act for our night of music was performing across the street. Mo Bounce, an R&B band out of Boston, was getting the beach crowd dancing with covers of Stevie Wonder, Bruno Mars, Earth, Wind & Fire and other soul and funk stars.
We were already happy with our restaurant choice, and our server had done nothing more than bring us drinks. The managers know location is a great selling point: The restaurant’s website includes the music schedule for the bandshell.
The Purple Urchin is a long, narrow restaurant that stretches along the boardwalk. It’s one of those beach spots that has clear plastic flaps to protect diners on rainy or windy days but otherwise is open to the sea breezes.
That means it’s a fun but noisy spot. In addition to checking out the band, diners can watch cars crawling and people strolling along Ocean Boulevard below, the kind of hoopla the strip attracts every summer. We heard police sirens at least once during our visit.
The Purple Urchin menu offers a good selection of fresh seafood, burgers, sandwiches and salads. The variety is what inspired us to visit after we checked out the website before the show.
My Lovely Dining Companion chose a cup of New England Clam Chowder ($7.95), which was touted as being “classically prepared,” which means it was rich and creamy with plenty of clams.
We also ordered Bang Bang Shrimp ($14.95), fried shrimp with a sweet and spicy aoli. The only time I’ve ever sampled these previously was at a chain restaurant in a land-locked state. These bang bangs featured tender juicy shrimp that were not overpowered by the batter and sauce and tasted fresh.
For her entree, my dining companion chose a New England classic: Baked Haddock ($23.95). It was prepared with a cracker crust and served with mashed potatoes and a vegetable. The Purple Urchin stuck with tradition here, as we expected they would, and delivered a great meal.
I ordered the Seared Scallops ($27.95), and would have been satisfied with some browned scallops, potato and a vegetable. But for this one, the Purple Urchin went a bit uptown.
These scallops were served over creamy poblano risotto, cilantro and avocado sauce, and were artfully presented on a long rectangular plate. The mild bite from the poblano chili peppers was nicely offset by the avocado.
It was the kind of zing I wasn’t expecting from the kind of outdoor seaside spot people flock to for lobster rolls and fried whole belly clams. Maybe the Purple Urchin knows that even tourists hankering for fresh seafood might be expecting a few culinary surprises.
