Clem and Ursies - Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Clem and Ursies, Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts

Cynthia and I were both looking forward to our 2nd annual Cape Cod trip for much needed rest and relaxation. A couple days before we left, Cynthia was thumbing through a Travel and Leisure Magazine in a doctor’s waiting room. Just as she found a restaurant offering a “lobster for two for only $25,” in Provincetown, Cape Cod, her name was called. Don’t we all know that is guaranteed to happen; just as you find something interesting in a magazine, here is the nurse calling your name!

After her appointment, Cynthia called and gave me as many details as she could remember. I immediately Googled the information to see what I could find. We were in luck…there it was! At the magazine's website, I found it was Clem and Ursies in Provincetown, Cape Cod, offering “lunch for two-  $25 for fresh lobster with drawn butter.” Along with this special was a good review of the restaurant. Sounded too good to be true.

The day we decided to head out to Provincetown was not only a rainy, dreary one, but it was also quite windy. We decided it would be worth searching out this $25 lobster lunch. When we arrived at the restaurant, we were the only ones there -- we had our choice of seats. A diner-type restaurant, we inquired at the counter about the lobster special. The clerk had no clue what we were talking about, so I dug deep into my purse and pulled out the information I had printed from the magazine’s website. He went to get the manager and she, too, knew nothing about the special. She would not honor the special from the Internet, which was quite disturbing. So much for that. We decided we were really looking forward to that lobster lunch; we were there, we didn’t really know where else to go, so we ordered it anyway. We paid approximately $80 for our meals with one glass of wine each and then went to find a table.

The table we chose overlooked a beautiful parking lot in the back of the restaurant (yes, being facetious here). We pretended it was ocean and the neatly painted white lines on the asphalt were waves. Planter boxes flanked each side of the doorway leading to “the ocean”.

After quite a long time of waiting (probably close to an hour), and desperately needing another glass of wine, the nice waiter came and told us that one of our lobsters had fallen on the floor. We looked at each other and knew we were both thinking the same things. Hmmm…they came from the floor of the ocean and we were certainly not going to eat the shell as we were only interested in what was inside. Cynthia said, “they are crustaceans, how about just rinse it off and deliver it.”

The waiter said in his cute island accent, “I know what my side of the floor looks like, but I don’t know what the cook’s side of the floor looks like.” That did make us chuckle, even though we were becoming annoyed.

We were tired of waiting.  Thoughts went through our minds:  Was the floor really that dirty? Had they accidentally cooked only one lobster? Did they think we had ordered only one? Did they have to run to a store to purchase another lobster? or Did they need to go check their lobster traps? Whatever the reason, we both felt as if we had been waiting an eternity!

Before arriving at Clem and Ursies, we had come from a little shop where we met a local artist who invited us to her gallery. We planned on paying her a visit after lunch, but the way this meal was going, it was looking like we would not have time. We also wanted to make it to Marconi beach!

Our lobsters eventually arrived. What a terrible disappointment; both lobsters were sadly overcooked! Though they looked great sitting there in their bright, red shells, they were rubbery and tough. It was well over 2 hours before we were back on the road. Any future Cape Cod trips will NOT include Clem and Ursie's.

This restaurant was the start of our wanting to review restaurants (and anything else) hoping our reviews might help other travelers. We don't understand how any magazine could give this restaurant such a high-caliber review.

I give this restaurant a "D."  If it were not for the waiter's pleasant personality, it would have received a lower grade.

9/07