When the best things you can say about a restaurant have nothing to do with the food, that speaks for itself.

In this case, the riverfront location in Seaside is spectacular. The vista encompasses the old Seaside lanterns, a vintage church and new high-rise hotels. You can watch the Necanicum River flow by, watch herons fishing and kayakers floating past. A bar and stools fashioned from an old-growth log add charm to the vintage décor, which includes vinyl-lined padded booths with wood-grain Formica tables.

On a recent visit, the cook had forgotten to cook my take-out order (even though there were no customers in the restaurant), so I played with her adorable 4-month-old daughter for about half an hour, while I waited for our food to be cooked. Fortunately, that night, I had the time and patience to wait.

On another visit, the service was haphazard, at best. I kept singing the Pink Floyd song in my head – “Is there anybody out there?” Happy Clam specializes in “homemade” chowders, which are even available by the case. When a friend and I ordered one clam chowder and one seafood chowder, we got two of the same. After clarifying our order with the waiter, a slightly differently colored chowder arrived. Upon tasting them, it was very hard to distinguish one from the other. Both were overly thick with muddled flavors and textures.

For appetizers, calamari with cocktail sauce was generic. There were no tentacles (my favorite part), just rings, which were nicely cooked, but looked like they came pre-sliced. The same was true with mini crab cakes. They were cute (silver-dollar sized) and nicely deep fried, but again, so uniform in size and shape that they seemed not to have been hand-made. I could be wrong. A shrimp Caesar salad, topped with a huge amount of sweet fresh shrimp and a very thick Caesar dressing, was made with chopped iceberg lettuce, a few shreds of purple cabbage and some tomato wedges – not what constitutes a Caesar salad.

Tom and Darlene Phillips, of Pittsburgh, Penn., stop in Seaside for fish and chips and a bowl of clam chowder at The Happy Clam overlooking the Necanicum River.One night, a rib-eye steak arrived at the table lukewarm. After asking to have it reheated in the microwave, it was tasty. The steaks are seasoned and marinated overnight before cooking. Still, it wasn’t the steak I was hoping for. It was thin and boneless, not the thick, meaty rib-eye that I love. Halibut fish ‘n’ chips was better, but the fish lacked any golden, crisp crust and the steak fries were starchy and again, generic. Deep-fried razor clams were tasty, but were served in a tangle on the plate.

On a high note, the dinner salad, made with grated carrots, chopped tomato, croutons and iceberg lettuce, was very refreshing. The small portion of potato salad was tasty. Best of all was a bacon cheeseburger. A thick, spicy beef patty came topped with the works, including red onion, lettuce and sliced dill pickle on a fresh sesame bun.

Halibut fish and chips are served up with clow slaw and tartar sauce at The Happy Clam in Seaside.