After a little stroll with a friend around Chinatown, we wandered down to New York’s South Street Seaport. After almost two years living in New York, I had made the trip for the first time. Sitting on a bench at Pier 17 next to the water and the historic ships, the 90-degree summer heat made us hungry for a little seafood.

There were a lot of restaurants around, but they either looked out of the price range of a poor law student or like a dodgy chain, or both. Even if I had the money, the upscale fare didn’t seem right. I wanted the kind of simple seafood that goes great with a beer. With the help of an iPhone, we found what we were looking for—a dive bar with fried clams on the menu—at Jeremy’s Ale House.

Jeremy’s is the kind of place you can smell from the street—in a good way. The smell of beer as you’re walking towards the door makes you look forward to the beer you are going to order all the more. The design of the place is Spartan and darkly lit, with a simple cement floor. Still, even though it was early– about 7 p.m.– I could tell the place can get rockin’. There are bras hanging from the ceiling, which had writing from past visitors all over it.

The beer comes in one of two ways: small plastic cups or big Styrofoam cups. The menu is simple, consisting mostly of baked and fried seafood and things that go great with baked and fried seafood (like french fries and onion rings). We ordered baked clams (something neither of us had ever had), fried clams (which came with french fries, to our surprise, at no extra charge), and onion rings.

The food was the cheap, greasy seafood treat we had been hoping for. The fried clams were crunchy and delicious. The onion rings were those magic ones where you can take a bite without the onion slipping out. The baked clams might have been more greasy than we would have liked, but with a little lemon and tartar sauce they were pretty tasty. Oh, and the french fries–sometimes I forget how great a simple french fry can be. And all of the food was great with the beer.

On a return trip I tried the rib tips. While not the best rib tips I’ve had, they are a great, cheap addition to a seafood feast. The only problem I’ve come to discover with Jeremy’s after making a few trips: moderating my food order.

Jeremy’s Ale House

228 Front Street
New York, NY 10038
(212) 964-3537
http://jeremysalehouse.com