Lobster West

Review # 64

Hubby is originally from New England but when he heard we were going out for lobster rolls tonight, he wasn’t thrilled.  “It’s lobster all mashed up with mayonnaise in a roll.  Like tuna fish salad, but with lobster.  Blech.” He explained to me since I’ve never had one.  Regardless, I was up for trying anything and was looking forward to going out.

A close friend with discerning taste buds declined on joining us tonight because she finds all lobster other than Maine lobster unbearable to eat.  Guess what?  Lobster West serves fresh Maine lobster! It’s caught in the cold New England waters, flown in fresh the next day and served to you immediately.  Boom!  One who is a snob about lobster should be called a “snobster”.

Lobster West is small and quaint, but adorably decorated with a seaside Cape Cod decor, perfect for this kind of place.  You order at the counter and eat on paper plates.  No need for reservation to enjoy these great crustacean!  Hubby loves when he doesn’t have to “dress up” for going out.  Which usually means jeans instead of shorts.

One tasteful wreath and the soothing sound of Bing Crosby let us know that it’s Christmas time, but they didn’t shove it down our throats.  Which is good because they have much better things ready to go down our pipes! An underwater scene is playing while you wait so you can look for your dinner’s relatives.

Darius behind the counter couldn’t have been nicer and our group placed our orders with hungry bellies.

The menu here is short and to the point.  Much easier to navigate than the monstrosity of options they had last week at Lotus Cafe and Juice Bar!

We started with a flight of soups.  The Lobster Bisque and Maryland Crab were rich, creamy and decadent.  I make healthy soup all the time.  Heck, I even make an organic cauliflower based clam chowder.  But when I go out to eat, I want to live a little!  And trust me, these bowls of creamy heaven is what it’s all about my friends.  The Maryland Crab soup was the only tomato based soup, but it was full of flavor and just as delicious as the creamy others.  This was the perfect start for the 6 of us to share.  We tried keeping our spoons clean between bites, but I think we are all a little bit closer to each other now.  The trio of soups were all so good, I wouldn’t be able to tell you which one to choose.  So when, not if, you come, order the flight!

Not only had I never heard of a “flight” of soup before tonight, I have never heard of “craft” soda.  Tonight was a lot of firsts for me.

With so much bad press about farmed raised fish, my poor beloved salmon in particular, it’s nice to know these “bugs” are sustainably fished.  I know the end result is the same for them, but I feel better macking down this way.

Hubby and I also shared a crab cake because CRAB CAKE!!!  This crab cake was exquisite.  It’s a bunch of fresh crab barely held together with a small amount of tasty complimentary ingredients that don’t steal the show.  And the aioli with lemon and tarragon is to die for!  Only complaint is that we wished it were bigger.  The only thing better than CRAB CAKE is more CRAB CAKE!

Our oldest and his girlfriend (who brought her epi pen this time, thank goodness!) shared a clam chowder bread bowl.  Yes, they had just partaken in the shared flight of soups, but with chowder this good, they needed to order a whole bread bowl of it. I had to frantically ask Darius 13 times if there were any nuts in the soup or bread, because Girlfriend is allergic to all nuts.  And I really want to send her home in the same shape she came to us in, just to be respectful to her parents and all.  Darius made some phone calls to be super-duper sure, and confidently told us that although the bakery is not nut-free, the menu items we ordered are.  Good enough!  I still watched her like a hawk out of the corner of my eye every time she took a bite.

And here comes my lobster roll combo!  I don’t like baked beans or chips, so double coleslaw for me.  Wait, look at all this huge, chunky lobster meat.  Not mixed up in a sea of mayo at all, Hubby.  On the contrary, quite pure and true to it’s form!  The lobster sits proudly on top of the roll so you can appreciate it in it’s full glory, but you need to shove it inside to properly eat it.  For someone who “poo-poos” lobster rolls, Hubby had no problem helping me out with mine bite after bite

The buttery toasted bun is off the charts.  Yes, it really is as good as it looks.  And so was the coleslaw, outstanding!

Although we would love to come and try your second location in Coronado, we still have a lot of work to do here on the 101 in Encinitas.

Bottom Line:

This quaint, authentic, family owned restaurant is adorable.  The food inside knocked our socks off.  The amount of succulent lobster pieces in my lobster roll impressed the hell out of me.  Everything we ate was excellent, and the staff was so warm and inviting, it was hard not to like our food even before we got it.

We started our journey on the 101 to get out of our comfort zone.  We found ourselves eating at the same 3-4 restaurants in town for years.  Now it’s your turn.  Lobster West is exactly what the 101 needs for some variety.  Instead of placing your Grubhub order for more burritos, pizza or burgers, branch out and have some lobster, shrimp or crab rolls delivered!  You won’t be sorry.  Next time I come, it will be for the scallop roll and Whoopie Pie.  Want to join me? Even you snobsters will love it here!

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Next week’s blog will be on Sunday, December 9th at 6:30pm

Kim’s Restaurant

https://www.kimsvietnamese.com/