Things seem to looking up for this humble Sandwich blogger: the weather is finally starting to warm out, law school is officially done forever and new Sandwich compatriots are emerging in my life. Clearly I'm on a roll personally and what better way to celebrate it then by talking about one of my favourite Sandwiches: the Lobster Roll.
The Lobster Roll is a quintessentially American take on a classic summer food; for whatever reason it has not caught on in the same way in the Maritime provinces. It takes a certain kind of only-in-America excess to take what is now considered upscale food like Lobster (despite the fact that it was considered unfit for prison consumption in the 18th century)
The Lobster Roll features freshly cooked lobster, sometimes tossed in Mayo, served on a grilled/toasted and buttered Hot Dog bun. The best ones tend to be understated, emphasizing the freshness of the Lobster with a nice hit of fat from the butter.
To sample one, I decided to hit up Luke's Lobster in the East Village.
Luke left a Finanical Industry job to start slangin' Seafood Sandwiches, noting that:
"We make our rolls Maine-style! The seafood is served *chilled* atop a buttered and toasted New-England-style split-top bun with a Swipe of mayo, a sprinkle of lemon butter and a dash of secret sauce."
I ordered the "Taste of Maine" Combo which came with half a Lobster Roll, half a Crab Roll, a half Shrimp Roll, 2 Empress Claws, chips and a soda.
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| (Left to Right: Shrimp Roll, Lobster Roll, Crab Roll) |
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| Ms. Vickie's BBQ Chips + Blueberry Soda! |
The Shrimp Roll was the most surprising of the Sandwiches. I felt that this Sandwich had serious underwhelming potential as I never thought of as Shrimps as having enough flavour to anchor such a less-is-more Sandwich.
Forest Gump's Bubba would have known just how wrong I was:
It was DELICIOUS. Buttery soft shrimp fit snuggly in the toasty bun led to a taste sensation which hit me harder than Forrest facing off against a ping-pong ball (that will be the final Forrest Gump reference of this post).
The sauce worked very well with the soft shrimps, and the whole package seemed like an excellent conduit for the richness of the mayo and butter.
Next up was the Crab Roll:
The Crab Roll was also tasty, but I found the Sandwich as a whole to be a little bit more bland than its Shrimp cousin.
I also found a small shard of shell, which is both understandable and regrettable.
The Main Event: The Lobster Roll
The Lobster Roll's at Luke's feature a nice mix of Claw and tail meat. Despite being located outside of Lobster Country, the Lobstie tasted very fresh and the luxurious texture of the meat held up throughout the Sandwich. I scarfed the thing down so fast that there was little room for Sandwich strucutural integrity issues.
The Sauce and lemon-butter worked best on the Lobster Roll.
Overall Impressions:
- Great, classic split-top buns
- Good traditional approach to the Seafood Roll
- Very fresh tasting shellfish
- Very good ratio of mayo:lobster (or other seafood) meat
8.75/10 very treyf Opas.
