Fish & Seafood
The Strangest Ways to Eat Lobster
Lobster ice cream? Lobster doughnuts? Here are some of the most creative (and strangest) ways you can consume lobster in New England.
By Joe Bills|Oct 29 2021|
Chunks of real lobster in buttery ice cream?
Photo Credit: Courtesy of @Boston_NoshinThe Strangest Ways to Eat Lobster
Photo Credit : Patrick McNamara
Lobster Pizza
If you were forced to choose a food that New Englanders love more than lobster, pizza would seem a good choice. From barbecue chicken to grapes to Fritos, if you can think of it, there’s a decent chance that someone has tried putting it on a pizza. Lobster pizza has become popular enough to merit a spot on the menu at quite a few restaurants that get creative with their pies. As a starting point, check out the cold picked lobster pizza at Cornerstone in Ogunquit, Maine.Photo Credit : Courtesy of @Boston_Noshin
Lobster Ice Cream
In Bar Harbor, Maine, Ben and Bill’s Chocolate Emporium has been selling lobster ice cream for years. But this isn’t a “lobster-inspired” flavor, like Gifford’s Lobster Tracks ice cream (vanilla ice cream with lobster-colored chocolate cups). At Ben and Bill’s, real chunks of fresh Maine lobster are cooked in butter, then folded into a butter-flavored ice cream.
Photo Credit : Courtesy of the Porthole Restaurant
Lobster Breakfast
From lobster omelets to lobster Benedicts, it’s common to find lobster worked into the earlier meals of the day at New England eateries. The Porthole in Portland, Maine, serves an omelet called the Casco Bay — loaded with both lobster and crab as well as tomatoes, arugula, goat cheese, and lemon hollandaise — that has long been a favorite.Lobster Doughnut
At the Holy Donut in Portland, owner Leigh Kellis has packed a pair of Maine favorites into a single offering by combining a potato doughnut with fresh lobster meat. The result seems like an upscale cousin of a jelly doughnut, with a more savory dough, and lobster where the jelly would be. (Wow.) Not to be outdone, Kane’s Donuts in Boston has occasionally offered a lobster salad sandwich in which buttery brioche doughnuts serve as the bread.
Photo Credit : Diane Wolf
Lobster Martini
While the Rock Lobster has been a popular cocktail for years, there is no actual lobster involved. Such is not the case with the seasonal Lobstertini at the Lobster Shanty in Salem, Massachusetts, made with “lobster essence” and served with a lobster claw gripping the rim of the glass. If martinis aren’t your style, Nantucket’s White Elephant hotel serves a bloody mary with what basically amounts to a full lobster on a skewer.Lobster Mac and Cheese
Lobster loves dairy, and vice versa, so pairing up this crustacean with the classic pasta comfort food is kind of a no-brainer. Lobster mac and cheese has caught on in many places, but it remains a wondrous revelation when it is done just right. At Five Fifty-Five in Portland, chef Steve Corry serves a truffled lobster mac and cheese that sets the standard. Corry also has a lobster corn dog recipe that moves a lowbrow classic to the top of the menu. Want to make your own at home. Our Lobster Mac & Cheese recipe is a reader-favorite. Still can’t get enough lobster? Be on the lookout for such creations as lobster BLTs, lobster potato chips, and lobster enchiladas. Or, if you prefer things a bit more old-school, check out these lobster pie and lobster casserole recipes from Yankee. Have a suggestion for our list of the strangest ways to eat lobster in New England? Let us know in the comments below! This post was first published in 2018 and has been updated.SEE MORE: 10 Best Lobster Rolls in New England The McDonald’s Lobster Roll Experience McLoons Lobster Roll Recipe
If you’re in Newport, RI, try the overstuffed lobster roll at Brick Alley on Thames St. or the incredible lobster mac and cheese at The White Horse Tavern. The Atlantic Grill makes a mean lobster benedict also. YUMMO!!!!!!
My two lobster “faves” are Lobster Thermidor, which I had at a famous restaurant in Quebec City on a birthday trip, on my birthday (my husband grew up in Hull, MA, his father owned many boats, they fished often, filled their freezer with haddock and flounder, so he got “fished out”, food-wise while he was growing up…once in a while he would “consent” to eat a lobster roll with Iggy’s brioche rolls, lightly toasted and buttered if I made it for him…he only really liked shrimp cocktail and baked stuffed shrimp I made at home with Ritz cracker stuffing, made with walnuts, which is how they stuffed their lobsters and shrimp at Bishop’s Restaurant in Lawrence, MA, which has been out of business for many years…I remember going there as a pretty young child for the first time for their baked stuffed lobster stuffed with lobster!!!!!!!!WOW!!!!!) and Lobster Stew, which is a 2 day project with the Locke Ober recipe, which they served to JFK, which is now out of business, thus I eat it out! You might not know where the lobster roll was invented. It was invented in Westport, CT and had bacon on it, which my husband asked me to put on one of his; he said it tasted really good with the bacon!, I have never tried it, however, I do make sea scallops wrapped in bacon. At that restaurant in Quebec City he ate Filet Mignon, his favorite, which was as good as my meal. Both of our complete meals (appetizers, sides, dessert and coffee) cost $25.00 total!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will never forget that meal!
There used to be a restaurant in Attleboro MA called Peg Leg Pete’s that served fried lobster. Was great, have never seen it served like that anywhere else.
This is not too different from the spargelfests (white asparagus festivals) in Germany. They were all things asparagus including full four and five-course dinners. At first, it didn’t at all sound appetizing. But, once we tried the offerings, we were all in. Lobster, in a plethora of ways! Yes!
I’ll take lobster any way I can get it, but I think I’ll draw the line at lobster ice cream!