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Lobster Tail
updated: Jul 04, 2012, 1:26 PM

Every few years I treat myself to lobster tail luncheon or dinner. Am interested in best flavor, value, instead of atmosphere or trendiness. Where do fellow Edhats recommend?

Places People Are Talking About:

Beachside Cafe	Costco	Santa Barbara Shellfish Company
The Palms

What People Are Saying:

COMMENT 294084	2012-07-04 01:32 PM
My husband and I just ate at Beachside Cafe and had the lobster and steak with a cup of clam chowder and rice pilaf. It was a good size tail!
COMMENT 294091	2012-07-04 01:41 PM
Santa Barbara Shellfish Company at the end of Sterns Wharf. Awesome lobster!
COMMENT 294092	2012-07-04 01:42 PM
Two big tails at CostCo are ~$20. Take home, cut and clean, baste with butter/parsley/garlic/lemon/salt and pepper mixture. Place lobster tails, shell down, on grill and cook until shells turn red - about 5 minutes. Brush meat again with butter mixture, turn and grill for further 5-8 minutes on meat side until flesh turns white. Turn meat side up, brush once more with butter and sprinkle lightly with paprika. Cook for further 1-2 minutes. You won't have better.
COMMENT 294098	2012-07-04 02:00 PM
I'd like to throw in an anti-vote for the Boathouse. I've ordered their lobster twice and it was awful both times.
COMMENT 294101	2012-07-04 02:10 PM
Maine. You can't take 10 steps without tripping over a lobster special there. They practically jump on your plate.
COMMENT 294108	2012-07-04 02:30 PM
I would not suggest Fish Enterprise
COMMENT 294112	2012-07-04 02:37 PM
ditto on East coast.....ate lobster every day for almost 2weeks.....bought once at grocery market in Maine 3 lg ones for $20!!
COMMENT 294118	2012-07-04 02:51 PM
SB Shellfish Co. on the Wharf.... fresh locally caught. Oh, wait.... not the right season. Maine lobsters will be flown in, adds to the cost. Fish House is always good for seafood. Second the review on Boathouse.... great view but not worth the price. 4098... I would bet their lobster is frozen.
MTNDRIVER	2012-07-04 04:11 PM
Second the Costco vote. Lobster tails are easy to cook, not usually worth the premium price in a restaurant, where what you're paying for ostensibly is the skill of the cook, not just the ingredients. Lobster freezes well, not a problem if it's properly stored. You are probably not going to find fresh lobster right now unless it's living in a tank at a fish market.
COMMENT 294135	2012-07-04 04:27 PM
Funny this topic comes up right now. I'm in Maine, and bought 15lbs of lobster for only $5.95lb.
COMMENT 294138P	2012-07-04 04:39 PM
This was in the news today -- the low prices are hurting Maine's lobstermen: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/cheaper-than-bologna-glut-drives-down-maine-lobster-prices-ahead-of-tourist-season/2012/07/02/gJQAN16OIW_story.html When I visited family in Maine many years ago, I remember seeing lots of stands on the roads where you could buy fresh-caught lobster. We bought some and cooked it. Yum!
COMMENT 294152	2012-07-04 05:44 PM
4145.... Different kitchen staffs with the same ingredients and pay checks signed by the same people aren't going to run their kitchens the same or produce the same food. Can't be done.... heck the same cook can make the same dish very differently one day over the next, so consistency across 3 different kitchens is a pipe dream.
COMMENT 294159	2012-07-04 06:38 PM
It used to be worth the drive across the border to Puerto Nuevo in Baja - $7 bucks with sides, flour tortillas and all the chips and salsa you could also put down. They were great. Then they started gunning down tourists ........ Fish Enterprise on the absolute bottom of my list for anything too. Don't know how they have survived for so long. I think they liquor up their patrons with happy hour specials so much they don't know what poor quality food they are getting in the dining room
COMMENT 294161P	2012-07-04 06:58 PM
Two weeks ago: Café Laurent - Havana, Cuba Best lobster I've ever had.
ARTEMISIA	2012-07-04 07:13 PM
Best lobster I've ever had: a fish camp on Isla Cedros, off the coast of Baja California. The lobster had been out of the water maybe 15 minutes before being cooked, and they wouldn't let us pay for it. It's decades ago, and I still salivate at the memory.
COMMENT 294164	2012-07-04 08:05 PM
My suggestion for your special lobster day is.....Seagrass Restaurant.... Champagne and butter poached Maine lobster with Santa Barbara red sea urchin sauce. They are a member of the sustainable seafood program. I think you will love it! I think I talked myself into having a special lobster day:-) There is no comparison between Maine lobster and West Coast lobster.....I will skip the lobster if it's not from Maine, I find West Coast squishy and tasteless, it's OK in soups and sauces, but that's about it.
COMMENT 294168	2012-07-04 08:37 PM
I've been very happy with $30 dinner at Fish Enterprise. And local in Oct. at Fish House and Shell Fish Company. Yep, I go for the specials.
POTPOURRI	2012-07-04 10:10 PM
My husband and I treat ourselves once a month to the $30 lobster special at Enterprise Fish Company and we plan to continue for many more years. We have tried lobsters in other cities and states, but Enterprise has quality and value. Their clam chowder and fried calamari are also excellent.
COMMENT 294184P	2012-07-05 12:09 AM
Thank you Potpourri for calling it correctly... Why do people call it Fish Enterprise? The name, for better or worse, is Enterprise Fish Company. They are a bit overpriced, they skimp on the rice and veggies but their food is decent. The lobster bisque is actually very good.
COMMENT 294189	2012-07-05 06:39 AM
I wouldn't think the OP is trying to travel to Cuba or Baja for a lobster lunch lol I suggest Enterprise.
COMMENT 294193	2012-07-05 07:00 AM
I second Enterprise Fish Co. Maine lobster with 2 side dishes of your choice for $30 M thru Th. Eat in the bar area and enjoy their happy hour prices on drinks and apps. A great meal for the price...
LEAHKING	2012-07-05 07:26 AM
i have noticed that the marmalade cafe in la cumbre plaza advertises a lobster dinner special occassionally. don't know how it is as i have never tried it there, but i tend to like the meals i get at that place, even if it is a chain restaurant.
COMMENT 294211	2012-07-05 07:57 AM
Oh.. right... okay... go out State Street, turn south on the 101, then go to the 405 south to the 10 east and just keep going until you hit MAINE... ahahah... sorry, I couldn't resist... xo - tink
LOTUSEATER	2012-07-05 07:57 AM
Maine lobster is best. I don't even bother with Pacific lobster anymore, totally different taste than what I grew up on. Have had several excellent Maine lobster meals at "Boathouse" with nice view of the ocean and reasonably priced. If you can find Maine lobster for prep/cook at home, that is a good bet, but don't be fooled by Pacific lobster, Maine lobsters have claws that have serious lobster meat in them! Yummy :) Same thing for crabmeat, btw, Chesapeake Bay crab is in a league of its own :)
GRANNYFRANNY	2012-07-05 07:57 AM
The Palms in Carp has a nice price on lobster tail dinner; very informal setting, indeed, but good.
COMMENT 294226	2012-07-05 08:26 AM
There you have it, Enterprise Fish is known for its bar food. Do not venture into their dining room at any cost. Perfectly awful food. They get worse each time we have gone back. No more. Won't even bother with this place any longer.
COMMENT 294241	2012-07-05 08:56 AM
Sorry you didn't ask yesterday. Ralph's had a lobster special they were running on frozen tails 7 oz. $10.99. We were sharing 4th of July dinner with friends and traveling, so I baked them @400 for 8-10 minutes. Split the soft belly shell, baste with butter, salt, and lemon, place on backs for baking. Fresh is always best, but out of season this wasn't bad. 092's suggestion re: barbeque sounds great.
FLICKA	2012-07-05 09:33 AM
A couple of years ago a man on Miramar Beach gave me 2 huge lobsters, still alive in a bucket of water. Cooked them right up and they were fantastic w/melted butter.
COMMENT 294309	2012-07-05 10:13 AM
I'm like you, a treat once in a while and lobster is my all time favorite...IF its fresh and good. I'm always on the chase. Ive had it twice at the Enterprise, the Boat house, Arch Rock and wasn't overly impressed by any of those. So far, localy (apart from SB Shelfish on the warf in terms of freshness, but it's not Main) the best I've had was at the Beachside Cafe. I was really surprised by how good it was. It was my first time there, and my childhood memories was a corn dog when it was just a snack stand :-) Had the lobster steak combo. Could be hit and miss, but I'd go again.
COMMENT 294324P	2012-07-05 10:39 AM
Almost all east coast lobster served locally if farm raised and is badly stored. It hasn't the flavor or texture of bugs caught in the ocean. West coast "lobster" is a different animal and it is unfair to compare it to Atlantic lobsters. Each is good if properly keep, prepared and served. If you are enjoying the specials locally by and large you are going to get farmed lobsters which are more affordable and reliable for the restaurant profits but not as interesting gastronomically. I like Enterprise for the Wednesday special (no corkage fee) but am not fooled that it is high cuisine. Boat House is almost always disappointing--seems more for show than food.
COMMENT 294384	2012-07-05 12:41 PM
Lobster was once considered low class, as they are bottom feeders. Laws were passed as to how many times per week one could feed ones' servants lobster. In the 30's my father saw them dumping truckloads of live lobster on fields and tilling them in for fertilizer.(in Maine) Who would have guessed the demise of the Grand Banks cod fishery would result in a boom in lobster catches. Yum!
COMMENT 294388	2012-07-05 12:51 PM
I second Seagrass - they do a great job - you won't be disappointed. Hope you enjoy your special dinner - it's very cool to do stuff like that. On a side note - I hope the folks who run Boat House will see some of the comments posted here. I used to go for the view and the kinda okay food at Brown Pelican but it only took one visit to Boat House to convince me to just take a walk on the beach instead. That place could be so awesome if the food quality improved - what a goldmine it would be.
OLDLAWOMAN	2012-07-05 12:59 PM
Chucks. Both flavor and atmosphere. You can't go wrong at Chucks.
COMMENT 294500	2012-07-05 05:35 PM
Lobster at the Marmalade Cafe sounds very very wrong, certainly for best flavor.
COMMENT 294682	2012-07-06 10:20 AM
You guys do realize that The Sb Shellfish Co. On the wharf, The Fish House, and The Boathouse, are all the same company?